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Environmental Educators
of the Year 2003
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The Idaho Environmental Education
Association (IdEEA) has selected three Idaho teachers as "Environmental
Educators of the Year."
The awardees for 2003 are:
Denise Burnett , educator and volunteer, Junior Master Gardener
Program, University of Idaho Extension, Caldwell (phone: 208 585-2935)
Burnett has taught gardening skills with
wisdom and wit to 1,200 youth and 200 adults during the last two years.
She's offered trainings at the Star and Middleton libraries, the Western
Idaho and Canyon County fairs, the Idaho Botanical Garden, and Joplin
and Ridgewood elementary schools. Her lessons feature art and teamwork
as well as the science of growing plants.
Darin Zarbnisky , environmental
science/horticulture teacher, Borah High School, Boise (phone:
208-322-3855)
Students of Zarbnisky's have contributed
more than 4,000 hours of community service during 2002 and 2003. They've
studied and worked on stream rehabilitation, rangeland restoration, and
noxious weed control from Riggins to the Owyhees and many points in
between. At school, Zarbnisky's students develop critical thinking
skills by examining global connections of the environmental issues they
see in the field. And, they operate two greenhouses, too!
Donna Kent, 2nd grade teacher;
Doreen Beck, 4th grade teacher; and Jan Wathen , 6th grade teacher; Valley
View Elementary School, Bonners Ferry (phone: 208 267-5519)
When a 4,000-acre wildfire burned the
Myrtle Creek watershed, the sole source of drinking water for Bonners
Ferry, this team of teachers was ready to capitalize on an outstanding
teachable moment. They already had solidified a strong partnership with
the Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge, through which Myrtle Creek flows,
and had prepared lesson plans focused on the watershed. Their students
will investigate the fire, its effects on water quality, and how they
can construct a 30-acre wetland to protect their drinking water and the
productive ecology of the refuge. Kent, Beck, and Wathen are using the
nationally recognized EIC Model (using the Environment as an Integrating
Context for learning) to boost their students' knowledge and skills, in
meeting the Idaho Achievement Standards as required by state law.
Each winner was recognized with a
certificate and scholarship for professional development. These
presentations took place during the awards reception of the Idaho Science
Teachers Association Annual Meeting, held earlier this month in Idaho
Falls.
Donny Roush, IdEEA executive director, presented the awards. He says,
"These awards celebrate the best environmental educators in Idaho. Denise,
Darin, Doreen, Donna, and Jan exemplify the best practices of our field by
engaging their students in the world around them in fun, relevant, and
effective ways."
IdEEA gives these awards annually, based on nominations from across the
state. A panel of three teachers selects the winners.
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