Nature Conservancy Gives Educational Curriculums to Local Schools

West Haven, Vermont—14 December 2005—The gift-giving season is upon us and The Nature Conservancy has been busy spreading holiday cheer with local schools. Over the past several weeks, the Conservancy’s Southern Lake Champlain Valley Program has been giving away free to local schools a place-based educational curriculum called Let’s Go See It! The Human and Natural History of the Southern Lake Champlain Valley. The curriculum highlights Conservancy preserves as places where educational use is welcome. In addition the Conservancy is giving each school a collection of field guides that compliment the curriculum.

Thanks to several grants, The Nature Conservancy developed Let’s Go See It! as a tool to assist teachers in utilizing Conservancy preserves as the natural classrooms that they are and to teach students about local natural and human history. The multi-disciplinary curriculum features sections on wetlands, Lake Champlain, the Poultney River, and forests and farmlands. The curriculum is geared toward students in grades 7-12, although it can be easily adapted for younger students.

The Conservancy has given 12 copies of the curriculum and accompanying field guides to nine area schools: Whitehall Jr./Sr. High School, Whitehall Elementary School, Fair Haven Union High School, Fair Haven Grade School, Castleton Elementary School, Benson Village School, Orwell Village School, Poultney High School and Poultney Elementary School. After seeing the curriculum, Laurel Male, Interim Principal at Whitehall Jr./Sr. High School smiled and said “What a wonderful gift this is to the local school!”

Other schools have also welcomed these resources for their teachers and students. Wayne Cooke, Principal of Fair Haven Grade School, notes "The generosity of The Nature Conservancy will pique the interest of many children by promoting the importance of nature. It will give students the opportunity to learn more about birds, wetlands, living waters and the biological diversity of the land."

In addition to sharing these materials, the Conservancy has offered to conduct complimentary trainings within the schools or at local preserves on how to use the curriculum. “This is a perfect example of how the Conservancy’s preserves can help teachers and students learn first-hand about the amazing natural resources of this area,” says Heather Potter, Program Director for the local Conservancy program.

The Nature Conservancy has protected nearly 10,000 acres in Vermont and New York’s Southern Lake Champlain Valley. “We are delighted to have schools express interest in using these places for educational purposes and are pleased to offer them some resources to help them to do this,” says Potter.

Development of the curriculum was spear-headed by Mary Droege, Director of Ecological Management and Restoration for the Conservancy’s local program. “I believe that the most powerful learning comes from direct experience.” says Droege. “Actually wading into a wetland; finding and identifying a mayfly; watching a bird feed its young; working as a team to measure water quality - these are the lessons that stay with us forever. And these are the educational experiences that Let’s Go See It! encourages and supports.”

Numerous teachers, scientists and educational specialists provided critical input and expertise that helped shape the project and that helped relate each module to the state teaching standards in Vermont and New York.

Other local schools or individuals who home school their children are welcome to obtain free copies of the curriculum by contacting Mary Droege at The Nature Conservancy, 115 Main Road, West Haven, VT 05743; 802-265-8645; mdroege@tnc.org.

###

The Nature Conservancy is a leading international, nonprofit organization that preserves plants, animals and natural communities representing the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. To date, The Nature Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 14 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 83 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific.