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Division of Education and Outreach
May 2015
Kathy Sholl
Editor


You can "spring" into action with this issue of VOICES!

Start by looking at the Connecting People with Nature section for children
to become Monarch butterfly heroes.  There is also a link for free Pollinator Week resources. But the resources don't stop there. 

Scroll through VOICES and find, under Educational Resources, monarch and other nature activities.  You'll also find grant opportunities including support for FWS anniversary celebrations.

Please email the great resources you find to Kathy_Sholl@fws,gov.  I am always on the lookout to share resources with YOU!

Kathy Sholl
Editor
Connecting People to Nature

 
As your pledge to help the Monarch butterfly, upload a photo of yourself making the American Sign Language sign for butterfly. National Wildlife Federation (NWF) will then send you a butterfly garden starter kit (while supplies last). 
         
From Cornell University, city residents can create quality food and water resources,shelter, and nesting sites for birds in small spaces, often at little cost. These green mini-oases contribute to the beauty of neighborhoods, help build community spirit, and provide places for children and adults to observe,study, and enjoy birds.
 
This year's Pollinator Week kicks off on June 15, 2015. Add your event to the  PW map, find out what is going on near you, get free resources such as logos, web banners, handouts, tools, and much more.
The public may order pollinator posters.  Service staff should order pollinator posters from a separate site. 

 


Youth in the Great Outdoors 

 

Earth Force engages young people as active citizens who improve the environment and their communities now and in the future.  Through our Centers of Excellence, Earth Force works with communities to support young people in finding their voice while assuming leadership roles in solving local environmental problems. Our six-step instructional model, the Earth Force Process, puts youth in the driver's seat towards creating sustainable solutions.

 Environmental Service Projects
Youth Service America offers this downloadable resource with 55 different environmental service learning projects, along with links to related resources and websites.  It is available in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.  You can also browse online by issue area, project leader type, and type of practice.
 
FWS Professional Development
Register through DOI Learn system: www.doi.gov/doilearn/index.cfm

Education Programs for Youth: School's Out - OUT8162

Date: September 21-23, 2015  

Location: NCTC, Shepherdstown, WV

This course presents participants with the elements of designing outdoor programs for youth (e.g. after school, day and residential camps, and weekend programs) in a non-formal setting, such as wildlife refuges, parks, etc. This course offers opportunities to create or modify exciting, safe, natural resource focused youth programs that help to address site missions and/or management objectives.  

Contact: Michelle_Donlan@fws.gov at 304-876-7685

  

OUT8081-OLT
Mentoring: Getting Started with Your Mentee
Date: Ongoing
Location: DOI-Learn or NCTC website
So you've decided to become a mentor and get started with your first mentee meeting. You are about to embark on a truly rewarding experience that will benefit you, your mentee, and your agency. The changing nature of many careers has led to a need to adjust to workplace organizational shifts. Current and future staff need to adapt, learn new skills, and participate in communication networks to advance their careers. More often, these needs are being met through mentoring relationships. For the mentee, to start a relationship with a mentor can lead to real benefits, an internship, greater career opportunities, or more abstract benefits such as gaining confidence and recognition. As a mentor, the relationship can provide the opportunity to participate in the development of a promising employee and to foster a diversity of future career employees in your agency. This course is a prerequisite for Mentoring the Next Generation - Voices of Experience - OUT8050 online, a previously recorded webinar course. Participants are given 90 days to complete this online self-study course. Course completion awards annual diversity training credits of 2-1/2 hours to participants scoring 80% or higher on the final assessment.
Contact: Ora_Dixon@fws.gov at 304-876-7314 or Sandy_Spakoff@fws.gov 

at 304-876-7783


OUT8050-Online 
Mentoring the Next Generation - Voices of Experience - Online 
Date: Ongoing 
Location: DOI-Learn or NCTC website     
As you view this previously recorded webinar, you will hear the ins and outs of mentoring as a panel of experienced mentors and mentees answer questions and provide suggestions for ensuring a productive mentor-mentee relationship. Then apply the insights you've gained to your own mentoring practices to build a more open, inclusive, and trusting relationship with your mentee(s). The target audience includes DOI employees who are currently serving as mentors to young adults or those who are interested in exploring such a relationship. This online self study training builds on the course OUT8081 and focuses on trouble-shooting challenges in a mentoring relationship. Participants are given 90 days to complete this online self- study course. Course completion awards annual diversity training credits of 2-1/2 hours to participants scoring 80% or higher on the final assessment. 
Contact: Ora_Dixon@fws.gov at 304-876-7314 or Sandy_Spakoff@fws.gov at 304-876-7783

OUT8045-Online 
Supervising Young Adults in Conservation - Online 
Date: Ongoing 
Location: DOI-Learn or NCTC website  
Supervising young adults in seasonal and internship positions can be a new and challenging experience for even the most seasoned of supervisors.  It requires knowledge and understanding of an emerging workforce eager to gain experience and skills in their fields of interest. It also involves developing meaningful jobs, setting expectations and mentoring young people, including how to demonstrate best practices regarding work ethic and professionalism. This previously recorded webinar, led by highly knowledgeable Student Conservation Association (SCA) staff possessing practical hands-on experience working with and supervising young adults in both field-based and office environments, will relate critical thinking to common issues and situations often faced by supervisors working with young adults aged 16-25 years. Participants are given 90 days to complete this online self -study course. 
Contact: Sandy_Spakoff@fws.gov at 304-876-7783 or Ora_Dixon@fws.gov at 304-876-7314


OUT8082-Online 
Mentee the Journey to Meeting Your Mentor - Online 
Date: Ongoing 
Location: DOI-Learn or NCTC website  
Having a mentor -- someone who can help you navigate your career path -- has the potential to make your career more fruitful, if you take responsibility for managing the relationship. Therefore, to be successful as a mentee, your work begins prior to the first meeting with your mentor. This self-paced course focuses on the information and skills you will need prior to meeting with your mentor for the first time. Participating in this course will contribute to your success in building a strong mentoring partnership. Mentees who are already working with a mentor, or those with an interest in this subject, may also find the tools and information helpful for establishing a solid mentoring relationship. Participants are given 90 days to complete this online self-study course. Course contact: Sandy_Spakoff@fws.gov at 304-876-7783; Technical contact: Emily_Jenkins@fws.gov at 304-876-7379
Other Professional Development

View recent and upcoming free Green Treacher webinars.

Spend five days with colleagues around the country at an informative and restorative institute created to give you the opportunity to deepen your understanding of education for sustainability, July 27-31, 2015, in Shelburne, Vermont. Graduate credits available.

July 5-11, 2015: Environmental Sustainability through Parks and Tourism
July 19-25, 2015: GIS and the World Around Me
For over 35 years, Clemson University in South Carolina has offered an academic summer experience for gifted middle and high school students. This summer, two new camp experiences are being provided. Distinguished Clemson faculty will lead a week-long camp that is both educational and engaging. Campers will have the opportunity to participate in a hands-on learning environment.

Educational Resources

Status and Ecology of Monarch Butterfly
Download Conservation Status and Ecology of the Monarch Butterfly in the United States.

Monarch Classroom Activity 
Classroom word search activity available from U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

 

Hands on the Land
Hands on the Land is a national network of field classrooms
and agency resources to connect students, teachers, and others with public lands and waterways.  FWS has doubled the number of Hands on the Land sites in recent months - with 15 sites in 7 FWS regions.      
GLOBE and Eco-Schools Team Up for Education
The National Wildlife Federation's Eco-Schools USA program and the NASA-supported GLOBE Program for student/citizen science have teamed up to increase critical student skills in environmental and earth science monitoring and measurement and action at K-12 schools.
This year, the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD), PLT, and the U.S. Forest Service are working together to create forestry education materials for students in grades K-8 to support NACD's "Year of Forests" theme in 2016.  
 

Nature Activities for Families

Project Learning Tree's newest Connecting Kids to Nature family activity is Pass the Plants, Please. Adapted from the PreK-8 guide, this fun activity helps children identify and investigate the different kinds of plants and plant parts that they eat.
 
Giant deadly hornets, gorgeous fluttering butterflies and stealthy crawling stink bugs: discover these and more fascinating insects.  This e-book was written, illustrated, and animated by the Smithsonian Science Education Center. Students will learn about six different types of insects in natural habitats around the world and how evolution and adaptation is responsible for the insects' characteristics. Download an interactive version of the e-book for free on iBooks or read the non-interactive PDF version online.

Schoolyard Lesson Plans
The Schoolyard Ecology for Elementary School Teachers project has created a number of protocols and lessons, most of them inquiry-based, for outdoor study.  They are posted online, along with additional materials for educators from the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies. 

TurfMutt - Saving the Planet One Yard at a Time!
TurfMutt, the free environmental education program, has expanded with a new partnership with Scholastic Education!  Designed for schools and families to help kids learn about science and the environment from their own personal green spaces, TurfMutt has new lesson plans for teachers, learning activities for families, interactive games, a TurfMutt storybook and more! Inspire the kids in your life to be Backyard Superheroes!

Events, Conferences & Workshops
The toolkit includes materials for Endangered Species Day events and activities, a step-by-step guide to planning an event, sample lesson plans and other materials to make your event fun and successful.  Endangered Species Day is May 15, 2015.
  
Each year, Environment for the Americas provides International Migratory Bird Day materials to groups in need.  Migratory Bird Day is May 9, 2015.

American Trails hosts the next International Trails Symposium in Portland, on
May 17-20, 2015, at the Oregon Convention Center. The Symposium addresses every aspect of trails, greenways, and blueways. Learn from dozens of educational sessions and mobile workshops and network with experts and enthusiasts from across the globe. The theme for this year's Symposium is "Solutions for Success."

The Aldo Leopold Foundation will be partnering with the University of Wisconsin - Baraboo/Sauk County campus to host this three-day gathering, August 12-15, 2015, in Baraboo, Wisconsin.

NAAEE Conference
The 44th NAAEE Conference will be held October 15-18 in San Diego, CA.  The 2015 scholarship programs for the San Diego conference are now open with a deadline of  April 30, 2015.

Nature-Based Preschool National Conference
The Nature-Based Preschool National Conference, August 19-22, in Gainesville, GA,  brings people together from around the country to grow the movement to use nature as a powerful tool to help young children learn and grow.
 
Grants, Awards & Contests
Friends groups of refuges, fish hatcheries and other FWS facilities may apply for a matching grant to support significant anniversary celebrations of their facilities, e.g. 50th, 75th, 100th etc. anniversaries.  Deadlines for applications are October 30, 2015, for events occurring January through June and beyond.  

Patagonia grants support small, grassroots, activist organizations with provocative direct-action agendas, working on multi-pronged campaigns to preserve and protect our environment. One priority area for Patagonia grants is protecting and restoring native fish populations and the habitat on which they depend. Our World Trout Initiative addresses this.  Deadline for grant application is August 31, 2015.

NFWF Friends Grants
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) is requesting proposals from refuge Friends organizations for projects that assist them in being effective co-stewards of natural resources within the Refuge System. Deadline is May 21, 2015.

KEEN Effect Grants
Nonprofit organizations who are dedicated to responsible outdoor participation are encouraged to apply for this semi-annual grant centered around Earth Day and National Public Lands Day.

Funky Nests in Funky Places Challenge
Celebrate spring by entering the latest Celebrate Urban Birds Challenge, "Funky Nests in Funky Places."  Deadline is June 15, 2015.

Brower Youth Awards
The Earth Island Institute's New Leaders Initiative offers the Brower Youth Awards, recognizing young people (ages 13-22) for their outstanding youth leadership and project impact in conservation, preservation, and restoration.  The deadline is May 18, 2015.

Odebrecht Award for Sustainable Development
The Odebrecht Award for Sustainable Development gives students a chance to highlight their best ideas for sustainable development.  Projects should explore innovative practices, methods, and ideas that can be implemented through a variety of real-world ventures.  The deadline for submission is May 31, 2015.

 Looking for that special resource from a previous issue?  You're only a click away from finding past issues of VOICES.

Sincerely,
 

Kathy Sholl
304-876-7772