Growing as a Community
by Heather Fox, Dimension Educational Research Foundation/ Nature Explore, Education Specialist
On Friday December 2nd Pinedale Early Learning Center in Pinedale WY became our 100th Certified Nature Explore Classroom. They joined us via Skype and we lifted our hands in celebration. This was our first virtual celebration at the Nature Explore office and it is certainly not our last. You can see by the video that they are an inspiring group. You can also tell that we are growing in our use of technology. This time we used a movie screen and a simple camera. Next time we will use a better method. That’s me, in the 100 Celebration Video wearing the green jacket and talking to the big screen. It really was such fun.
Now that the Nature Explore Certified Classroom Network is 100 plus strong I find myself thinking about the journey to this point and how fast it all happened. Just last November I remember Lana Gilson announcing our 55th Certified Outdoor Classroom and look where we are today! Over 100 nation-wide, MANY in progress, new workshops being developed, new connections being made and old ones being strengthened. I really am blessed to be doing the work we do here and I am thrilled to take a role in supporting and strengthen our relationships.
As a tree hugging technology lover, I like the idea of connecting electronically. It excites me to think about all the ways we might use technology to create conversations bubbling with enthusiasm and rich with information. It challenges me as well. Sparks really fly when you get like-minded people such as yourselves going and I am hopeful we can replicate those conversations. This blog was created with you in mind. Let’s have fun with it and use technology to join our hands and minds. Tell us how you would like to use this site, what topics you’d like to discuss and chime in on posts and forum discussions.
