Beth Short is Associate Director of Nature’s Classroom Inc. Her work is focused on building relationships between schools and Nature’s Classroom program centers. She has been developing and sharing environmental education programming with children and adults for 9 years, specializing in inquiry-based nature education.

Of Landscapes and Mindscapes:
Looking Back at the 2012 MEES Conference

I’m not alone when I say that this year’s MEES Conference was reinvigorating.  Each year I rely on the MEES Conference to inspire me for months.  This year’s spring weather climbed to eighty degrees and the environmental educators in attendance at the College of Holy Cross were even warmer.

After reconnecting with friends and colleagues, I attended three fabulous workshops.  Author Michael Wojtech’s Bark: Get to Know Your Trees, whose easy and enthusiastic style kept participants actively involved and excited about a valuable tree ID method that works all year long.  Next, I attended Lush Habitats: Schoolyard Design to Engage Children with MA Learning Standards with Virginia Sullivan, Principal at Learning by the Yard.  Sullivan’s passion for teaching and learning was obvious.  I was inspired by her creative and innovative ability to develop outdoor learning spaces.  Lastly, I attended the MEES Board’s Environmental Literacy Plan, facilitated by Amy Hoffmaster.  The room was filled with environmental educators from a diverse range of backgrounds developing a collected vision for the future of Massachusetts’ Environmental Literacy Plan.  It was wonderful to see all of the participants sharing their visions.

With all of the networking, idea sharing and collaboration at this year’s MEES conference, I have my work cut out for me. Looking toward the future, my head is filled with a year’s worth of new and exciting projects for Nature’s Classroom.  And I can’t wait to see MEES’s continued work on the Massachusetts Environmental Literacy Plan!  It certainly is an exciting time to be a Massachusetts environmental educator.