Inspiring Environment
By Danielle Mateo
Now that my time with Miami University’s Graduate program comes close to an end, I think it is appropriate to look back and reflect upon some of the experiences I’ve had that brought me closer to nature and ways it has shaped my behavior and attitudes about the environment. Not only did the Global Field Program bring me closer to nature, but also to places that breathed life back into me as a teacher and a learner. Never before would I have believed I would travel to so many beautiful places to learn and forge connections through once in a lifetime conservation experiences. In Hawaii it was planting over 500 endangered species at Hakalau National Wildlife Refuge, hiking Kilauea Iki trail around the crater rim to the crater floor and through Thurston Lava Tube, stargazing on Mauna Kea, soaking up Hawaiian culture at Pu’uhonua O Honaunau National Historic Park, and swimming with manta rays in the Pacific. All of these experiences were essential in igniting my passion to bring nature experiences into schools as part of my master plan. I will continue my work with GROW Club at Cedar Fork Elementary School indefinitely, so that I may bring even a small piece of what I have learned back to my community.
By Danielle Mateo
Now that my time with Miami University’s Graduate program comes close to an end, I think it is appropriate to look back and reflect upon some of the experiences I’ve had that brought me closer to nature and ways it has shaped my behavior and attitudes about the environment. Not only did the Global Field Program bring me closer to nature, but also to places that breathed life back into me as a teacher and a learner. Never before would I have believed I would travel to so many beautiful places to learn and forge connections through once in a lifetime conservation experiences. In Hawaii it was planting over 500 endangered species at Hakalau National Wildlife Refuge, hiking Kilauea Iki trail around the crater rim to the crater floor and through Thurston Lava Tube, stargazing on Mauna Kea, soaking up Hawaiian culture at Pu’uhonua O Honaunau National Historic Park, and swimming with manta rays in the Pacific. All of these experiences were essential in igniting my passion to bring nature experiences into schools as part of my master plan. I will continue my work with GROW Club at Cedar Fork Elementary School indefinitely, so that I may bring even a small piece of what I have learned back to my community.