Pathways

by Krissy Hopkins

Official Publication of the New York State Outdoor Education Association Spring 2010 The seeds of the Basswood are quite distinctive as well. They hang in small clusters at an angle from the middle of a small leaflet that is oblong in shape. The whole assembly falls together from the tree in the early fall, before the leaves turn color and fall. I wondered why the seeds would have this peculiar structure, since I knew that nature seldom does things without a purpose. On a thought, I threw one of them into the air, and (can you guess it?) it fell slowly, in a spiraling fashion much like the much better-known winged seeds of maples. Delighted with my discovery, I knew that I had found another ready-made science demonstration/experiment for my class to make the day a little more interesting to them. One afternoon, at a staff meeting of the entire faculty of the school, I asked the headmaster for five minutes at the end of the meeting because I wanted to show my discovery to the staff. I held up the little Basswood seeds hanging from their parachute and asked the teachers (there were about By Katie Fox

Bay Backpack Website Promotes Outdoor Learning

The Chesapeake Bay Program launched Bay Backpack, www.baybackpack.com, an online resource for teachers and environmental educators to engage students in hands-on learning about the Chesapeake Bay and its local waterways. These waterways in New York State are part of the Susquehanna River Watershed draining through Pennsylvania and Maryland into the Bay.

Bay Backpack provides educators with the necessary resources to give their students a meaningful watershed educational experience through projects that allow students to gain a deep understanding of environmental issues in the Chesapeake Bay and its local streams and rivers. Teachers can use Bay Backpack to search by subject, location and grade level for books, lesson plans, curriculum
By Chaffee Monell

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Into the Swamp with the Outing Club

Late morning. I handle the paddle awkwardly, eyeing the fast-approaching embankment as I try to steer us back into the middle of the canal. However, our canoe seems determined to show us the local wildlife up close and personal, carrying us inexorably towards the overhanging branches and muddy shoreline. And yes, towards the nine-foot-long alligator sunning itself in that mud. Uh, I say to my canoe partner in the stern, I think you should use the J-stroke to turn. I am, she replies, but she sounds worried. Not, however, as worried as I feel. After all, Im the one who is sitting in the bow. The alligator looks awfully close. Snapper Petta, the leader of the trip and faculty advisor of the SUNY College at Oneontas Outing Club, had taught us the proper techniques for handling canoes before we had started the trip. As we drift towards the alligator, we fail to

Why Environmental Studies?

In the center of the campus where I used to work, there are three good-sized Basswood, or American Linden trees. Most everyone in the school passes underneath one of them at least once if not several times over the course of the day. There was a picnic table in a grassy area between the trees, and in good weather, there were invariably students or teachers seated, talking, reading or eating. On hot, sunny days, one could often see people lingering underneath the trees while talking, as they provided excellent shade. As the leaves of the trees began to turn, I always kept my eyes on the ground underneath those trees, for while the colors where not so spectacular as say, sugar maple, the veins showed prominently because of their darker color, and they produced a great image when xeroxed, and I used them for the children to label, watercolor, and trace the veins with colored pencils. In the spring, when the seeds sprouted, the first leaf, unlike the heart-shaped leaves to follow, gave the seedlings the appearance of miniature palm trees, and I often enjoyed showing them to the children, letting them guess what they were before revealing their identity. Sometimes I would rescue a few of them from the mowers by digging them out with a trowel and potting them, so the children could have a chance to observe their growth.

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w w w. n y s o e a . o rg 6 0 7 . 5 9 1 . 6 4 2 2
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NYSOEA Executive Board President MaryLynne Malone VP Administration Maritza Cuevas VP Communication Nirmal Merchant VP Human Resources Tim Stanley VP Program Rebecca Houser Secretary Meaghan Boice-Green Treasurer Elizabeth Van Acker Office Darleen Lieber

Invitation for Articles and News. The PATHWAYS team is always eager to hear from members and publish the articles that they have authored or news or event announcements that they would like to share with fellow members. We invite you to send your submission for our Summer issue. Simply send us the text with any supporting material -- pictures, newspaper clippings and more. We can receive it in any of the ways listed below. Advertising in Pathways PATHWAYS welcomes advertisements which will be of interest to the membership of NYSOEA. If you have a product, service, equipment, resource, program, etc. that you would like to share with our membership via an advertisement, we can receive it through any of the following ways: Email: pathways@nysoea.org Fax: (607) 753-5982 Mail: Darleen M. Lieber Ref: Pathways Advertisement / Article E-334 Park Center, SUNY Cortland RPLS Dept. PO Box 2000 Cortland, NY 13045

Materials should be typed. Please include a short biographical section about the author of the article. References cited in the article should be listed at the end of the article, APA style. (ISSN 1077-5100) PATHWAYS is published four times a year by the New York State Outdoor Education Association and is emailed to NYSOEA members. Opinions expressed by contributors are theirs solely and not necessarily those of the Editorial Board of PATHWAYS or of NYSOEA. Advertisements included in PATHWAYS should not be interpreted as endorsement of the product(s) by NYSOEA.

Regional Directors Eastern- Tim Neu Metro- Jessica Kratz Northern- Gary Griz Caudle Western- Lauren Makeyenko Central- Christine DeCesare 2010 National Conference Committee Chairs Jessica Olenych Betsy Ukeritis MaryLynne Malone PAthways Frank Knight (Editor) Darleen Lieber (Editor) Nathan Garcia (Layout, Student) Nicole Gatherer (Teacher) Jonathan Duda (Marketing Manager) Snapper Petta (Member) Richard Parisio (Poetry Editor)

A Note from the President

Hi all. I hope you have enjoyed a white winter and are ready for some warmer weather. Spring is a great time to start fresh, get rid of the cob webs, and enjoy the changes around us that are happening so quickly. Sap starts flowing, buds start forming, and before you know it, the trees and shrubs have leafed out! Each year they get a brand new start. Well 2010 has begun with the NYSOEA sap flowing. We had a wonderful Winter Weekend and awards ceremony at Ashokan. The NYSOEA Board, along with the ELP and Communications Committees, are working hard. The Tri-Chairs of the NAAEE Conference Committee are working very hard setting up the information for the 39th Annual Conference being held in our state, and soon we will be looking for volunteers to help on-site. The 2011 NYSOEA Conference Committee is being established and, before you know it, the buds are going to swell. Participate in one of our many regional events or join a committee. You can take the time to nominate someone for a NYSOEA award, invite a teacher to participate in our Teacher Ecology Workshop, or bring our display board to a conference or gathering you are planning to attend. Some of our long-time members feel as though their participation in NYSOEA has passed the leafing-out stage and on to fall - this is just reminder that you are still a valuable part of our organization, and each year, the natural cycle starts again! So for those of you who have been lying dormant, winter is over - lets spring into action! Wishing you well, MaryLynne

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Pathways Spring 2010

Mother Natures Child

Green Tech High Afterschool Fly Fishing Club to be featured in PBS Documentary. With fly rods and reels supplied by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservations Division of Fish and Wildlife, students at Green Tech High Charter School now have the opportunity to participate in an outdoor edventure club that takes them beyond their often restricted urban pastimes. On Saturday, October 3rd. the camera crew of the Fuzzy Slippers Production Company of Burlington, Vermont, filmed Green Tech High students fly fishing in Washington Park. These students will be featured in a production of a film Mother Natures Child about the relationship between young people and the natural world and its implications on their health and well being. The film is intended for PBS broadcast, educational, and home video use. The Green Tech High After-School Nature Clubs provide opportunities for students to set goals, be physically active together, practice group skills learned in teambuilding activities, and learn the basics of back packing, fly fishing and other outdoor pursuits while exploring the natural world. Teambuilding activities form the foundation of After-School Nature Clubs program. Under careful guidance from Green Tech staff and volunteer instructors, students use lots of imagination to develop and practice communication, leadership, trust, safety, responsibility, decision-making, and problem-solving skills. Patrick Sisti is a licensed Adirondack outdoor guide specializing in fly fishing. As an outdoor educator with a sincere desire to encourage the connection of todays urban youth with nearby nature, he volunteers his time and attention to a select group of students at the Green Tech High Charter School. The After-School Nature Clubs are coordinated by Brother Yusuf Burgess and the Youth Ed-Venture and Nature Network. Yusuf serves as the Parent Intervention Specialist for the Green Tech High Charter School.

Stirring the Pot

Beyond Copenhagen essay by Bjorn Lomborg In his essay on dealing with gobal warming, Bjorn Lomborg suggests economic and technological issues may be hindering the worlds progress. His suggestion: Instead of trying to make fossil fuels more expensive, we should focus on making alternative energy cheaper. To read the TIME, Dec. 04, 2009, article in full and give your opinion, please visit www.nysoea.org. Lomborg, the director of the Copenhagen Consensus Center, is the author of Cool It and The Skeptical Environmentalist

Make fossil fuels more expensive vs. making alternative fuels cheaper

For information about Yusef Burgess and Green Tech High Carter school in Albnay, NY, please visit www.nysoea.org.

Above: Adirondack Guide, Patrick Sisti, instructs students in dry fly casting techniques during an after-school nature club session at Green Tech High Charter School. Left: Green Tech High Charter School students Carlos Ventura and Daniel McClurkin demonstrate their straight-line casting at a nearby lake.

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RAmblings from red hill

Noah John Rondeau

The blizzard of 2010 raged silently outside our Adirondack cabin window. Snowflakes, almost undetectable in size yet heavy in substance, relentlessly fell to the ground. Accumulating at a rate that stressed both nature and the nerves, rifle cracks occasionally sounded as another tree or overburdened branch crashed to the forest floor. This was no time to be outside. With the electricity out, now was the time for reading or reflection; or in my case, both. Deep within the valley between the Seward and Santanoni mountain ranges lies a beautiful mountain stream. This area, once the realm of loggers, was the home of Noah John Rondeau, the Mayor of Cold River, population one. Noah went to the woods in 1929 to escape the escalating onslaught of civilization and authority in his life. His home, lovingly referred to as the Hermitage, was made possible through a life lease arrangement with the widow of the previous owner. When Noah moved in, the area looked nothing like it does today. Combining hard work and creativity, he fashioned a town made from recycled lumber camp buildings on the logged-out site. An ingenious creation of teepees, made up of long, pre-notched poles that would eventually become his winter wood supply, gave him temporary storage and housing for the many visitors who eventually made their way to his door. Rondeaus personal cabin, the Town Hall, was approximately 8 x 12 with four foot side walls and a ridge of only six feet. Being just over 5 in height, this served him very well. His bed, a wooden box propped up on four galvanized buckets found in an abandoned lumber camp, was lined with a mattress of sweet grass, marsh hay, and deerskins. Coupled with a bearskin and a wool blanket or two, Noah slept warmly throughout the harsh Adirondack win-

ters. During the worst of storms, Rondeau was able to stay within his cozy shelter, never having to go outside. Instead of braving the elements, he would remove rags which were stuffed in a hole bored through his log wall, reach out an arm, and pull in a pole from one of his teepees that had been staged outside for just this purpose. With a quick smack of his hand axe, Noah had a perfectly sized piece of fuel to feed the stove. Rounding out Noahs city was his other building, the Hall of Records. Housing a personal library consisting of texts on astronomy, religion, philosophy, and other weighty topics, this structure was also used as guest housing and a storehouse for the many supplies that Noahs friends brought in when they came for a visit. By now you might be wondering how a hermit ties into a storm of epic proportions. If you look back, youll notice I mentioned reading and reflection. At the time of the storm, I was engrossed in a new book on Noah and his journals. Described as looking like they were written by an inebriated chicken, Noah used a code he created to keep his personal diaries just that - personal. These journal entries, deciphered only within the past few years, add more details to his life in the Cold River valley as he experienced it season to season. As the storm waged its worst outside my window, I wondered if I would have been up to the challenge; living through it all in a small isolated cabin, the closest neighbor located about twenty miles away, by snowshoe no less. In this time of highly romanticized thoughts on the good old days, I wonder if they were really that good. Would I have survived Noahs lifestyle? Im not sure. I know I possess some of the skills he did, but did he ever get lonely? His journals never reflect feelings of loneliness or boredom, but I wonder nonetheless. Could I have done it? How about you? Until next time, may all your rambles lead you to new and exciting places... Pathways Spring 2010

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by Snapper Petta

by Sarice Greenstein

Subjects Matter

Whos That?!?
Environmental Awareness Network for Diversity in Conservation
Brother Yusuf is the Parent Intervention Specialist at Green Tech High Charter School in Albany, New York. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Children and Nature Network and a former Environmental Educator for NYS DEC responsible for its diversity program and for increasing urban diversity at its summer youth camps. He is member of Albany Schools Youth Safety Task Force, a collaborator on Youth Violence Intervention Conferencing, and a friend and mentor to many young people. As a dedicated youth professional, he engages youngsters in exploring the natural world with a variety of outdoor recreation activities: camping, boating, hunting, fishing, hiking, and skiing all outside the often-constricting worlds they live in. Brother Yusuf serves as Chairperson of the Environmental Awareness Network for Diversity in Conservation (EANDC) and is a member of NYSOEAs Diversity Committee. He is a graduate of the Leadership Training Institute of Hofstra College and is currently taking a course in environmental education and urban planning at Empire State College. Brother Yusuf lives in Albanys Arbor Hill close to the Hudson River where he kayaks and peddles the adjoining bike path with Cheri, his wife of 40 years.

Life, Death, Dirt and Walt Whitman

INTRODUCTION This lesson includes an analysis of Walt Whitmans poem, This Compost, from his famous collection of poetry, Leaves of Grass. Through a literary lens, students will discuss and understand the rebirth of organic materials through composting. LESSON OVERVIEW Grade Level & Subject: Grades 9-12: Language Arts and/or English Length: One 45 min. class period Objectives: After completing this lesson, students will be able to: Analyze the poem, This Compost, through a literary lens Relate the poem, This Compost, to the rebirth of organic material Compare facts about the decomposition and renewal process of compost to language use and word choice in the poem, This Compost Consider why composting is a contradictory process that is a natural part of the earths cycle of life Explain how composting is the rebirth of organic material (To view the lesson in full please visit www.nysoea.org)
(Bay Backpack cont.)

guides and other materials to support their classroom studies. Bay Backpack includes an interactive map that teachers can use to find outdoor educational programs in their communities. A training calendar lists professional development opportunities that help educators build confidence to teach about environmental topics. Bay Backpack also lists funding programs that provide the often-missing piece to support environmental education, including field trips and projects such as schoolyard habitats. Additionally, Bay Backpack uses a blog to feature new education initiatives and in-depth resources such as ideas for classroom projects. Educators can share information with each other on the blog by leaving comments or writing guest entries about their own environmental education programs. To learn more about Bay Backpack, visit www.baybackpack.com. Interested educators can also follow Bay Backpack on Twitter @baybackpack to receive additional education-related news and resources.
Krissy Hopkins is a member of the Chesapeake Bay Programs Fostering Stewardship Team and Education Workgroup.

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(Into the Swamp cont.)

remember the less obvious ones. Forget the J-stroke! I shout back at her as the canoe drifts closer to the shore. Just sweep! All right, maybe the gator isnt dangerously close, but hey, Id never seen one of these animals this close without a wall between us. I am certain that both parties would appreciate a little distance. By dint of sheer strength and more than a little panic, we maneuver the aluminum canoe away from the alligator and zig directly towards the opposite shore. One or the both of us overcorrect the boat, and we zag back across the canal. It would look bizarre to someone watching from land, but luckily for us, our group is alone on the canal for the moment. We all weave back and forth and do our best to avoid each other while learning the basics of canoeing.

Plenty of time to worry and wonder whether this trip was a mistake. Id never been this far from home before and had never paddled a canoe either. There was plenty for me to worry about until we launched our canoes into the swamp, but when the stress of controlling the canoe began to fade, so did my collection of anxieties and fears. I couldnt help but enjoy myself because the Okefenokee was simply amazing. It took me a while to understand the repercussions of that trip. I began to realize that facing my fears had given me something precious: memories that I still treasure today. Because of it, I began to gain confidence. This trip accelerated what had started during the previous fall when I became a student trail guide for the Outing Club. Over the next few years following that first major trip, I began to expand my comfort zone and found myself with a conglomeration of experience that I had never dreamed possible. With the Outing Club I traveled to Acadia National Park in Maine as well as back down to the Okefenokee the following year. By assisting Snapper with numerous day hikes and other trips, I learned how to look out for the safety of a group in the woods. Since Oneonta offers a minor in outdoor education, I signed up for it and broadened my horizons even more through the required leadership classes. Now I am looking ahead to a possible career in this incredible field. Life isnt an easy or simple path to navigate, but looking back upon my accomplishments over the past four years, I feel up to the challenge. No matter where it is that I end up, however, the Outing Club has given me a solid foundation to base not just a possible career, but my outlook on life. How many clubs can claim as much? Evening. Were on a sunset boat tour; no J-strokes required. As the sun begins its languid descent into the distant line of cypresses, wave after wave of ibises flies overhead, their reflections cutting across the tea-colored water of the swamp prairie. The beating of their wings overhead and the nearby croaks of a Sandhill Crane join the distant, trilling melody of a whippoorwill to complete the alien, stirring voice of the swamp. Behind our boat, the orange-gold moon begins to rise and brings cooler air with it. Alligator eyes shine from the waters placid surface, the only hints that ancient predators are hunting around us. I have to keep reminding myself, this is real.

Theres nothing like the threat of running straight into an eight-hundred-pound predator to promote effective canoe handling skills. A short while later, my partner and I get the knack of steering straight down the water trail. We even remember how to work the J-stroke. At last, we start to enjoy the view. And what a view it is, too. The sunlight streams through draperies of Spanish moss, which hangs from cypress limbs like shaggy beards. The water reflects perfectly; its opaque, tea-like color creating a mirror of its surface. It is a year of drought, so alligators that would have normally been hidden underwater are up on the dry banks for us to admirefrom a distance. Their eyes appear at various intervals in the water around us, watching our approach, and vanishing in a stirring of ripples as we draw closer. Chattering kingfishers swoop across the trail of water before us, and ibises wade through open stretches of green lily pads - thousands of white daubs against a background of green. The Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia is one of the most beautiful areas Ive ever seen and one of the most unlikely places for me to have ended up. When I told my family what I had decided to do with my spring break during my sophomore year, I was repeatedly asked the question, Are you crazy? Id had plenty of time to ask it of myself during the nineteen hours it took to drive down there with the five other Outing Club participants and the two trip leaders. 6 of 14

Katie Fox is an alumnus of SUNY College at Oneonta .

Pathways Spring 2010

by Reba Wynn Laks

Nature in a Bronx Housing Project

Some kids are just naturally drawn to the outdoors. While youngsters growing up in a rural area have nature beckoning at their doorsteps, for those of us who got our start in an urban environment, nature was a bit more elusive. Still, it could be found if one took a closer look. During part of my early childhood, my family lived in the Eastchester Housing Project in the Bronx. At age six or seven, I wasnt conscience of paying any more attention to creatures and plants than anyone else. Along with the other kids, I still played hopscotch in boxes drawn on the pavement with chalk and jumped double Dutch rope. In the playground, I climbed the monkey bars, stood on metal swings, and pumped with my legs to make them go as high as I could and ran through the sprinklers in the summertime. I and the other kids raced along the pavement on our roller skates despite the inevitable skinned knees - I still have the scars to prove it (as well as a skate key somewhere in a box in the basement). On the Fourth of July we ran around at dusk holding sparklers up high. The Project did have areas of grass and trees, but these were closed off by hedges and by fences of red, splintery, wooden slates and wire. One risked a handful of splinters as well as a palm stained red if you tried to climb over the fence. My third floor apartment bedroom window overlooked one of these fenced in areas and the cool green grass beckoned to me below seen but out of reach. Yet, directly outside my window was an oak tree, its branches dipping down towards the ground. Bright colored Blue Jays, striking in their blue, white and black pattern, called raucously as they flew among the branches. Grey squirrels also leaped about. Back outside in the courtyard between the apartment buildings, little sparrows hopped about looking for crumbs that people might have dropped. Fascinating to watch were the ants going in and out of cracks in the pavement. I remember crouching down low to get a better look. In spring, a sweetsmelling white flower blossomed on the hedges. Maple trees grew in the surrounding neighborhood. Like many kids, I took the seeds and stuck them on my nose, though the word samara (a simple dry fruit) was eons away from being part of my vocabulary. I didnt know the names of many of these creatures and plants, but the way they looked was etched in my mind. Perhaps it was better that no one identified these things for me. Instead, I absorbed their characteristics to the point where years later, as I began to study natural history, it would be like rediscovering old friends. Ah, I would say to myself, that had been a pin oak outside my window, a privet hedge along the walkway and a House (or English) Sparrow in the courtyard. I remember being very happy and content with my life in the housing project. There were other children to play with and I always felt safe. My mother was only a yell away up to the third floor window. I freely went up and down the building elevator by myself. My carbon footprint was certainly lower than it is now as I not only walked to the playground that was on the grounds of the Eastchester Housing Project, but also walked to school, as well as walking with my mother to nearby stores. We had one car that my father drove to work but we also took the elevated trains and subways to many places. It was not a pollution free environment - far from it with the exhaust of cars and trucks. Smog and other pollutants were present. I envied the local surrounding houses that had small backyards of their own. Inside were gardens of tomato plants and flowers. In my young mind, I resolved that one day I would have a square of land to call my own. At age eight, my family left the housing project and moved to Staten Island. There, we did indeed have a small backyard. Though Staten Island was culture shock in many ways (the kids didnt play hopscotch, jump double Dutch rope, or roller skate as there were no large areas of pavement to play on), the fields, woods, and local pond quickly lured and beckoned me outdoors. Tree climbing, exploring, and winter sledding and skating soon became some of my favorite activities. While I found adjustment into a new school and community to be difficult, nature and the out-ofdoors became a healing retreat. As an adult, for many years now I have lived in a house in the Catskills on a couple of acres of land. Deer, turkeys, opossum, and even the occasional bear sometimes wander through my backyard. I could not now imagine living in an apartment building in a city surrounded by concrete, brick, tall buildings, and noise. Still, when I think back on my early urban, apartment dwelling beginnings, I remember family, friends to play with, and nature only a blue jays call away.

Reba Wynn Laks is the Director of Stony Kill Farm Environmental Education Center, a facility of the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation. Previously, she was Education Director at the Mohonk Preserve. A member of NYSOEA for approximately 15 years, she served on the Board for three years as the Eastern Regional Representative. Pathways Spring 2010 7 of 12

(Why Env. Studies cont.)

by tom stock

25) if any of them knew what this strange object was. No one knew, though some ventured guesses. I gave them a hint, saying that every one of them had probably stepped on one that day (they littered the ground between the main buildings of the school). Still, no one could figure out what it was except that perhaps it was a seed of some sort. I had it passed around the group and asked each teacher to make some observation or comment relevant to the seed, but different from what everyone else had said. Everyone could say something different. I then repeated my flight experiment before them. Following that, I revealed what the seed was. We then briefly discussed some of the lessons that could originate from that little seed: (a) in a math/physics class, one could examine the property of spirals or measure the difference in time the parachute caused the seed to take in falling to the ground, thereby calculating the distance the seeds could fall from the tree with crosswinds of different strengths, b)a writing or poetry class could work on describing the seed, the way it fell through the air, or about something else it made them think of, (c) a music class could explore the kinds of music that the motion of the falling seed might evoke, (d) a biology class could use it as an example of seed dispersal or evolution, compare it to other seeds, plant it and watch it sprout, (e) an art class could draw it, (f) a history class could investigate the ways in which Linden trees were connected to human history and folklore, (g) an economics class could discuss the trees economic importance. In conclusion, I mentioned to the group that the type of thinking that we had been doing was exercised infrequently in schools. Most thinking taught in schools is convergent thinking,* whereas this type is known as divergent thinking. Both are important, but since we already give a good deal of attention to convergent thought, perhaps we should step out of the box and give a bit more emphasis to divergent thought (more about this later). *According to Wikipedia, divergent thinking is a thought process or method used to generate creative ideas by exploring many possible solutions. It is often used in conjunction with convergent thinking, which follows a particular set of logical steps to arrive at one correct solution. To read the article in full please visit www.nysoea.org. 8 of 14

AN OUTDOOR EXPERIENCE AT JONES BEACH, NEW YORK, WINTER 2010

Nancy wrote a seal poem before attending the WRITE HARBOR SEAL POETRY event on Saturday, February 27, 2010. Three couples gathered at the Theodore Roosevelt Nature Center at Jones Beach State Park. We gathered for a workshop and hopes to see harbor seals in the intercoastal waterway nearby. We stowed our lunches and were treated to natural history folk singer Jerry Ahern. Director Annie McIntyre followed with a seal power point presentation. Our goal was to learn facts about harbor seals, hopefully see them in the wild, then end with a poetry writing session and sharing. The seals had moved to another location after six successful years of wildlife viewing. We opted to walk the boardwalk. Stong westerly winds piled snow drifts against false beach heather. We spotted fox and rabbit tracks, and in the dunes, a flock of smallish birds working for beach grass seeds. I caught a few field marks and said that they looked like small meadowlarks with a yellow streak through the eye and a stout bill. Using workshop leader Max Wheats field guide, I identified the bird as a dicksissel, way out of its normal central USA range. A suitable substute for the missing harbor seals. We broke for lunch and listened to an introduction on how to write poetry by Wheat, long-time NYSOEA presenter and member. Then we broke into a 20 minute writing session followed by sharing our first drafts. Heres mine: SHE HAS YET TO SEE ONE Now, however, there is her need Having already written a seal poem Based on questions about seals Where do they live? How do they sleep? She wrote. Perhaps shell see one bottling, or galumpling, Or maybe even porpoising. Perhaps her need will have to wait To go where they live To look And discover something else. The program ended with a few more songs by Jerry Ahern and a brief harbor seal puppet. Tom Stock made Nancy the harbor seal puppets using color photos and hot glued white straightened white paper clips to show long whiskers and Tom the Walrus with tusks and google eyes and plastic strands from an old scrubbing brush for vibrisse - walrus whiskers. Nancy still has ample opportunity to view one of the more than 4,000 harbor seals that visit Long Island in the winter looking for the plentiful herring schools in Atlantic Oceans cold water. Tom Stock, NYSOEA life member, poet, naturalist, puppeteer, pine barrens enthusiast, retired science teacher, will present a soil workshop at the National Environmental Education Association in Buffalo, N.Y. in September 2010 tstock39@gmail.com Pathways Spring 2010

Natural ly Poetic
The day before he leaves for California, Jared and you buy sandwiches and soda from the corner deli and take them to eat in the park by the high school. The clouds are pale and heavy with water. Across the pond, a family feeds bread to the snapping turtles, who watch them with unblinking dinosaur eyes. Morons, you mutter, and he swigs in silent agreement. Years ago, the two of you tossed pebbles into the water, watched the ripples bloom and merge. He says, too many people come round here now, man. You do not say, you wont

The poem was submitted to the national contest River of Words, featuring poetry and art on the theme of watersheds for grades K-12. To learn more about River of Words, contact me (rparisio@hotmail.com) or go to www.riverofwords.org. -Richard Parisio Pathways Poetry Editor NYS Coordinator for ROW

anymore. You look at his reflection in the water, a pool of wobbling color with inkblots for eyes, your face floating beside it like a cast-off shadow. Tomorrow there will be rain, you think, and a paper due, and snapping turtles with their ancient, savage shells, their pig-like nostrils. Something warm swells behind your eyes. The sky is vibrating just a little, and only around the corners. - Caroline Dean Scarsdale, NY

B-WET Grant funds workshops within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed in New York State.
We all live in watersheds, and the Chesapeake Bay watershed stretches across more than 64,000 square miles, encompassing parts of six states including Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia and the entire District of Columbia. Almost 17 million people live in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and what they do every day impacts how clean our local waterways are. This summer, Central New York teachers located within the Chesapeake Bay watershed will be eligible to take part in Bay education opportunities designed to help teachers provide their students with Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEEs). Teachers can choose to attend a five-day Chesapeake Bay Academy at Rogers Environmental Education Center, or a Project WET in the Bay Institute. Programs focus on the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, and teachers will learn content and methods for providing Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEE) for their students. In follow-up outreach with participants students, MWEEs will be modeled and support material provided. School districts at the headwaters and along tributaries will be targeted. Learn some creative ways to integrate the Chesapeake Bay and environmental issues into your classroom lessons by visiting the Bay Backpack website at http://www. baybackpack.com Search through the Bay Backpacks books, multimedia, curriculum guides, individual lesson plans, and online data sources about the subjects you are teaching in class. If you are interested in attending the five day academy at Rogers or in scheduling a Project WET workshop in your area, please contact Amy Kochem at Rogers Environmental Education Center. Email aekochem@gw.dec. state.ny.us or call 607 674 4017, ext. 628

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The New York State Outdoor Education Association Recognizes Outstanding Individuals
(OLIVEBRIDGE, NY) On Saturday, February 6th, after a cold winters day of attending ecology workshops, maple sugaring classes, and craftmaking sessions, attendees of Ashokans Winter Weekend gathered in the glowing warmth of a grass-pellet stove to honor those who have contributed vast amounts of time and effort in the field of outdoor education over the year. The recipients of this years awards are as follows:

The Environmental Impact Award--given to an individual or organization involved in research, conservation, and political action that influenced, protected, and successfully dealt with problems associated with the environment--was presented to the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater.

The Service Award--for outstanding support of Association goals by contribution of personal time and energy--was presented to Susan Hereth, Education Coordinator for Scenic Hudson, whose contributions as a Conference Chair, the Chair of the Literacy Committee, and the great strides that committee has made in accomplishing NYSOEAs goal to be an environmentally literate state, and to Tim Stanley of the Fresh Air Funds Sharpe Environmental Center for going above and beyond the tasks set for the positions of VP Program and VP Human Resource as well as spearheading the establishment of the Environmental Literacy Committee.

The Appreciation Award--awarded to a NYSOEA member or member affiliate group who has contributed to the growth and/or betterment of the organization--was presented to Betsy Ukeritis of the New York State DEC and Jessica Olenych of Common Grounds Education Consulting in Arkville for chairing the 2010 North American Association for Environmental Education Conference, and to Nirmal Merchant, the VP Communications, for the impressive short-time span for implementing the redesign of the new website.
Awards photos by Frank Knight

The Outdoor Educator Award--recognizing the outstanding classroom teacher, outdoor/environmental educator or interpreter in the Association who has used the outdoors to enrich curriculum and/or interpret the natural world in a way that has expanded the environmental appreciation of children or adults--was presented to Nance Gross, Program Director at the Ashokan Center. Pathways Spring 2010

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environmental education Building Connections~Bridging Gaps

naaees 39th annual conference
Buffalo-Niagara, New York Sept. 29 - Oct. 2, 2010 7th Annual Research Symposium Sept. 28 & 29 Join us as we welcome these special guests

TOM CHAPIN Wednesday, September 29 Opening Ceremony Join Grammy Award-winning musician, entertainer, singersongwriter, and storyteller Tom Chapin as he helps NAAEE kick off its 39th Annual Conference!

LOIS GIBBS Thursday, September 30 Lois Gibbs, founder of the Center for Health, Environment and Justice, won the nations first community relocation of 900 families due to a leaking toxic waste dump in Love Canal, New York. Through this effort she helped the nation to recognize the link between peoples exposures to dangerous chemicals in their communities and serious public health impacts.

OREN LYONS Saturday, October 2 Annual Awards Lunch Chief Oren Lyons is the Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan, and a member of the Onondaga Nation Council of Chiefs of the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy. His many interests include international indigenous affairs and international environmental issues. Among his many awards are the First Annual Earth Day International Award of the United Nations and the Elder and Wiser Award of the Rosa Parks Institute for Human Rights.

Pathways Spring 2010

THE CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS closes February 11 of 14 1, 2010

http://www.naaee.org/conference/call-for-presentations

by Vicki Wilkins, Ph.D.

Pathways to Creating Accessible Trails

In the woods where I live and play, we are between winter and spring in what we affectionately call mud season! Out come the hiking boots as we put away snow shoes and cross-country skis. Its the season for the NYS Inclusive Recreation Resource Center (IRRC) to help make trails more accessible to people of all abilities and to suggest some useful resources. My involvement with accessibility began almost 30 years ago starting with trails. Small groups of students and I would head to Shavers Creek Nature Center and work on the trails. Our intent was never to post a sign stating this trail is accessible; nor was it to convince administrators to pave the trails. We were there to figure out what made trails inaccessible and see what improvements we could make. We studied the literature available at the time and listened to and observed members of a local support group for individuals with visual impairments, as well as a friend who uses a wheelchair, by coaxing them onto the trails. Little has changed in the way we look at trails, but what has changed is this: We now know that people need information - accurate, specific, descriptive information to make recreation participation decisions based on their interests and abilities. We learned that we needed to focus on trail edges, incline, cross slope, surface, width and length, and overhead clearance. Here are some helpful resources; all of which describe trail characteristics in detail and all give trail users decisionmaking choices. Universal Trail Assessment Process (UTAP) www.beneficialdesigns.com/trails/utap Much like NYS IRRCs Inclusivity Assessment Tool, UTAP is concerned with providing land managers and trail users with accurate and detailed information. UTAP describes trail conditions and features (e.g., boardwalk, picnic table) and then posts the information for potential users to decide for themselves. Stations are established at the beginning and end of each trail or trail segment and then along the trail whenever there is (1) a visual change of about 15 degrees or more in trail direction, (2) 5% or more in grade or cross slope, (3) a significant change in tread width, (4) a change in surface; or when (5) the previous station will be out of sight for more than about 100 feet, or (6) the trail branches or intersects another trail. Measurements are then taken at the station, from one station to the next, at a typical or representative point between stations, at maximum grade and cross slope, and minimum clearance width. Parks & Trails New York (PTNY) www.ptny.org Accessible Parks and Trails Programs mission is to make New Yorks parks and trails accessible to people with physical limitations. To do this, PTNY decided to create a group of trained volunteers to gather the necessary 12 of 14 NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) www.dec.ny.gov Led by Carole Fraser, Statewide Access Coordinator, and by regional access coordinators, DEC accessible facilities provide hiking and other outdoor recreation choices for all visitors. On the DEC website, find the names of the regional access coordinators as well as links to their inclusive facilities. Also link to John Dillon Park (www. johndillonpark.org), a fully accessible wilderness area facility. Access Board www.access-board.gov/outdoor/ Trails are addressed in the Draft Final Accessibility Guidelines for Outdoor Recreation Areas for addition to the Architectural Barriers Act Americans with Disabilities Act Guidelines. Technical provisions address surface, clear tread width, passing spaces, obstacles, slope, cross slope, resting intervals, gates and barriers, and trail signs. The guidelines suggest that trail signs include: trail or segment length, surface type, typical and minimum tread width, typical and maximum running slope. Spring brings us new things to see in our woods, and trails will get us there all of us. Make every effort to make the trails comply with the three resources guidelines above. Provide descriptive information about the trails so that people with disabilities and their friends and families can make better trail choices. Help the NYS IRRC promote opportunities for people of all abilities to recreate and play wherever they choose! For more information and questions about trails, please visit www.nysirrc.org. Pathways Spring 2010
NYS DECs Black Pond Trail

information for their Trail Finder Maps. They hosted twoday UTAP Certified Coordinator Trainings from 2006 through 2008 to develop a group with the knowledge, skills, and commitment needed to assess New Yorks trails. Learn more about this program and the names of the UTAPtrained volunteers, trainers, and coordinators on their website.

NAAEE Environmental Education Scholarships for Academic Study

The North American Association for Environmental Education is holding their annual conference this fall in BuffaloNiagara (Sept. 29-Oct. 2). In conjunction with this conference, there are several scholarship opportunities that may be of interest to your students. One of the scholarships in particular is reserved for a college/university student in New York State pursuing a career relating to environmental education. Please share this information with your students, or feel free to forward this to colleagues who work with students who may be interested in these opportunities. Environmental Education Scholarships for Academic Study in the amount of $500 to $1,000 are available from the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) for students attending a college or university in New York (the host state of the 2010 NAAEE conference). Scholarship recipients are encouraged to attend the NAAEE conference in Buffalo-Niagara, New York; thus, in addition to the scholarship, scholarship recipients will be offered a free registration to the conference (September 29 October 2, 2010) and a one-year student membership in NAAEE. Applicants must be currently preparing for a career in formal or nonformal environmental education through coursework (including pre-service teacher preparation), volunteer experiences, or paid work.

NESEA: Wind Wisdom workshop on Staten Island April 17 1-4 pm

Wind Wisdom in the Classroom The Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA), in collaboration with the New York State Outdoor Education Association (NYSOEA), is facilitating Wind Wisdom for School Power Naturally, a free professional development workshop for formal and non-formal educators on Saturday, April 17, at the Greenbelt Nature Center on Staten Island, NY, from 1:00 4:00 p.m.

Wind Wisdom for School Power Naturally offers a hands-on introduction to the technology and engineering involved in renewable wind energy and provides a context for teaching scientific and engineering principles related to properties of the wind, energy transformations, and electricity. This workshop is suitable for teachers who work with grades K-6. At this workshop, educators will receive: engaging, hands-on science and engineering activities that support New York State Learning Standards and Core Curriculum, addressing specific performance indicators, and enrich existing scholastic programming a free Wind Energy Education Kit curricular units Wind Wisdom for School Power Naturally (two units), grades K-4 and 5-6.

Eligibility Requirements: Applicants must be enrolled at least half-time in an academic program at the time of their application and at the time of the 2010 conference. Applicants do not have to be current members of NAAEE. Persons of color and people working in environmental justice are especially encouraged to apply. The scholarship application can be accessed online at http://www.naaee.org/conference/scholarships Education Consulting P.O. Box 39 Southfields, NY 10975 (845)351-2967 Pathways Spring 2010

Registration is required. TO REGISTER, visit the NESEA website http://www.nesea.org/k-12/events/ click on 4/17 Wind Wisdom workshop and click on here for a downloadable registration form. For questions, please contact NESEAs Education Director at 413-774-6051 x 21 or email agrindrod@nesea.org This workshop is part of the Solar Sails New York Project: an Expansion of Solar and Wind Energy Education for School PowerNaturally. MANY THANKS to our sponsor: the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) for making this project possible.

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Pathways
In this Spring 2010 issue: Living in the Bronx Dirt, Dirt, dirt Stirring the pot Why Environmental Studies and more....

Check out our NEW and IMPROVED website! www.nysoea.org

Our Mission

NYSOEA is a professional organization that promotes interdisciplinary life-long learning in, for, and about the outdoors and seeks to inspire appreciation of the environment by all people.

14 of 14 c/o Department of Recreation, Parks and Leisure Studies P.O. Box 2000 SUNY Cortland Cortland, New York 13045

New York State Outdoor Education Association

Pathways Spring 2010

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