Day 215

A few years back, I was fortunate enough to be nominated for and recipient of an Environmental Education Teacher of the Year award through a statewide organization known as the Wisconsin Association for Environmental Education (WAEE). Being brutally honest, I wasn’t very aware of this organization until I realized I was nominated for an award from it. I did my research and quickly became enamored with the work they do for education. I decided to see if I could help and was lucky enough to be voted on to their executive board. For nearly three years, I’ve done my best and felt I have helped (very little compared to my peers) to move environmental education (EE) forward in our state.

The work WAEE does goes far beyond EE. Whether it is networking with other organizations, advocating for both organizations and individuals,  building and strengthening a membership base, celebrating and recognizing amazing EE achievements, or working to make EE accessible and equitable for all, I am honored to be a part of this board and organization.

Every year, our board meets in person at a work retreat. I was happy to offer up Craneview on Plainview as our meeting spot. We met and discussed our successes, our shortcomings, and our goals. Together, we looked at what we stood for and how we could help spread our message in every corner of the state.

The weather was quite pleasant that day, so we spent the day on my back deck enjoying the natural world around us and the companionship and collaboration amongst our team. Our dog, Nugget, enjoyed meeting many new friends. The chickens also enjoyed receiving treats from their newest fans. We even found a new project to work on. Shuffling chairs around, one of our deck boards gave in and a chunk bit the dust. The projects never end at the farm.

At the end of our day, we walked away with a feeling of accomplishment and a clearer road map for the work shard. I was happy to host the WAEE board and hope they enjoyed their time on the farm. We look forward to hosting others in the future.

Even the Indiana Mafia.