About our members
Here is a list of the current members of the collaborative, and a bit about their organizations, reprinted from our program, with a few additions.
The list is alphabetical by organization. To search, use CTRL-F on your keyboard.
Action for Children
Contact: 78 Jefferson Avenue Columbus, OH 43215 (614) 224-0222 www.actionforchildren.org
Betsy Loeb ext. 126;
Katie Sandford ext. 515;
Founded in 1972, Action for Children (AfC) is the source for childcare and early learning services in Central Ohio. AfC provides quality professional development to child care center teachers, directors and home child care providers. In FY2006, approximately 5,100 participants accessed 3,100 hours of classes. AfC’s collaborators included Columbus State, OSU, YMCA, OCCRRA (Ohio Child Care Resource & Referral Agency).
Our high-tech age and standards-driven culture fosters a mix of learning opportunities for us all. AfC embraces what is developmentally appropriate for young children and an educational philosophy that values children’s natural inquisitiveness and hands-on play approach to learning. In this context we also promote the role that the physical environment—indoors and outdoors—plays on the child’s learning and over-all well being.
AfC hopes to create an environmental education curriculum and train staff of after school and early childhood programs on the significance of the outdoors for a child’s healthy growth and development.
If a child is to keep his inborn sense of wonder,
he needs the companionship of at least one adult
who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in.”
~ Rachel Carson
ADAMH Board of Franklin County (Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health)
Contact: 447 East Broad St., Columbus, OH 43215; 614-224-1057; www.adamhfranklin.org
Kythryn Carr Hurd, Network Services Manager
ADAMH — the Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Board of Franklin County — is making a difference in our community, restoring and improving people’s lives. ADAMH funds, evaluates and plans for the necessary services in our community then purchases care from community experts. Our mission is to improve the well-being of our community by reducing the incidence of mental health problems and eliminating the abuse of alcohol and other drugs in Franklin County. We do not provide any direct service, but instead contract with more than 40 local agencies you know and trust. These community not-for-profit agencies provide quality mental health and alcohol/drug addiction treatment services on a sliding scale fee, so that regardless of income, you can receive the help you need. Community professionals also work in hundreds of schools to provide prevention programming to help young people avoid ever using alcohol or drugs.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Ohio
Contact: Megan Bayes Projects Coordinator
Since 1942, Camp Oty’Okwa has been owned and operated by Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Ohio. Group mentoring in nature offers youth a new and different environment to interact with their peers, while receiving guidance and support from adults. Camping allows for learning and for change; a planned program in the out-of-doors from which the children can derive personal, social, emotional, cognitive and physical benefits. Operating year-round, Camp Oty’Okwa also provides other programs such as Environmental Education for school groups and a variety of rental opportunities for most any size group. All rental proceeds support all BBBS programs.
Camp Fire USA Central Ohio Council
Contact: Amy Boyd, CEO 614-481-8227
1515 W Lane Ave Columbus OH 43221 www.centralohiocampfire.org
Camp Fire has been in the camping business for nearly 100 years! The central Ohio Council is in the third year of a vision for “Reuniting Children and Nature—Bringing 10,000 Kids to the Woods by 2010.” Through traditional resident camp, day camps, family camping, and a new one week grief camp for children who have lost a parent or sibling, we seek to provide meaningful and direct contact with nature. Within the next two years, we plan to develop a full range of outdoor education opportunities for the spring and fall months.
“No amount of lovely old towns and grand
cathedrals can make up for the comradeship
and out-of-doors and the activities and
beauties of life in the pine woods.”
~ Charlotte Gulick
Camp Wanake
Contact: Julie Lautt, 330-756-2333
9463 Manchester Ave. SW, Beach City, OH 44608 www.campwanake.org
Sharing the love of the creator through creation. Providing a place of nature for everyone.
Columbus Public Health Healthy Places Program
Contact: Christine Godward, Coordinator 240 Parsons Ave Columbus, OH 43215
614-645-5318
The mission of Healthy Places is to enhance healthy and active living by 1) establishing development policies and practices that reduce negative health impacts and by 2) creating places that foster physical activity as a part of everyday life. The Healthy Places program recognized when opportunities are designed for children to be physically active, all users are accommodated. The Healthy Places program is currently advocating for walkability and bikeability in the neighborhood planning process; commenting on development proposals; conducting walking audits with neighborhoods that result in neighborhood walking maps and a report of findings; and working within other City of Columbus processes to ensure that children and people of all ages have safe, convenient access to physical activity as a part of their everyday life.
I like nature because it provides shade.
~ Caroline, 5 yrs old
Columbus Department of Recreation and Parks
Contact: Elayna Grody - 614-645-3304
Mission Statement: To enrich the lives of our citizens.
The department provides and maintains parks, pools, recreation centers and nature preserves and provides activities through camps, recreation center programs and park activities. We truly believe that your leisure time is one of your most valuable assets. Filling time with the right things for you, enhances your quality of life. We try to make certain we offer something for everybody, whatever their age or interest. Take a look and you will find numerous exciting, informational, creative and accessible programs. If fall days just spent with your friends and family enjoying the outdoors is what you want, you’ll find plenty of places to enjoy that too. Whatever you choose, on behalf of our Commission, City Council, the Honorable Michael B. Coleman and the Columbus Recreation and Parks Staff wish you well.
Columbus Zoo and Aquarium
Contact: Barbara Revard – 614-645-3448,
Danielle Ross – 614-724-3551,
It is the mission of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium to promote awareness and understanding of the interdependence of the natural world and to present to our community interactive, participatory, and educational exhibits and activities that represent that relationship.
The Zoo shall achieve this mission by teaching and participating in conservation, both on and off-site, contributing to the discovery of biological knowledge, offering enjoyable education and family-oriented recreational opportunities, and instilling in all who visit a sense of adventure and discovery.
Currently we offer several programs for children, ages two through adult. These include our Summer Experience day camps, Camp-Ins (weekend overnights), scouting opportunities, the Battelle Zoo Science Quest, which targets students visiting the Zoo on field trips and a teen volunteer program, ZooAides.
As the Zoo grows, we continue to look for opportunities to expand these programs – including collaborations with other local organizations. In addition the Zoo is developing a Teens for Planet Program, which is aimed at promoting environmental awareness and action.
Look deep into nature, and then you will
understand everything better.
~Albert Einstein
COSI Columbus
Contact: Sharon Tinianow, phone: 614-629-3146,
COSI’s Mission Statement ~ as adopted in 1964
COSI provides an exciting and informative atmosphere for those of all ages to discover more about our environment, our accomplishments, our heritage, and ourselves. We motivate a desire toward a better understanding of science, industry, health, and history through involvement in exhibits, demonstrations, and a variety of educational activities and experiences. COSI is for the enrichment of the individual and for a more rewarding life on our planet, Earth.
Last summer, a native prairie was planted in COSI’s outdoor area. We have been pleasantly surprised by the number of insects, birds and spiders that have shown up in only two growing seasons. We hope the Summit will give us some good ideas on how to interpret this new experience with guests. In addition, COSI is looking for ways to encourage families to explore the outdoors through exhibits, programs, and partnerships.
The Dawes Arboretum
Contact: Sara Lowe Education Director
7770 Jacksontown Road Newark, Ohio 43056 740-323-2355
Our role with children + nature is as follows: The Dawes Arboretum mission is to increase the love and knowledge of trees, history and the natural world. The Arboretum grounds include horticultural collection areas, farmlands, grasslands, wetlands, and woodlands which are vital for outdoor exploration. Visitors may take part in staff-led or self-led interpretation throughout our grounds. A Discovery Center with animals and exhibits further interprets the Arboretum’s mission. As we advance education at the Arboretum, we strive to network with other institutions sharing similar goals. We, as others, stand ready to contribute information, ideas and creative energy to keep children and adults connected with trees and nature.
Q: If you had a magic wand and could do
something special for nature…what would you do?
A: If someone was trying to kill a butterfly, I would
give the butterfly special powers…really good
hearing…they would hear the person trying to
hurt them, and the butterfly would make them nice.
~ Alice, 5
Environmental Education Council of Ohio
Contact: Brenda Metcalf, Executive Director 740.653.2649
We are a nonprofit organization for individuals and organizations committed to education, outreach and training about the environment. Our Mission is: EECO leads in facilitating environmental education that fosters global stewardship and a sustainable future for all Ohioans. Our Vision is: All Ohioans are environmentally literate and engage in decision making that ensures sustainability for future generations.
We are also the Affiliate Organization for the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) that is currently working Nationally on No Child Left Inside Legislation. For more information you can visit, www.eeco-online.org or www.naaee.org.
Fairfield Soil and Water Conservation District
Contact: Vicki Kohli, Education Specialist
The Fairfield Soil and Water Conservation District works with the county and city schools for Environmental Education programming in all disciplines and grade levels. I do indoor as well as outdoor education with students, sometimes at the school itself, and other times at nature centers. We assist with land lab layout, design, and usage. We sponsor soil judging, conservation poster, and high school envirothon contests. We also sponsor a 5th grade tree seedling give-a-way to the entire county. We co-sponsor Earth Camp annually in the summer, and Earth Day in April. I work with teachers, as well as the Educational Service Centers, hosting workshops and delineating proficiency outcomes. I write a single issue annual teacher newsletter as well as a weekly newspaper column on conservation.
Four Seasons City Farm
Contact: Leslie Markworth
c/o Old First Presbyterian Church
1101 Bryden Rd.
Columbus, Oh 43205
(614) 252-2237
www.fourseasonscityfarm.org
Leslie Markworth
Mission statement:
Four Seasons City Farm is committed to building a sense of community and renewing our urban neighborhood by beautifying our area, by turning abandoned lots into gardens, by creating a self-sustaining and cooperative food production sytstem, and by deomonstrating a sense of hope, belonging and spiritual renewal through sharing the garden work. We work with neighbors of all ages, especially sharing the gardens with children in youth programs from neighborhood agencies throughout Columbus.
THE PEACE OF WILD THINGS
“When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.” ~ Wendell Berry
Franklin County Board of Health
Contact: Elizabeth Kress, Health Educator, Franklin County Board of Health
280 East Broad Street Columbus, OH 43215
614-462- 6668 phone 614-462-6672 fax
The Franklin County Board of Health does not currently have a program that brings together children and nature. I am interested in attending this summit because we have a commitment to the health of our citizens. We are also forging closer relationship with the fourteen public schools districts and some of the private schools in Franklin County. I feel that the summit will allow me to network with other organizations and potentially form partnerships that will improve the health and wellbeing of Franklin County children.
Franklin Soil and Water Conservation District
Contact: Linda Pettit Environmental Education Specialist
1328 Dublin Road, Suite 101 Columbus, OH 43215
614-486-9613
www.franklinswcd.org
Description: Franklin SWCD is a local government resource (county
subdivision of Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Soil
and Water Conservation) focusing on promoting responsible land use and
decisions for conservation, protection, and improvement of soil and
water resources through partnering, technical guidance and education.
The Education Team provides presentations to students in and out of the
classroom, workshops for educators and activities for families at
community-wide events. The focus of these programs is soil and water
quality, especially preventing erosion and storm water run off. Our
major outdoor experience is stream quality monitoring. We partner with
local parks to provide students with the experience of looking for
macroinvertebrates, identifying what they have found, determining the
quality of the stream, and discussing what factors (human and natural)
could impact the stream quality either positively or negatively.
Do trees have families? ~ Abby, 3yrs old
The Godman Guild Association
Contact: Ellen L. Williams, Director Youth and Family Services
303 E. Sixth Ave. Columbus, Ohio 43201
614-294-5476 (v) 614-294-3933 (f)
www.godmanguild.org
At Godman Guild’s Camp Mary Orton, located in Worthington, Ohio just north of Columbus, a variety of programs are offered that expose youth and children to the joys of outdoor fun and adventure. Our two summer day camp programs, PRIDE and Summertime Safari operate 2 four week sessions each and focus on academic enrichment and social skill development. Adventure Academy, which incorporate hiking, environmental education and outdoor skills with team-building adventure
activities, is a weeklong adventure based camp. Wilderness Bond provides a creative learning environment that combines adventure education and social work facilitation to improve the essential skills required to achieve success at home, in school or work, and throughout life.
Godman Guild Association
Colleen Sharkey, Parent Advocate
(614)294-5476 ext.157
I work for a program called Parent Partnership, which also has a 1-day/wk after school program that focuses on learning enrichment. My passion is to incorporate nature and environmental education into our science activities. I hope to meet people from organizations that are doing more (with nature) than I’m able to do, and find ways to utilize and/or collaborate with their knowledge/experience.
Grange Insurance Audubon Center
Contact: Heather Starck, Center Director 614-224-3303
The mission of the Columbus Audubon Center is to awaken and connect participants to the beauty of the natural world in the heart of Columbus and inspire environmental stewardship in their daily lives.
Although currently in development, the center is taking a community-based approach to defining and delivering programs.
For the last three years our summer Urban Conservation Crew program engaged over 200 students from inner city Columbus in the study of the life within and issues surrounding the conservation of our natural resources. Last year this program served as an enrichment session for local elementary school camps and was instructed under the direction of GIAC staff by alumni from our middle school camp.
Our school program is growing out of the needs defined by the school’s located within a 5-mile radius of the center and focuses on increasing student’s scientific process skills by using our site as a case study in managing an Audubon designated Important Bird Area so close to an urban core. Combined with nature exploration, students perform field investigations that aim to answer science questions and see nature as a part of their local environment. The program is a partnership between GIAC staff and school faculty and is comprised of multiple site visits throughout the academic year.
As the center grows we hope to engage children of all ages and their families in nature based programming that serves both our mission and community’s needs. Working with our community partners we are developing a nature based pre-school and after school program and hope to find a niche for community festivals, events, and citizen science projects.
Kaiser Family Foundation, 2004, estimates that the
average child now spends 6 hrs daily watching TV,
playing video games, or on a computer
Green Plate Club
Contact:
Christine Hughes
Green Plate Club
268 E. State Street
Athens, OH 45701
(740) 594-7311
“The mission of the Green Plate Club is to improve nutrition and enhance learning environments in local public schools by promoting
healthful and ecologically balanced foods in the cafeteria. To further the understanding that what’s healthy for children is healthy for the planet, we strive to bring the community values of ecological and social interdependence, economic justice, and flourishing health into the school environment by way of the school food program.”
Licking Park District
Contact: Rich Niccum, Operations Administrator, Licking Park District
PO Box 590 Granville, Ohio 43023 (740) 587-2535 office
www.lickingparkdistrict.com
The Licking park District provides a wide variety of outdoor/nature programming, many of which are geared towards families and youth.
Mayor’s Office, City of Columbus
Contact: Eric L. Brandon, Policy Advisor, Mayor’s Office, City of Columbus
I am passionate about healthy activities for youth, nature - it’s appreciation and preservation, and becoming more informed about outdoor activities available in central Ohio. I have been a Big Brother Big Sister (BBBS) volunteer for 5 years. I am also the Mayor’s Office Liaison to the Department of Recreation & Parks. I look forward to learning more about initiatives that I may be able to support in my professional role as well as enjoy personally. Additionally, I wanted to support Susan Ashbrook (Mayor’s Environmental Steward) given her inability to attend.
Kelly Mertz, biologist
Professionally, my career focuses on the environment via assisting clients in compliance with State and Federal laws, particularly the National Environmental Policy Act and Endangered Species Act. I have opportunity to meet folks from every walk of environmental perspective: from folks who are passionate champions for the environment, to folks who are - at best - reluctant stewards of the environment, to those who altogether dismiss the environment as worthy of their time and attention. In my personal life and as a mother, I strive to give my two small children the tools they need to understand their environment and how they fit into it. To set our children forth into the complex array of environmental and related quality of life issues awaiting them without providing them these tools would be nothing short of remiss. To that end, it is critical that all children are provided realistic, actual opportunities to explore and understand nature. A walk in the woods, a sit by a stream - these are the unique moments with the capacity to instill in a child in moments a respect and appreciation that hours otherwise could not. The curiousity invoked by flipping over a rock, or the knowledge gained when we realize and understand we are part of an enormous, interactive web of life can lead to more knowledge-seeking, a desire to learn about and even protect, and a sense of confidence and belonging.
My volunteer experience includes L.I.N.K (Hanover, Indiana; Big Sister), STAF (animal shelter in Cincinnati, Ohio; kennel volunteer), Cincinnati Youth Collaborative (Cincinnati, Ohio; Big Sister) and Share Our Strength (national campaign aimed at ending childhood hunger).
Metro Parks
John O’Meara, Executive Director
Metro Parks provides places and opportunities where children can learn and explore in safe, clean, outdoor environments close to home. We offer hundreds of programs every year designed to help children get in touch with the natural world, plus great places to discover with friends and family.
The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission
Contact: Erin Miller and Leslie Strader
MORPC truly believes that it is the interaction people have with the environment that will translate into a true awareness, and caring for the sustainability of our natural resources. For this reason, MORPC coordinates Riverfest, an annual festival on the banks of the Scioto River in downtown Columbus. During the event in 2007, over 500 individuals were able to take a boat ride on the Scioto and over 2000 people learned about water-related issues at our many exhibitor booths provided by our colleagues at Franklin Soil and Water Conservation District, OEPA, Dawes Arboretum, local watershed groups, and others.
Additionally, MORPC works to synchronize the planning of greenway trails which typically run alongside waterways allowing residents and visitors the opportunity to use alternative transportation methods while experiencing the beauty and serenity of Ohio’s precious resources, our rivers and streams. Easy to use maps including the Greater Columbus Green Map and Central Ohio Greenways have been developed by MORPC to encourage and make it easy for individuals to get outside.
Mount Gilead State Park
Contact: Marilyn Weiler, part-time naturalist, retired elementary teacher
I do programs for all ages at the park and at area schools and libraries. I’m an adjunct instructor for Ashland University and a PLT, WILD, FLP, and WET facilitator. We have organized the Morrow Environmental Education Committee in our county and do several activities and programs through that. We are presently planning a workshop “Going Wild in Your Classroom with Animals” at the Lutheran Memorial Camp on October 29.
I wonder if snails can stick to stuff. ~ Jemma, 5
Nature’s Classroom Ohio Conference
Contact: Mark Johnson, 740-599-6996
33833 Township Road 20, Brinkhaven OH 43006
We do Outdoor Experiential Education for public and private schools, grades K-8.
Ohio EPA and Office of Environmental Education
Contact: Dennis Clement
614-644-2873
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA), Office of Environmental Education (OEE) and the Ohio Environmental Education Fund (OEEF) provides free science/social studies related curriculum to all schools (public/private) across Ohio. We also offer grant writing workshops for those interested in writing grants to the OEEF and other funders. OEEF offers grant ($5,000 - $50,000) funds for environmental science projects to Ohio schools, non-profits and universities in the Pre-Kindergarten - University, Regulatory and General Public Audiences.
Ohio Governor’s Residence and Heritage Garden
Contact: Julie Stone and Rick Stanforth
Our Facility is continually developing tours and educational programs for children in the Residence and Garden. One of our goals is to introduce visitors to some of the unique eco- systems in Ohio. Also to introduce some basic concepts such as Glaciation, Geology and some introductory information about native plants. We also present solar energy and are building a green building to demonstrate more alternative energies and technologies. We also have programs being developed to discuss agriculture in Ohio and other topics.
Our interest in attending the summit is to learn ways to help excite children about nature and direct them to interesting Parks and natural areas. We are a high profile facility and could hopefully help draw attention to these programs.
Ohio Nature Education
Contact: www.ohionature.org 740-967-8320
Mission Statement: We are committed to creating an awareness of and appreciation for Ohio’s natural habitat and wildlife by offering informative and entertaining education opportunities to people of all ages. Our hope is to instill in each person a sense of conservation and stewardship for our natural world.
Ohio Nature Education (ONE) is a nonprofit organization founded in May 1997 by Manon Van Schoyck, formerly Clinic Director of the Ohio Wildlife Center and Board member and Education Chair of the Columbus Audubon Society. ONE holds Special Purpose Education and Salvage permits from the Ohio Division of Wildlife and the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
ONE has two missions: (1) to provide a permanent home for more than 38 non-releasable wild animals that are too sick or injured to go back into the wild; and (2) to incorporate these animals into environmental education programs. ONE’s goal is to instill in its audiences an appreciation of our natural world.
Since its founding in May 1997, ONE has conducted nearly 2000 programs for more than 90,000 children and adults in 13 Central Ohio counties. ONE now averages more than 300 programs annually on 40 program topics, all of which meet the Academic Content Standards in Science and some of which meet those standards in Social Studies.
ONE’s regular customers include the Columbus & Franklin County Metro Parks, Columbus Metropolitan Library System, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and many schools, scout troops, civic groups and garden clubs. We pride ourselves in offering programs for people from pre-school age to senior citizens.
“If we want children to flourish,
to become truly empowered, then
let us allow them to love the earth
before we ask them to save it. Perhaps
this is what Thoreau had in mind when
he said, ‘the more slowly trees grow at
first, the sounder they are at the core,
and I think the same is true of human beings.’”
~ David Sobel, Beyond Ecophobia
Ohio Parks and Recreation Association
Contact: Charlotte Walker, Program Director
The Ohio Parks & Recreation Association is…..
a non-profit, public interest organization representing over 1600 professionals and citizen board members involved in providing leisure facilities and opportunities to all Ohioans as well as the tourists who visit our state each year. Ohio has become known as a trend setter in the nation with parks and recreation often singled out for national test markets and pilot programs. We are the trade association for parks and recreation professionals around the state; as such, we have varied interest groups who work with youth and focus on health and wellness for ALL of the state’s citizens, including children.
OPRA was initially organized in 1934 as the Ohio Recreation Association, with a separate organization, the Ohio Parks Association, formed in 1942. In 1963 ORA and OPA Incorporated to become OPRA. The Association is directed by a Board, executive director and administrative staff.
One of the first conditions of happiness is
that the link between Man and Nature shall
not be broken.
~ Leo Tolstoy, In Happiness
Ohio State Parks (Region 1)
Contact: Matthew Minter, Senior naturalist, Region1 Ohio State Parks
Pike Lake, Rocky Fork, Paint Creek, Lake White
I am assigned to Pike Lake State Park where I have worked as Seasonal Naturalist for the past 25 summers. We offer family programming designed to introduce children and their parents to nature and hopefully foster an appreciation of nature through education. In addition we offer programs like “forestry field day” where 500 5th graders from the entire county attend a day at Pike Lake State Park and stop at stations to learn all about forests. This is a cooperative effort between Ohio Division of Forestry, Ohio State University, the US forest service, Ohio State Parks, Gladfelter (formerly Mead Paper), Ohio Division of Wildlife,
Ohio Division of Soil and Water, and the Pike Co. Commissioners.
This past summer, I instituted a new program in our region, called “Future Naturalist,” where children collect stickers on a card for attending educational programs in the parks. Completion of the card will earn an embroidered patch.
I also participate in a program offered by Shawnee State University to 6th graders in the area, called ” The Environmental Fair”. These different organizations present topics on environmental science to the students.
The Ohio State University Extension
OSU School of Environment and Natural Resources
Contact: Joe Heimlich, 210 Kottman Hall 2021 Coffey Road Columbus, Ohio 43210
614.292.6926
OSU Extension is the outreach arm of The Ohio State University. The environmental programs through OSU Extension, and the environmental education program in the School of Environment and Natural Resources are focused on life span, out-of-school learning for individuals, families, associations and groups, and communities. Much of the work I do is with zoos, nature centers, museums, parks, gardens, and other conservation based environmental organizations. The capacity building work is focused on enhancing environmental knowledge within visits to these settings. Although not focused solely on children, most agencies, institutions, and NGOs work with lifespan audiences and there is a tremendous need to consider how messages we’re giving children about nature and the environment are or are not supported by the culture in which the children live. For children to be outside, they need role models in parents, educators, relatives, friends, and leaders who are with them outside and encourage and support being outdoors.
I wonder what happens when a squirrel falls
out of a tree. ~ Jemma, 5
Preservation Parks of Delaware County
Contact: 2656 Hogback Road, Sunbury, OH 43074
740-526-8600 www.preservationparks.com
Sue Hagan, public relations, ext. 5
Preservation Parks of Delaware County was created in response to a growing need to protect open space and unique natural habitats for the public good. Since 1999, when our levy passed, we have built six parks, plan to open a seventh in the summer of 2008, and have land for three more. Our mission is to provide passive recreation activities, such as hiking and picnicking, while keeping development to a minimum. Walking paths and viewing areas allow people to get close to nature without disturbing it. Our naturalists offer nature education programs in our parks, in schools and to scout and other groups. Some of our programs include: “Park Pals,” which includes hands on discovery for youth ages 6-12; “Habitat Hikes,” held in our parks virtually every weekend on various natural topics; “Hound Hikes,” where owners and their dogs can enjoy our pet-friendly trails; “Golden Marathons,” for seniors who wish to complete a marathon 2-3 miles at a time; and our new chapter of the Ohio Young Birders.
Project Learning Tree Ohio
Contact: c/o ODNR Div. of Forestry (state sponsor) 2045 Morse Rd. Bldg. H-1
Columbus OH 43229 Sue Wintering - Coordinator
www.plt.org
PLT - Ohio, through a network of volunteer facilitators, serves PreK-12 grade students by providing workshops for formal and informal educators/youth leaders that includes award-winning fun and interactive environmental education activities that increase young peoples’ understanding of our environment as well as stimulate their critical and creative thinking, and ability to make informed decisions regarding environmental issues, ultimately gaining the confidence and commitment to take responsible action. PLT has an initiative known as “Every Student Learns Outside” with info available at www.learnoutside.org. The PLT curriculum materials are correlated to the Ohio Academic Standards for Science and are currently being aligned to the state Social Studies standards as well. View these at www.ohiodnr.com/education/correlations/. For over thirty years PLT has been at the cutting edge of education providing experiential learning opportunities that work well indoors and outside. PLT uses the forest as a window into the natural world regarding many varied environmental issues.
Recreation Unlimited
Contact: 7700 Piper Road Ashley, Ohio 43003-9741
P: (740) 548-7006 F: (740) 747-3139 http://www.recreationunlimited.org
The mission of Recreation Unlimited is to provide year round programs in sports, recreation and education for individuals with disabilities while building self-confidence, self-esteem and promoting positive human relation, attitudes and behaviors. Currently Recreation Unlimited provides outdoor education for participants utilizing a variety of resources including Project Learning Tree, Project WILD and Project WET as well as knowledge from educated staff.
Kids need to be outside, and it’s nice for kids
to be outside because they can feel the air and
see the birds and dance around.
~ Aubrey, 5
SCOPS South Central Ohio Preservation Society
Contact: Kezia Sproat
The Society is dedicated to the preservation of natural lands and historic landmarks, centered mainly in the Chillicothe area.
St. James the Less Catholic School
Contact: Irene Lindelow Brian Rutti
Special Education Teacher Second Grade Teacher
Teachers at St. James the Less Catholic School have become increasingly concerned about children’s diminishing contact with nature. Our efforts to connect students with the natural world include planting projects, interaction with animals, such as our “therapy turtle,” and ecology related lessons and field trips. We promote earth-consciousness, beginning at a local level with litter pick-ups and recycling, to understand the global importance of conservation. For children, engaging actively and frequently with nature promotes knowledge, curiosity, scientific inquiry, concentration, and a sense of wonder and responsibility for all God has created.
Michael Hohl, Ph.D.
Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor
I work with families whose children have attention disorders. Instead of playing in the woods, these families are involved with traveling sports teams and computer games. The children are in a state of hyper vigilance and over activity. My office offers a small counterbalance to the effects of nature deficit disorder. Clients walk into the office past a small pond where they may feed the fish before or after their appointment. Inside the waiting room, a small waterfall splashes amid plants. Tactile clients like to play with the Zen sand garden. The really adventurous can go to the back lot and climb a real tree.
The Salvation Army
Contact: Maj. Frank Kirk, Divisional Secretary for Greater Columbus
Jonathan Klemanski, Camp Director
The Salvation Army in Greater Columbus and Greenwood Lake Camp and Retreat Center 966 E. Main, Columbus OH 43205;
The Salvation Army owns and maintains a well-equipped camp in the city of Delaware, Ohio, which is available for community use and also hosts Salvation Army programs, such as a church-oriented camp, church retreats and camping trips, and field trips for children from our After School Learning Centers. We understand that, no matter what the program, when camp is used as the delivery method the impact of the lesson, class, retreat or event is much greater. We are currently hosting a small Christian school that is operating at our camp during the school year. We are interested in learning more about how to keep our camp full during the year and use it to its maximum potential, while staying true to our mission: The Salvation Army, an international! movement, is an evangelical part of the Universal Christian Church. Its message is based on the Bible. Its ministry is motivated by the love of God. Its mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination.
A society grows great when old men plant trees
whose shade they know they shall never sit in.
~ Greek Proverb
Shepherd’s Corner
Contact: 987 N Waggoner Rd Blacklick, OH 43004 614-866-4302
Melissa Camp-Director
Diane Kozlowski, O.P.-Program/Volunteer Manager kozlowskidiane@sbcglobal.net Website www.shepherdscorner.org
Shepherd’s Corner is an organic farm and ecology center supported by the Dominican Sisters, St. Mary of the Springs, where we care for life, land and spirit.
Mission: Shepherd’s Corner is a small corner of creation seeking to recreate the lands’ wholeness by rediscovering the life-giving harmony between people and the land. Here, people of all backgrounds can learn to reconnect with the natural environment, themselves, one another, and the Creator who made them all.
Currently we are providing children with outdoor experiences through gardening, nature exploration, art and service learning. Many of the children we serve come from the inner-city, who wouldn’t otherwise have an opportunity to experience a working farm.
In the future we would like to offer a summer “earth camp” and an expanded children’s garden program.
Central Ohio Sierra Club Group
Contact: Kelli Drummer-Avendaño, Chair
614-327-4713,
131 North High Street, Suite 605 Columbus, OH 43215
Our mission is to enhance the quality of life in Central Ohio by informing citizens of critical environmental issues that affect them, encourage environmental activism, as well as provide activities that encourage exploration and enjoyment of the outdoors. Along those lines, we host several outings each month of varying degrees of difficulty that take place in Central Ohio’s metro parks and neighborhoods. Families are big participants of these outings. In the near future we hope to start an Inner-City Outings program specifically targeted to children and families who may not have access to outdoor programs.
As a child, one has that magical capacity
to move among the many areas of the earth;
to see the land as an animal does; to experience
the sky from the perspective of a flower or a
bee; to feel the earth quiver and breathe
beneath us; to know a hundred different
smells of mud and listen unselfconsciously
to the soughing of the trees.”
~ Valerie Andrews A Passion for this Earth
Stratford Ecological Center
Contact: Christa Hein Education Director
3083 Liberty Rd. Delaware, Ohio 43015 740-363-2548
www.StratfordEcologicalCenter.org
Stratford Ecological Center is a 236-acre working organic farm and state nature preserve in Delaware County serving children from all over central Ohio on school field trips, scout visits, home school tours and public visitations. In addition, they have an exciting calendar of adult education programs which include festivals, family programs and monthly groups on simplicity, green parenting and herbal study. Stratford is appreciation-based, focusing on helping people reconnect to their food and providing experiences that allow people to feel a connection to the natural world.
Urban Wild Limited
Contact: Amy Dutt, Designer and Project Manager
3575 Morey Rd., Ostrander OH 43061
I have designed and implemented Outdoor Learning Environments for schools and obtained a Project Wild grant, with my personal focus on an intimate connection with Nature and wildlife. Urban Wild Limited has designed and implemented Outdoor Learning Environments and edible gardens for schools, providing varied services along the way: community involvement, collaborator identification and involvement, ‘Dreamstorming’, program and curricula development, grant writing, media involvement, and installation project management.
Treebeard’s Retreat
www.treebeardsretreat.org
Contact: Lina Mendez Howison, Ph. D.
Lina and her husband Peter are building an 80-acre retreat in SE Ohio (Hamden, Ohio, some 85 miles from Columbus) with the specific aim of creating a way for children to connect with nature.
Westerville Parks and Recreation Department.
Contact: Laura Horton, CPRP Program Manager
350 N. Cleveland Ave Westerville, Ohio 43082
614-901-6512
We currently offer some classes in archery and preschool classes on bugs and such. We are interested in learning how we can incorporate this into our program offerings.
Whole Kids Project
Contact: Dave Orsborn, Managing Director
614-282-4676
www.wholekidsproject.org
“A community of individuals, businesses, and organizations committed to fostering a generation of youth who are physically, intellectually, emotionally and spiritually strong.”
The Wilds
Contact: Al Parker Conservation Educator
740-638-5030 x 2116 www.thewilds.org
Wilds Mission (for children): to advance conservation through education and science by creating opportunities for students to explore the natural world through on-site experiences. For children, the Wilds does:
• Spring and Fall Overnight and Day Long Outdoor Camps for schools and groups that focus on wildlife conservation.
• WildeCamp – week long wildlife summer camps.
• Guided Tours through free range pastures of endangered wildlife from around the globe.
Camp programs focus on Hands On and Hearts On activities to stimulate interest to learn and to change in attitudes and commitment:
• Capture and Marking – medium & small mammals, turtles, fish
• Habitat Assessment – field measurements of indicator species habitats
• Hands on the Land – restoration ecology practicum – prairie planting, carp eradication, invasive tree removal, deer exclusion,
• Wildlife Habitat – salamander dens, bird nest boxes,
• Wildlife Surveys on Reclaimed Landscapes - invertebrates, fish, amphibians, snakes, bobcats
• Wildlife Reintroduction – osprey hacking
• Trail Construction
Q: Why is it important to sing the LNCI song?
Alice (5): So that your parents know not to
leave you inside when they are outside.
Caroline (5): If you pick something off a tree,
Miss Morgan will be really sad.
Fate (4): There are lots of animals outside and
You can go around the world.
