MEEA offers certification for environmental educators

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MEEA’s Environmental Education Certification Program: Participants Tell All!

In its 2nd year, MEEA’s Environmental Education Certification program has grown to over 90 participants, including 3 graduates. MEEA wants you to be a part of this success! This volunteer program recognizes formal and non-formal educators who have attained a certain level of proficiency in the field of environmental education. To find out about the benefits of the program directly from participants, read on!

• Dianne Benjamin, Program Director
  – The Green Center, St. Louis

Why did you decide to join the certification program?

"I was walking through a prairie in western Missouri, hundreds of miles from home, on a class field trip in the fall of '01. Some fellow students explained how this amazing outdoor experience could count toward MEEA EE certification. I had been seeking a way to have fun while legitimizing my mid-life career transition from a bird-watcher and psychologist with an EdD to a trained environmental educator. EUREKA!"

What benefits have you received from the program so far?

"This statewide program has given me a professional identity and a home. I did not even know what to call myself or where I belonged. Now I know I am a non-formal environmental educator."

• Jennifer Wellman,
  Outdoor Programs Specialist
  – The Girl Scouts, Kansas City

Why did you decide to join the certification program?

"I felt that the MEEA certification process would enhance my professional development in the environmental field. In addition, the requirements for the certification would increase my knowledge of environmental activities in Missouri therefore benefiting the girls I serve in Girl Scouts."

What benefits have you received from the program so far?

"The program has validated many of the environmental programs that I develop and am involved in, and the program has allowed me to network with other professionals in the environmental field."

• Jim Denner, High School Biology
  and Earth Science Teacher
  – Lindbergh High School, St. Louis

Why did you decide to join the certification program?

"To enrich my own understanding and involvement in environmental education, since I teach high school biology and earth science and to help with professional development. I think the district feels more secure in having someone teaching environmental issues who carries such a certification."

What benefits have you received from the program so far?

"I have incorporated a lot of new materials and ideas gleaned
from MEEA conferences and projects that are included in the
certification. For example, a lot of my freshmen had the opportunity
to go to St. Charles to help Chad Pegracke do the "Big
Muddy" clean-up last Autumn. They actually had fun spending
a Saturday earning a little bit of extra credit as well as learning
and participating in good environmental practice."

• Amy Bhesania, MEEA Certification
  Program Administrator

I am amazed at how quickly the Certification Program has taken off. The Certification Committee’s goals for the program in 2004 include increasing enrollment, diversifying the location and content of workshops as well as the number of workshops that count as credit toward the program. We also will increase communications between the Certification Committee and participants and expand opportunities for participants to network with each other. Congratulations to everyone involved in creating, administering and participating in the program!