Teaching About Climate Change: Because tomorrow Matters

LEADER BIO

Alison Schweichler, is a clinical social worker with a history of work with clients of all ages currently in private practice where she specializes in helping youth with anxiety & OCD symptoms. She has long been interested in and comforted by our natural environment. While she grew up being aware of environmental pollution and and in past years has worked on efforts to ban fracking in Erie County and New York State, it has been in the past decade she has seen our climate changing from predictable long winters and clean bright air in the summer, to shortened winters and smoke filled skies. This led me to becoming a Climate Aware Therapist. She is currently involved in climate activism in her roles as the Regional Coordinator for Upstate NY for the Climate Psychology Alliance of North America and a Congressional Liaison for Citizen Climate Lobby in NY’s 23rd district.

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION

Educators and caregivers of children don’t have an easy task in talking to kids about complex problems like climate change. The reality can be overwhelming to communicate, while glossing over the challenges feels inauthentic and can lead to a sense of powerlessness. “The Change Triangle” a model for helping individuals address inner defenses and find resilience, modified from leading concepts in psychotherapy and decades of research, offers a path to help you ground yourself as an educator or caregiver of today’s youth in speaking with them about these issues. We have emotions for a reason and they can help us access our own inner resilience and empowerment to help us in connecting with young learners. Emotions are often villainized as causing problems when working through tough issues, in this all group workshop you’ll learn about how blocking emotions is what actually causes these challenges illustrated with a case example.

LEADERS

Angela Cannon-Crothers and Maureen Dunphy, from the Cumming Nature Center

Angela Cannon-Crothers manages the RMSC/CNC Forest School Programs and also serves as an instructor. She is a wildcrafter, naturalist, author, and poet living in the Finger Lakes who enjoys sharing her passion for Nature with people of all ages.

Maureen Dunphy enjoyed a long career in science education. Now retired, she is thrilled to work in outdoor education again, at Cumming Nature Center and Muller Field Station. In Maureen’s spare time she works with the NYS Master Naturalist Program and also with the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators (GNSI) as a member artist and Exhibit Coordinator.

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION

How can we encourage hope and positive critical thinking in young people when addressing climate change? Through deep ecological thinking, dramatic play, and simulations, students can envision a more sustainable, brighter, and ecologically conscious world. We will share activities based on Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults, Terry Tempest William’s poem “Eyes of the Future”, and the En-ROADS Climate Solutions Simulator.

LEADER BIO

Elijah Kruger has worked as an Environmental Educator for New York State Parks for nearly 15 years.  Based on his experience, it is often difficult to get people excited about attending programs with “climate change” in the title. Elijah has had greater success and found it much more impactful to include relevant climate information into programs that tend to be more exciting, like hiking through scenic gorges or making a batch of maple syrup.

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION

Teaching about climate change can seem daunting.  Rather than developing climate change-focused lessons, join us to learn tricks for working climate change education into other programs or lessons you are already excited to teach about.  By inserting just bits and pieces of climate education into other programs or lesson topics you can not only make the information more digestible but also more impactful by making direct connections to natural resources you help your audience establish a relationship with.  This workshop includes a short hike.

LEADERS

Pete Saracino and Brenda Travis of the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge

Brenda Travis – Science Teacher, retired; Volunteer @ Montezuma Wildlife Refuge and Member of the Finger Lakes Connected Learning Ecosystem. 

Pete Saracino – Science Teacher, retired; NYS Master Naturalist, Volunteer @ Montezuma Wildlife Refuge

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION

To be alive is to be in relationship – entangled with the things that make our lives possible: Sun, Moon, air, water, plants, animals, insects, fungi, and bacteria. As we come to understand the nature of these relationships we can deepen our appreciation for our dependence on both the living and nonliving components of our environment. Join us as we examine some of the fascinating connections between the human and more-than-human components of our living world.

LEADERS

Alison Schweichler, LCSW and Dr. Emma Nelson from the Climate Psychology Alliance of North America

Alison Schweichler is a clinical social worker with a history of work with clients of all ages. Currently in private practice, she specializes in helping youth with anxiety & OCD symptoms. Alison has long been interested in and comforted by our natural environment. While she grew up being aware of environmental pollution and and in past years has worked on efforts to ban fracking in Erie County and New York State, it has been in the past decade that she has seen our climate changing from predictable long winters and clean bright air in the summer, to shortened winters and smoke-filled skies. This led me to becoming a Climate Aware Therapist. She is currently involved in climate activism in her roles as the Regional Coordinator for Upstate NY for the Climate Psychology Alliance of North America and a Congressional Liaison for Citizen Climate Lobby in NY’s 23rd district.

Dr. Emma Nelson is an American Group Psychotherapy Association (AGPA) member with extensive and ongoing process group training. Her process group work is rooted in the modern analytic tradition, cultural somatics, and collective trauma work. Her group work is guided by ongoing consultation with mentors and colleagues in climate-aware group therapy. She sees clients in NY through Milkweed Psychology, PLLC.

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION

A climate cafe is an informal, open, respectful, and confidential space to safely share emotional responses and reactions related to the climate and environmental emergency (i.e. a “container”).

For parents and educators, it is a wonderful place to process our own feelings, so we may better support the young people in our lives.

Please note, the climate cafe isn’t designed to lead participants to any conclusion or toward action. It is a space for reflection and connection, a haven from usual activity.

LEADER BIO

Angela Damery has been sharing her love for science and the natural world in various teaching capacities as an informal educator, classroom teacher, and teacher professional development provider for over 20 years. She thrives on designing and sharing experiences that help young people explore their strengths and passions and find their own path to making meaningful contributions to their communities.

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION

Join Angela to explore strategies for using iNaturalist for programs and classroom projects. iNaturalist is a powerful tool for encouraging observation in nature and participating in Citizen Science, and it provides researches with valuable data to help us better understand how our climate is changing. Angela will share experiences from her programs with youth, and we’ll spend some time collecting data for our own mini-project on the grounds of the CNC. Whether you are a novice looking to learn about iNaturalist or an experienced user who would like to share ideas and problem solve your own programs, this will be an opportunity for us to learn together! Personal mobile devices are welcome, but Angela will bring tablets with the apps set up for those who want to explore providing student access with generic accounts.

LEADER Bio

Maureen Dunphy enjoyed a long career in science education. Now retired, she is thrilled to work in outdoor education again, at Cumming Nature Center and Muller Field Station.

Maureen is certified to teach Nature Journaling through the Wild Wonder Foundation and is a “Nature Journaling Ambassador”, spreading the joy of Nature Journaling to participants of all ages. 

In Maureen’s spare time she works with the NYS Master Naturalist Program and also with the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators (GNSI) as a member artist and Exhibit Coordinator.

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION

What do invasive plants have to do with climate change? We will explore this relationship while identifying common invasive plant species in the Finger Lakes Region. Participants will closely observe characteristics of a living specimen while creating a botanical illustration. No prior drawing experience required!

LEADER BIO

Jill Johnson is a certified K–6 educator with 23 years of classroom teaching experience and a passion for connecting children with the natural world. She is a Level 3 Certified Forest School Practitioner and a National Geographic Certified Educator, with extensive experience designing hands-on, inquiry-based learning opportunities that foster environmental stewardship and climate literacy. Throughout her career, Jill has integrated outdoor learning, STEM education, and place-based investigations to help students explore real-world environmental challenges and develop solutions that make a positive impact in their communities.

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION

Why do some playground surfaces feel much hotter than others on a sunny day? In this hands-on STEM workshop, participants become climate scientists as they investigate how different playground materials absorb and retain heat. Using infrared thermometers and observation skills, participants will explore their outdoor environment, compare temperatures of surfaces such as asphalt, grass, wood chips, and shaded areas, and collect real-world data. We will explore a NASA lesson plan and discuss grant requirements.