The education blog includes:

February 2009
January 2009
October - December 2008
September 2008
August 2008

March 23, 2009

Well, as the saying goes, "March comes in like a lion..." and we certainly saw that with temperatures and wind chills below zero the second week in March! Three of our school field trips had to be cancelled which is always disappointing after all the work that teachers and staff do to get ready for them. Luckily, we were able to re-schedule everybody for future trips.

The winter education staff use the end of March to close out the winter programs - put the snowshoes away, pack up the winter puppet show, and dis-assemble the winter packs. We feel like we made great strides in improving our "winter pack" program for middle and high school students. This year Bigfork, Columbia Falls, and Marion Schools brought middle school students on these programs and they went quite well.

This is also the time of year that I summarize the teacher and staff comments and write down notes for improvements for next year. So please let me know if you have ideas/suggestions for 2010.

Finally, I've been busy coordinating with organizations in the Flathead Valley to conduct teacher workshops in the coming months. On April 15th this year I will be helping with a workshop to showcase a new climate change education trunk and curriculum put together by the National Parks Conservation Association and the organization, Facing the Future. I'll also be leading a couple workshops in August. All of the workshops have OPI renewal units available and they are all FREE. For more information about the workshops - times, locations, etc. - check out the complete listing on our Professional Development page.