The Upper Valley Teaching Place Collaborative (UVTPC) fall conference is an opportunity to learn together with fellow educators, professional development providers, and other place-based ecology education practitioners.  This year’s conference highlights collaborations in learning within and across schools and organizations. 

Friday, October 13  

8:00 to 3:30 pm   

Lake Morey Resort, Fairlee, VT.   

Join a community of place-based ecology educators to learn, play, support, contribute, and connect. You will meet a powerful network of like-minded educators, gain new curricular ideas, be inspired, and leave rejuvenated as you return to implement new ideas in your classroom and community. Amazing food, a beautiful venue, and locally sourced giveaways make this an unforgettable day. Participants will receive a certificate of participation for 6 hours of professional development.  

Co-hosted by the Sullivan County Conservation District, Four Winds Nature Institute, Shelburne Farms, and Vermont Institute of Natural Science.  

Sponsored by the Wellborn Ecology Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation    

The Upper Valley Teaching Place Collaborative strives to remove barriers to participating in our fall conference. While we receive generous funding from the Wellborn Ecology Fund to significantly offset the costs of hosting the conference, there are additional costs such as stipends for presenters, and sourcing food from local producers that help make the conference so special. To facilitate this, we charge a small registration fee and utilize a sliding scale.   

Agenda

Workshop Descriptions

CRAFT-ing Community: One framework for elevating hope and joy through place-based, hands-on connected learning  

Presenters: Kat Robbins, Janis Boulbol, and Abbie Castriotta Woodstock Union High School

Woodstock High School has created an educational pathway called CRAFT (Community and Climate Resilience through Agriculture, Forestry, and Technology). We will use the process of growing and eating microgreens as well as examples of community science in action to explore the tenants, systems, and value of CRAFT that have cultivated a community of students and teachers who feel invested in their learning and their future.

Vermont Envirothon 

Presenters: Adelaide Dum and Casey Spencer, Winooski Natural Resources Conservation District, and Jennifer Bryne, White River Natural Resources Conservation District 

The Vermont Envirothon is a state-wide competition. High school students put their knowledge of forestry, wildlife, soil and water resources to the test, using hands-on STEM learning and connecting with professionals. The team that demonstrates the greatest overall knowledge is selected to represent Vermont at the North American Envirothon event held later this year in New Brunswick, Canada. Join us in 2023 by registering a team!   

Gathering for Our Planet & Young Children 

Presenter: April Zajko, April’s Teaching Tree and a 2023 Fellow for the Vermont Association for the Education of Young Children 

Engage in a facilitated conversation of the findings about the current state of nature based early childhood education (NBECE) in Vermont. We will focus on challenges in implementing nature-based approaches and identify supports or resources fpr overcoming barriers. Participants will play a nature connection game to identify one action to take to widen our circle to support this critical work. 

Using Favorite Picture Books in the Outdoor Classroom 

Presenters: Leslie Connolly, Michelle Landry, Bernice A Ray School, Hanover, NH,  

Use favorite picture books as springboards to outdoor classroom learning and activities. Make connections between curriculum, outdoor classroom teaching principles, and opportunities for play in the forest. Gain access to a google doc of resources, lesson plans, and links. Suitable for K-3 educators.  

Coming to Our Senses 

Presenter: Em Shipman, KidsGardening 

Increasingly, we’re finding that children are demonstrating sensory integration challenges that present as behavioral challenges, anxiety, and overwhelm. Join garden educator and KidsGardening executive director Em Shipman to learn garden-based activities to help young children integrate and organize their senses. She’ll also share sensory garden design tips.  

Mycelium Meets: Making the Connections with Regeneration Corps

Facilitators: Cat Buxton, Karen Ganey, Henry Harris

Students and educators need to prepare for immediate adaptation to climate change through a just transition, centering those who are most deeply affected socially and environmentally, while creating opportunities to reduce redundancies, effectively collaborate, pool resources, and generally lift each other up! Join us for a live version of The Mycelium Meets – usually a biweekly virtual place to connect the hyphae of the social mycelium of educators working to shift the paradigm of how education is practiced and delivered.  Come to hear about our featured community resilience projects: Super Compost and Justice Trees – and to share yours!

Planting Seeds for Learning & Connection 

Presenter: Dawn, Dextraze, Sullivan County Conservation District & Natural Resources Department 

Learn about seed-based activities that connect with math, science, art, social studies, and language art. Hear how seeds help connect people to their communities. Share your own activities using seeds for learning. 

VINS Science Symposium 

Presenter: Eleanor Hitchings, Vermont Insitute of Natural Science 

The VINS Science Symposium brings science investigations to life in our community. Each year, classrooms investigate a local issue, design hands-on projects, conduct research, and present their findings. This culminating event brings various environmental stakeholders, from students to community leaders, to engage in an exciting day of interactive science activities. 

Waterbugs: Important Stream Health Indicators  

Presenter: Dan ‘rudi’, Ruddell, White River Partnership 

Join us for a field outing to explore “waterbugs” (macroinvertebrate) sampling as one lens for understanding stream and river health. Meet an array of marvelous creatures, and discuss why they are important indicators, how they fit with other measures of ecosystem health, and how you can monitor important changes. 

Cool Projects Right Here! A Showcase of Equitable Climate Action Projects 

Presenters: Andrew, Powers, PEER Associates 

Get inspired by stories from educators and gain connections, ideas, and practical tools from the recently published Right Here! An Educator’s Guide for Equitable Climate Action in the Upper Valley and Beyond. Become a part of our community’s new initiative for climate resilience!  

Active, Arts-infused Games for Social and Ecological Learning
Presenter: Edith Couchman 

Experience how active, art-filled play and games can transmit empathy and positive attitudes towards both learning and the marvelous NE forestlands. Explore how such Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)-aligned activities can enhance social and emotional learning, executive function skills, physical health, and the acquisition of 21st century knowledge.