2019 New Mexico Proud: Exploring Equitable Education Outdoors

Notes from the December 7th NM Proud Event: NM Proud Event – 12_07_19 Notes

We are currently at capacity for the NM Proud: Exploring Equitable Education Outdoors event. Please send an email to director@eeanm.org to be added to the waiting list.

Saturday, December 7, 2019 from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Los Duranes Community Center (2920 Leopoldo NW Albuquerque NM 87104). Registration required and save your spot by clicking here. The event is free and we are taking a suggested donation to New Mexico’s Outdoor Equity Fund, more info below.

Your Voice Matters. We at the Environmental Education Association of New Mexico endeavor to provide spaces that are authentically inclusive to support the many voices necessary for systemic change to provide daily environmental and outdoor learning for every New Mexican student, including yours. During our 2018 community dialogues where the community created our new mission, vision, and strategic direction (https://eenm.org/about/), we heard a strong sense of being “New Mexico Proud” and that we are rich with incredible people and beautiful landscapes. We believe in building a movement centering on people and landscapes to transform education and provide equitable access to the outdoors for all youth.

“New Mexico Proud: Exploring Equitable Education Outdoors” on Saturday, December 7, 2019 will begin bringing together individuals and organizations advancing environmental know how in many different forms and those representing interconnected interests like outdoor recreation, education, conservation, and environmental justice. In community, we will explore and discuss how we can better support a variety of approaches such as experiential, environmental, nature-based, outdoor, or place-based education or learning that is centered on students and their communities. Exploring the interconnectedness of youth well being, the outdoors, social justice, health and wellness, conservation, and local food, we will identify opportunities to effect change within ourselves, our organizations, and communities.

The day will consist of a panel of youth and adult voices and will move into facilitated workshops and dialogues. This gathering will set the stage for a Community of Practice that participants can engage in to advance their own learnings and understandings to support equitable access to outdoor and environmental learning in their communities while advancing larger scale change.

Who: Educators, allies, partners, friends, community members, and those who love spending time outdoors.

What: A gathering centered on community-decision making to explore systemic change to provide equitable daily outdoor and environmental learning for every New Mexican student (preK-12th grade). The day will include a panel of adult and youth voices meeting at the intersection of outdoor access and environmental learning along with conversations in facilitated small groups of colleagues, allies, and partners.

When: Saturday, December 7, 2019 from 9 a.m.-1 p.m.

Where: Los Duranes Community Center, 2920 Leopoldo Rd NW, Albuquerque, NM 87104.

Please join us to continue the conversations during an optional lunch gathering and walk to the river (including access to a wheelchair accessible trail) at the Rio Grande Nature Center from 1:30-4:30 p.m. after the “New Mexico Proud: Exploring Equitable Education Outdoors” event on Saturday, December 7th. More information available during registration and please click here to reserve your spot.

How do I register and save my spot?

EEANM believe access to daily environmental and outdoor learning is an issue of equity and justice, and we are committed to the idea that all students deserve authentic, culturally relevant, and meaningful learning opportunities. To this end, we work with environmental education providers and those who advance environmental know-how in other forms, using a community-centered approach. To support equitable efforts, our Leadership Team has made the decision to donate all registration proceeds from “New Mexico Proud: Exploring Equitable Education Outdoors” to New Mexico’s Outdoor Equity Fund (http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/YCC/). Become one of the first investors in New Mexico’s Outdoor Equity Fund by adding a suggested donation (suggested sliding scale donation of $5-$25). All proceeds EEANM receives via this online registration will be given to the New Mexico Youth Conservation Corps to be used in the Outdoor Equity Grant Fund.

Click here to register and donate to New Mexico’s Outdoor Equity Fund.

Thank you to our generous supporters of this event including the Lineberry Foundation, McCune Charitable Foundation, Project Learning Tree, and The Wilderness Society!!! We appreciate their generosity in supporting community in building a movement centering on people and landscapes to transform education and provide equitable access to the outdoors for all youth.

PAST SUMMITS:

2018 Statewide Environmental Literacy Summit – Saturday, November 10, 2018

“From Community to Impact”

Please join us for the Statewide Environmental Literacy Summit at the Albuquerque BioPark Zoo in Albuquerque on Saturday, November 10, 2018 with our Annual EE Celebration in the evening! This year’s Summit will weave together many current efforts including professional development on the NM STEM Ready! Standards, shared prioritization of ideas and action items from our strategic systems thinking in community process (please visit eeanm.org/strategic-systems-thinking-in-community/ for more information), and opportunities to explore new partnerships and collaboration. In the evening, we will be hosting our Annual EE Celebration to honor our award winners.

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!

For more information about nominations for the Dr. Richard W. Becker Award for Excellence in Environmental Education, Outstanding Environmental Educator, Outstanding Environmental Education Organization, and Rising EE Star, please visit: https://eenm.org/programs/awards/.

Please mark your calendars to save the date of Saturday, November 10, 2018 for a fun-filled day of learning with teachers and educators!

Agenda at a Glance for Saturday, November 10, 2018

9:15-9:30 a.m. Check-in and registration at the Rio Grande Zoo entrance

9:30-10:10 a.m. Welcome, introductions, and EEANM Annual Meeting

10:10-10:30 a.m. Systems change through Statewide Policy – community prioritization of efforts for 2019-2022

10:30-10:45 a.m. Break

10:45-11:45 a.m. NM STEM Ready! Standards – Opportunities for program transformation – Learn from our panel of experts about how EE organizations are changing their programs and practice in response to the new standards

11:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m. Lunch and time on your own at the Zoo

12:45-4:00 p.m. Community, leadership, and systemic impact for EE in the Land of Enchantment

After months of strategic systems thinking with our community, we will be releasing our priority areas for EEANM and the EE community for 2019-2022. This innovative approach for strategic planning will place our community in a strong position for systemic change to weave EE into our education system and we are so excited to share the next steps with you!
We will do a deep dive into the assets of our community while exploring community mapping and opportunities for systemic change for EE. Discover the value you bring to the community while understanding how the community can better support you.
While gaining new skills and tools for collaboration, try out some training in transformational leadership. Activities will deepen connections while allowing our EE community to get a flavor of some new training opportunities which will be offered in 2019.

This session will be facilitated by Vicki Pozzebon who brings years of experience designing community convenings for conversations that matter and create lasting impact. Vicki has facilitation training in the Art of Hosting and World Café, and Transformational Leadership methods. Vicki is a local economy and business development consultant, and designer and facilitator of the Emerging Leaders Network at Santa Fe Community Foundation and the Native Entrepreneur in Residence Community of Practice at NM Community Capital.

4:00-4:30 p.m. Closing session and next steps 4:30-5:00 p.m. Final glance at Zoo exhibits on your own

5:00 p.m. Annual EE Celebration and Awards Ceremony in the VIP Room at the Sandbar (4100 San Mateo Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87110). Come join us for an evening celebrating successes as we announce our Annual EE Award winners starting around 6 p.m. There will be fun games and really wonderful company. This is FREE and open to all!

To reserve your admission ticket, reserve your seat, and save a lunch, please register by Wednesday, November 8th for only $35/member and $50/non-member. Registration includes Zoo admission and lunch. A limited number of registrations will be available for purchase at the door.

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!

As we continue to strive for authentic inclusive and equitable spaces, please feel free to reach out to director@eeanm.org or 505-859-3366 if we can provide alternatives for registration for those that the fee would cause financial hardness. We are working on changing structures to shift things like registration for events like the Summit and appreciate your patience in the meantime as we work on making meaningful transformation in this space.

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PAST Environmental Literacy Summit Info:

November 9 and 10, 2017

at the Sandia Mountain Natural History Center

We are thrilled to announce that we will be making history this year by bringing our Statewide Environmental Literacy Summit out-of-doors at the Sandia Mountain Natural History Center! Our statewide planning committee is busy at work finalizing details, but here is a schedule at a glance:

Thursday, November 9

8:30-9:00 Registration and check-in
9:00-9:30 Opening Session- Transforming Scarcity to Abundance: Shifting from Self to Community by Eileen Everett, EEANM Executive Director
9:30-11:30 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Training by the Center for Diversity and the Environment Training (What are my identities? How do we value the outdoors and the environment differently? How can we talk about equity and inclusion?)
11:30-12:30 Picnic lunch overlooking the Sandias
12:30-1:30 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Training by the Center for Diversity and the Environment Training (Exploring the roots of environmentalism and environmental justice)
1:30-1:45 Break
1:45-2:45 Exploring “Why is Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Important to our EE Community?”
2:45-3:00 Intro to the Sandia Mountain Natural History Center and its 50-year History
3:00-4:00 Guided Hikes in the Sandia Mountains
4:30-6:30 EE Celebration for Friends and Family at Rio Bravo Brewing Company (1912 2nd Street NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102, no registration required)

Awards Ceremony (Outstanding Service to Environmental Education Award, Dr. Richard W. Becker Award of Excellence in Environmental Education, Outstanding Environmental Educator, Outstanding Environmental Education Organization, Rising EE Star)

Special Performance by the Zia Queens Crew (an all female breakdance crew)

Friday, November 10

8:30-9:00 Registration and check-in
9:00-10:00 EEANM Annual Meeting (What have we accomplished since last year’s Environmental Literacy Summit?, Member discussion and vote on proposed bylaw change to Board Nominations)
10:00-10:30 Exploring “Who are we as an Environmental Education Community?” (What are our shared values?)
11:00-12:00 Breakout Sessions on Exploring Shared Values for Program Development (EEANM is working on a tool for improving program quality and we want your input)
12:00-1:00 Lunch and Informal Networking (there will be tables available for you to share your curricula and program information)
1:00-2:00 Mindfulness in Nature by Mollie Parsons (Santa Fe Botanical Gardens)
2:00-2:15 What does Effective Collaboration Look Like: A Look into the Santa Fe Outdoor Education Collaborative by Mollie Parsons and Eileen Everett
2:15-3:00 Open Sessions (Evaluation and Assessment, Next Generation Science Standards, etc.)
3:00-3:30 Next Steps and Action Teams for 2018
3:30-4:00 Closing Session- Weaving Equity, Community, and Planning by Francisco Valenzuela of the U.S. Forest Service

Registration fees cover access to all sessions listed above, lunch, and refreshments throughout the day.

Stay tuned by becoming an EEANM member, subscribing to the EcoEd listserv, following us on Facebook.