My parents’ best piece of advice to me was, “find a job that you love, and you will never work a day in your life.” I have been fortunate enough to be able to carry this out everyday in my career. I pursued a degree in Biology and a Masters in Education, which led me to teaching science in middle schools. I became very involved in outdoor education by creating a community garden and using it as an extension to teach science. After the pandemic started, we returned to school not knowing what to expect, and I decided to move my classroom outside full-time. My students and I absolutely loved it! I quickly learned that kids love learning outside, and they were not getting enough time outside during the school day.
Three years ago, I transitioned into the Elementary Environmental Science teacher for NISD. It’s a unique teaching position in which I travel to all 82 elementary schools twice a year to work specifically with 5th graders. Our mission is to get students outside to learn and develop an appreciation for their environment. The first visit, we focus on restoration by planting native trees, flowers, milkweeds, and grasses on their campus. The second visit, we focus on citizen science by learning how to collect data and report it to a variety of citizen science projects.
Throughout my first year as an environmental science teacher, I made many collaborations and they always seemed to involve the Master Naturalists of the Alamo Area Chapter. Soon after, I joined AAMN Class 47 to surround myself with like-minded people, enhance my knowledge of the natural world, and to provide education, outreach, and service to our communities. During this time a former AAMN member put me in contact with an organization called Bexar Branches Alliance (BBA). Turns out there are members of BBA that are part of the AAMN. We discovered we have similar goals in increasing the tree canopy in the San Antonio area and from this a program named C.A.N.O.P.Y (Cultivating and Nurturing Our Planet’s Youth) was created. We set a goal of planting 100 trees at all 82 elementary schools and eventually including all the middle and high schools.
Bexar Branches has been instrumental in making CANOPY possible. They helped select the schools by using My City’s Trees data, which indicates a need for increased tree canopy to help lessen the heat island effect, improve social vulnerability, and equity scores for specific campuses. Their expertise helped in species selection, tree placement, watering the trees for three years, obtaining volunteers to plant with students, and securing the funding to start this project. This tree-planting project has expanded the curriculum for our district, and students will benefit learning from these trees for years to come. Watching students’ faces as they are planting trees is priceless, and it’s rewarding knowing that we have provided a learning experience they will never forget.
Many Master Naturalists from the Alamo Area Chapter have volunteered in the CANOPY program. We encourage all AAMN to join us in installing schoolyard forest with children. It’s an experience that you will always cherish and remember. May the forest be with you!
