The Environmental Leadership Program at the University of Oregon houses many different service learning and research projects focused around environmental education and conservation. The Restoring Connections team creates place-based experiential environmental education curricula for local kindergarteners and first graders at Adams Elementary School in Eugene, OR. Our goal is to reconnect students to nature by getting them outdoors at Mt. Pisgah Arboretum and engaged in their local natural world. 

​

We worked in collaboration with Mt. Pisgah Arboretum and Adams Elementary School in Eugene, OR. Winter term we spent learning about the history of environmental education in the United States and about how to create curricula for young learners. Spring term we implemented our curricula with three different kindergarten classes and three different first grade classes. 

​

Throughout this experience I gained invaluable experience. I had the opportunity to facilitate group meetings, create curricula, interact with community partners, and even learn how to make a website. ELP aims to get kids reconnected with nature but throughout this process I felt myself deepening my own connections with the natural world and learning more about the natural history of beautiful local places like Mt. Pisgah Arboretum. Within our team, my role is to provide support and contribute to the overall mission of our project. I helped write the kindergarten curricula and I co-lead six field trips and two in class lessons.