The Willowell Foundation and Walden Project - Matt Schlein
The Willowell Foundation is committed to changing the community we serve for the better. By teaching & mentoring youth, developing innovative community resource initiatives, & stewarding the land on which our organization operates, we are building a stronger community today and fostering a greater vision for tomorrow.
The Walden Project is an outdoor, alternative public education program serving students in grades 10-12. Vergennes Union High School and The Willowell Foundation partner to support the The Walden Project. This program provides students with a rigorous curriculum that emphasizes writing, philosophy, and environmental studies. The program is modeled on Henry David Thoreau’s sojourn to Walden Pond where he immersed himself in ecology to deepen his sense of self, and explore his relationship with society, and the natural world. To that end, we support student centered-inquiry and encourage youth to follow and pursue their own areas of interest with support and guidance from the staff. The Walden Project is proud of its association with Addison Northwest Supervisory Union and public education. |
Tarrant Institute for Innovative Education - Emily Hoyler
Emily Hoyler is an educator and climate activist. Currently she works for the Tarrant Institute for Innovative Education as a Professional Development Coordinator supporting innovative school transformation in public schools. She has nearly two decades of experience working as an educator, including five years as a sixth grade teacher, and three years as the Curriculum Specialist at Shelburne Farms.
While at Shelburne Farms, Emily's work focused on education for sustainability. While there, she co-wrote Cultivating Joy & Wonder, an early childhood curriculum guide to educating for sustainability. Emily’s current interests include climate resilience, education for sustainability, mindfulness in the classroom, and creating rejuvenating professional learning experiences for fellow educators. Emily served as a Visiting Lecturer in Education Studies at Middlebury College where she taught community-connected courses on elementary methods and Education for Sustainability. Emily lives at the top of a mountain in Ripton, Vermont, with her husband and many Wild Things, including three children, fiftteen chickens, a dog, a cat, and various other untamed critters. |
Shelburne Farms - Megan Camp
Shelburne Farms is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to inspire and cultivate learning for a sustainable future. That means learning that helps students build a healthy future for their communities and the planet. Based on Abenaki land, our home campus is a 1,400-acre working farm, forest, and National Historic Landmark.
We care about the sustainability and quality of life on earth. We care about young people having hope for the future. We believe that sustainability is grounded in individual awareness and action in our own communities. Our vision is for a just world rooted in stewardship and community. |
TRY for the Environment - Lauren Traister
TRY stands for Teens Reaching Youth and is an environmental leadership opportunity for students in grades 7-12. It is an environmental education program taught by teens and designed to increase environmental literacy and responsibility in younger youth. TRY for the Environment includes five program areas to connect young people to real-world environmental problems allowing them to be key change agents contributing to real-world solutions.
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