Dear WILD Ones,
When is scat a fascinating discovery? When you are a conservation education teacher or on your way to becoming one! Call of the WILD, held in December in the Ocala National Forest, is for active workshop facilitators and volunteers. Attending this fun and educational retreat is a great way to explore, grow, rejuvenate. Last year we discovered black bear scat and tracks--inspirational--as we exchanged ideas to improve educator workshops. Serving those who are excited to learn and teach about habitats, lifecycles, ecosystems, food chains, and conservation is an honor and privilege. These topics can be used to teach science, math, language arts, and social studies. W.I.L.D stands for Wild In Learning Design. Children are naturally curious about wildlife and drawn to these subjects. We can and should design more education around wildlife to help create the next generation of conservation stewards. Check out the FL Project WILD Workshop Schedule and keep getting WILD. Thank you!
Anita Forester
Project WILD Coordinator
New! 850-404-6089
anita.forester@myfwc.com
 On September 22, 2018 at the Loxahatchee River Center in Jupiter, FL Project WILD certified brand new workshop facilitators! They are not all pictured above as I forgot to take a group photo. Our instructors were incredible. These people are amazing. We couldn't keep Florida WILD without you. Here is the complete list of new facilitators and instructors in attendance: Jessica Andreasen(instructor), Rachel Bisnett, Marcia Bisnett(instructor), Kayla Caldwell, Lindsey Crews, Mary Crider, Sarah Denison, Jeffrey Dobbs, Sydelle Dombrowsky, Natalie Frendberg, Megan Harris(instructor), Jayne Johnston, Cassie Klein, Candy Morris, Shannon Mullis, Dr. Bryan Nichols(instructor), Dexter Norris, Christy Penman, Dawn Perez, Susan Philips, Cole Reintsma, Sarah Rubin, Erin Stimer, Alicia Torres, Valerie Tovar, Nancy Varn, and Sarah Zubairi. Thank you!
Veronica Frehm was born in Kealakekua, Hawaii. Her family moved to Florida when she was five years old. Growing up here and going camping and exploring local ecosystems with her family, she considers herself a Florida native. She attended the University of Florida for her undergraduate degree in English with a concentration in film and media studies. After working in the film industry for a few years, she decided she wanted a career that had more meaning in it for her. Unsure of what to do, she went on a camping trip with her dad to Yosemite National park. There she saw a naturalist leading a group of students on a hike. Instantly she knew she wanted to be a naturalist. In her current position, director of education at John D. MacArthur Beach State Park, she is in charge of the developing and training staff, volunteers, and interns to deliver high quality, field experience programs. In addition, Veronica organizes several Project WILD workshops and delivers them to formal and non-formal educators each year. She conveys in-depth knowledge about the park’s ecosystems and conducts activities to teach those concepts. Her workshop evaluations are consistently positive. Here are a few things educators have said after attending one of her trainings:
- Amazing workshop, Veronica is amazing!
- Veronica is an innovative educator.
- Veronica is a great instructor—her enthusiasm is contagious!
- Veronica was wonderful. I look forward to participating in other activities led by her in the future.
- Veronica has great energy and knowledge about environmental education. 10 out of 10!
- The facilitator’s enthusiasm, knowledge, positivity, and inclusivity made this workshop fun, productive, and educational!
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Involving Your Students In The City Nature Challenge
Did you know that you and your students can turn the use of a phone into an incredible learning opportunity? The free app and website, iNaturalist, allows you to identify, document, and learn more about any organism that occupies your school grounds. While this teaching tool can be used anytime, Leon County is participating in the 2019 City Nature Challenge as part of FWC’s Backyards and Beyond program. Uploading iNaturalist observations April 26-29 will help us take the lead in the challenge. Using iNaturalist and engaging with other schoolyard habitat lessons FWC has created aligns closely with both state and national standards as well. We hope to see your names on the City Nature Challenge project and, hey, you could even challenge your rival school.
On FWC Flickr (here and here), multitudes of photos are available for non profit public use. I recently took a peek at some of the albums and found the photos seen below!
“Great for application of knowledge!”
“Awesome ideas—very excited to bring back to my school.”
“Magnificent!”
“…informative and interactive—loved the experience!”
“Information was well presented and will be used in my classroom and shared with my colleagues.”
“…really enjoyed it and will definitely sign up for the next training.”
“Amazing! Very well taught and the information is great—so many Ah-Ha moments!”
“Excellent and motivational workshop. My students will be quite thrilled to do the activities.”
“Love that Project WILD exists. Never knew about it…love the mission!”
“Great materials and very engaging workshop!”
“Excellent. Badly needed. Looking forward to using it!”
“Excellent training session. Great presenters! Love how many resources are readily available!”
“I have never seen an ant lion and I learned how to find their habitat today!”
To request a WILD Workshop for your area contact: anita.forester@myfwc.com
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