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Environmental education (EE) refers to organized efforts to teach how natural environments function, and particularly, how human beings can manage behavior and ecosystems to live sustainably. It is a multi-disciplinary field integrating disciplines that include biology, chemistry, physics, ecology, earth science, atmospheric science, mathematics, and geography.
A Timeline of AAPS Environmental Education
Mid-1950s: a confluence of circumstances
To get to where we are today with environmental education in our public schools, a lot of things had to line up simultaneously nearly sixty years ago:
In Dayton, Ohio, Bill Stapp was working at the Aulwood Nature Center as an employee of the Audubon Society.
In Ann Arbor, Michigan, Eunice Hendrix, Dorothy Blanchard, and Maxine Miles – all active Audubon Society members – were proposing an environmental education program for integration into the public schools.
The Tappan Junior High PTO purchased land in the state for use as a camp for environmental education instruction for Tappan students.
At Springfield College, Bill Browning was studying teaching and ecology under the tutelage of Professor John Brainerd, an early pioneer of environmental education.
1958: a benefactor, a school board, and funding approval
Eunice Hendrix took her proposal to the AAPS school board, proposing the hire of Bill Stapp to develop and implement environmental education content that supported existing school curriculum. This position and program was to be funded by the school system, with 50% of the first-year’s salary donated by Hendrix. In addition to her push to bring environmental education into the schools and her role as benefactor, it was Hendrix’s insistence that the program be funded by the schools – and not by grants – that secured its long-term, robust success.
1959: the perfect hire
AAPS Environmental Education (EE) was launched in conjunction with the 1959/60 school year. Hendrix strongly recommended Bill Stapp for the new position, based on his work with the Audubon Society. At the time, very little formal environmental education content existed. (A few national camps - in Dearborn, Battle Creek, Tyler (Texas), and a few in California - taught environmental education with reliable funding and clear objectives, yet not much was documented in writing.)
As a graduate of the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and the Environment (SNRE), Stapp was especially well-suited to research existing school curriculum and develop grade-specific environmental education programs that would teach students about the natural world in conjunction with their in-class learning about science and social studies. Stapp’s knowledge, enthusiasm, and organizational skills resulted in a carefully documented, successful EE program that would earn him the moniker “The Founder of Environmental Education.” Stapp’s graduate dissertation on his work is still relevant today and used throughout the world.
Coincidentally, Bill Browning’s work with “ecology camps” for students brings him to Mill Lake in Chelsea, which was used by Dearborn Public Schools during the school year. A millage cut dissolved that program, leading Browning to apply for teaching jobs in the local area. In 1959, Browning signed on as a 6th grade teacher at Haisley Elementary.
1960: a program pilot
Wines Elementary was the pilot school for the initial EE content. Existing activities at Tappan would also inform the junior and senior high school content. Hendrix and Stapp were supported by additional staff and volunteers, including Vera Levinson, Jim Swan, and a rotating pool of SNRE students.
Programming was developed for grades K – 12, with the field-trip format emphasized to ensure students obtained experiential learning in the natural environment. All content was age-appropriate and purposely tied to existing grade-level curriculum to reinforce classroom studies.
Stapp continued to run the program for the next four years, and then transitioned over the University of Michigan’s SNRE faculty.
1968: a permanent hire for an established program
By the mid-1960s, the EE staff consisted of multiple part-time positions. The program curriculum was proven and established, so it was time to establish permanent staff positions. Bill Browning was encouraged by the principal at Haisley to apply for the position. In 1968, Browning became AAPS’s first “Environmental Education Coordinator.” Levinson and Hendrix split the second FTE, with each working half time.
For the next 30 years, Browning would lead EE, continuing the work initiated by Hendrix, Stapp and others. In 1998, upon Browning’s retirement, Clague science teacher Dave Szczygiel was hired as the new EE coordinator. Szczygiel served tens of thousands of students throughout his career in the position before retiring in 2024.
Bill Stapp and the EE legacy
Bill Stapp's ideas for teaching children about the environment helped spark a movement locally, nationally, and internationally. Learn more about his teaching philosophy and his life via the links below.
Bill Stapp's Concept of Environmental Education
Bill Stapp Obituary "The Founder of Environmental Education has died."
Eunice Hendrix - a visionary for Environmental Education
Eunice Hendrix was a visionary in her contributions to environmental education. Without her leadership and funding support, environmental education would not be an integral part of AAPS science and social studies enrichment. To read Eunice's obituary, click this link: Land conservationist, naturalist, and educator
Dave Szczygiel - Extraordinary Environmental Education Consultant
Dave Szczygiel served in the role of Environmental Education Consultant for the Ann Arbor Public Schools from 1997 to 2024. Dave is an Ann Arbor native, having attended Wines, Forsythe and Pioneer. Dave earned a Biology degree (wetlands focus) from Eastern Michigan University and a Michigan teaching certification in 1986. Dave taught 7th, 8th and 9th grade science in AAPS and completed a Master’s degree in General Science in 1990 from Eastern Michigan University.
Over his 27 years in this role, in addition to conducting daily field trips for the EE program (K-6), Dave was also involved with collaborative projects such as developing a unit to address Spongy Moth sampling, developing a Climate Change and Forestry Unit, and working on a variety of projects with partners such as the University of Michigan SEAS, The Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation, The Southeastern Michigan Community Foundation, The Huron River Watershed Council, City of Ann Arbor, Washtenaw County, Scio Township, The Brokaw Foundation, and Argus Farm Stop. Dave also played an instrumental role in the launch of the Freeman Environmental Education Center.
Dave had a long, impactful, and widely-celebrated career with AAPS. He has received a recognition award from the Michigan Alliance for Environmental and Outdoor Education for significant contributions to the field of environmental education.
An Interview with Bill Browning - "I teach kids."
Bill Browning enjoyed a unique perspective on the EE program, having been involved from early in the program’s development and through three decades of established curriculum. EE Specialist Jennifer Wolf asked Bill to share some of his reflections about the program.
JW: How did you get involved with environmental education?
BB: I started out as an English major. That was okay, and I might have stuck with that, but I ended up serving two years during the Korean War. The army did aptitude testing on all recruits back then, and the test showed me to have the makings of a police officer. So I became an MP (military policeman) and was stationed at West Point. It really wasn’t that interesting, so when they needed volunteers to help at a summer camp for the officers’ kids, I signed up. That’s when I found out I really loved teaching kids.
After the army, in 1955, I went to Springfield College [Massachusetts] to get my teacher’s training. They had a course called “Freshman Camp” taught by ecologist John Brainerd. He was a lot like Bill Stapp – very interested in environmental education and a brilliant teacher. He really inspired me; John Brainerd was definitely an important mentor for me. It’s because of him that I focused on environmental education. We even took a 6-week road trip from Springfield to Corpus Christ and back, studying environmental science all day, every day. Can you image? What a great opportunity for me.
JW: How did you end up in Michigan?
BB: I took a job with Dearborn Public Schools, working at a camp for them at Mill Lake in Chelsea. I did that for two years, until a funding millage failed to pass. They cut the camp and the gardening programs. My future wife was at Wayne State, working toward her teaching certificate, so I applied for work at Chelsea schools and in Ann Arbor. Barbara Holland was the director of the camp, and she recommended me for a position at Haisely Elementary. I taught 6th grade there for ten years, starting in 1958, and loved every minute of it. I didn’t even like to call in a sub, I just enjoyed that work so much.
JW: And from Haisely to EE?
BB: Stapp was getting ready to move on to teach at UM. The principal at Haisely suggested that I apply for the job, as she thought it was a great fit. It was hard to leave Haisely, but she was right. I was lucky because Vera Levenson and Eunice Hendrix were under Stapp, and they stayed on after I started, both part time. I never actually worked directly with Bill Stapp, so having them stay was really important. Eunice was instrumental to the long-term success of the program because she insisted it be funded directly by the schools. Other communities tried to copy the program using grant funds, but as soon as the funds dried up, the programs were gone. Eunice ensured the program would last. And Vera was a real peach – she just kept everything moving along beautifully.
JW: What do you feel are your greatest contributions to the EE program?
BB: Bill Stapp was the perfect person to develop the program. He knew it had to be tied to the classroom curriculum to be effective. He had a lot of drive, knowledge and enthusiasm. Plus he was very organized – he put everything he did in to his graduate dissertation.
I feel that I was a good keeper of the program that Stapp started. Whenever changes were made, I tried to be sure they kept with Stapp’s original goals, to the intentions of the program. I really just worked hard to keep an already good program going, to keep it true to its original purpose.
JW: Did you make any changes over the years?
BB: Sure. Some of them happened accidentally, like the feeding of the birds at Kensington. Bill Hopkins was a naturalist for the Metro Parks. He noticed people standing near the feeding stations, trying to get the birds to feed from their hands. We decided to try it with the students, too. Ah, the wonder of that. At one point, the parks wanted us to stop – they thought it might be disruptive to the birds. But I figured we were just part of their winter food web. For those kids, the trust that is required for that bird to land in their hand – that is a profound connection to the environment. They really remember that, too. I recall this guy (chuckling), must have been in his 50s, and he shouts out “Hey, Mr. B.!” and sticks his hand out just like we taught him to do in first grade, to feed the birds. And he still has this big grin on his face!
Other changes were due to changes in the curriculum. The pond trip was originally a trip to the Field Museum to study ocean life. Then the curriculum focused on local water systems, and we started the pond trip. There was a struggle to get Mitchell Pond dredged – it was infiltrating with more and more plants; this succession is a normal part of the life cycle of a pond. But we wanted to keep it open, for the purposes of student study. Finally, everyone agreed that we needed to dredge it and keep it as a pond. It has been a very productive site for us. Originally, I envisioned that classes could take some of the pond creatures back to class, to place in an aquarium for further study. But we had so many classes, that I soon realized we would deplete the pond! So it changed to the format still used today – collect, observe, share, and then release back in to the pond.
JW: What about Winter Survival? That is such a popular trip.
BB: Yes, it is. It started because a teacher asked me a simple question, “Bill, what can we do with the students during the winter?” I suggested we teach them fire building and cooking skills, and Winter Survival was born. I think it is a great trip because the kids are allowed to experiment, to fail, and to succeed, all on their own. They have a real sense of accomplishment from that trip.
JW: Any funny Winter Survival stories?
BB: Lots! We had one time that we returned to the bus to find the wheels frozen on the ice. We used ash from the fires under the wheels to get traction. Another time, a parent sent a student with 2 pounds of hamburger wrapped in foil, but she forgot to take it out of the foam tray first. Then we had the teaching assistant who got too close to the fire and burned a hole in her jacket – eiderdown leaked out at such a rate, it was snowing feathers. Those trips always provided a lot of chances for observation and problem solving!
We used to be on the property that is now Skyline for our Winter Survival trips. The schools bought that property in 1967. We even had permanent toilets out there, housed in concrete structures. They are still on the property – buried someplace. When they constructed Skyline, it was easier to plow them under, than to try and remove them. I always wonder if someone could find evidence of them on site.
JW: Any other big changes to the program?
BB: Well, a few things we can’t do anymore, which is too bad. We used to have a day trip to a working dairy farm. I wish they could still do that trip. And, believe it or not, we used to go down to Monroe and tour the power station and Fermi [Nuclear Power Plant].
JW: That’s incredible!
BB: Yes, it was. They had to stop giving us tours because it took too much of their staff time. So we couldn’t go anymore.
JW: Any regrets?
BB: Just one, really. Eunice [Hendrix] wanted the programs to run all the way through high school. But it was too difficult to pull kids out of their classes for field trips. So Bill Stapp gave the teachers all the materials so they could teach the content within their science hour. That was hard on Eunice. Plus I think she didn’t like the winter trips – she wanted to be in the High Schools during that time period. I’m not sure what the answer would be, but she was a real visionary in starting the program and I wish that part could have gone smoother.
JW: Any teaching tips you can share?
BB: Well, the kids I had were all pretty good. I only recall one time when some students were deliberately misbehaving. It was a 6th grade gravel pit trip, and a small group decided to hide. We had to return to school, but they simply would not come out. I told the bus driver to leave, but to wait about ¼ mile down the road. I hid behind a boulder. The looks on those kids’ faces (laughing) when they heard that bus pull out! They came running! It helps to keep a sense of humor.
But in all seriousness, you need to keep the kids engaged, keep them asking questions, keep them interested. And never, never tell them their answer is wrong or stupid. Just keep working with them. If you make them feel foolish, then you’ve lost them.
I feel really lucky. I had great mentors and I discovered a passion for teaching many years ago. People sometimes ask me “What do you teach?” I know they expect me to say “English,” or “Science,” or whatever. And when I reply, some of them think I’m being a wise guy. But I’m not. I just tell them the truth, “I teach kids.”
- from a May 4, 2016 interview
Bill Browning retired in 1998, but he kept teaching until he passed away on March 23, 2018 at the age of 87. He volunteered in three different classes at Haisely Elementary, reading and discussing survival stories by author Gary Paulsen (Hatchet, The River, and Brian’s Winter). Bill’s legacy has its footprint throughout the school system, but his focus was always on the students, preferring to listen to their experiences rather than reminisce about his own. Click HERE learn more about Bill’s many contributions to Environmental Education. Click HERE to read Bill's obituary.
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