Last year's line-up

Welcome and Opening 

Principal Nou Vang Vue, Lake View Elementary

Nkaujnou Vang-Vue is the principal at Lake View Elementary School where they serve a diverse multicultural student population and the only Hmong heritage bilingual program in the school district of Madison and in the state of Wisconsin! With a passion for equitable access and opportunities for all students, Nkauujnou strives to build a school community where all students feel a deep sense of belonging and can learn using their funds of knowledge.

Session 1 Breakouts

• Building a Bigger Nest: Nature Education for Everyone | Carolyn Byers, Madison Audubon

• Hands on Nature Education | Cheryl DeWelt, Environmental Education & Garden Manager, Madison Children's Museum

• Nurtured by Nature: How Nature Connection Supports Healthy Child Development | Meg Barrow, MS, OTR/L, Thriving Wild OT, RxOutside

• The Schoolyard is a Living Laboratory | Dave Ropa, Spring Harbor MS

• Cooking in the Garden | Rooted AmeriCorps Members

• Forest Bathing: Stress Reduction & Sensory Exploration for Youth & Adults | Moira Farrell, Midvale PE, Founder of Hike & Heal Wellness

Session 2 Breakouts

• Connecting to Nature and Community Through Art | Sonya Sankaran, Ecologist, Educator & Artist

• Environmental Stewardship with PBS Resources | Jami Hoekstra Collins, Education Engagement Specialist, PBS Wisconsin

• Talking About Big Topics with Kids: Diversity in Nature Lessons Created by Madison Audubon for Your Classroom | Carolyn Byers, Madison Audubon

• Nature Education and Middle School | Dawn Liska-Tollefson, MMSD Middle School Educator

• The Schoolyard is a Living Laboratory | Dave Ropa, Spring Harbor MS

• Wild Food Wander | Andy Gricevich, What Got Gathered

Lunch and Community Partners 

Spend time connecting with each other and supportive community resources.

Exhibitors

Madison Teacher Panel Discussion

• Shannon Richards, Wingra School, grades 4-5

• Susie Janovich-Jodie, MMSD, Speech and Language

• Angie Mortensen, Midvale, Grade K, Bilingual

• James Kersten, Lake View, PE

• Brian Counselman, Science, Shabazz

Workshops

• Birding is for Everyone! | Dexter Patterson, Faculty Associate University of Wisconsin, Co-founder BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin 

• Building Community to Get Outside! | Brian Counselman, Science, Shabazz

• Phenology and the Wheels of Time and Place | Jim Lorman, Professor Emeritus, Edgewood College

• Developing Outdoor Spaces for Learning | Jonathan Ismail, Outreach Specialist, LEAF K-12 Forestry Education, UW - Stevens Point

• Nature Songs & Games | Laura McNeill & Justin Novotny, Wild Harvest Nature Connection 

Keynote Presentation

Christopher Kilgour, Color in the Outdoors

Founder of Color in the Outdoors (CITO), Christopher has spent his entire life exploring and enjoying the outdoors in one capacity or another. His main motivation for starting CITO was to be able to connect people with the outside world and with other like-minded individuals and organizations. The guiding principles behind CITO hold a strong space in advocacy for diversity, equity, and inclusion and it is with these concepts in mind that all of the activities, partnerships, links, and resources are developed and presented.

Stewardship, sustainability, education, and mentorship are core components of the CITO ideology and, with the help of partners and collaborations, Christopher hopes to widen the support, advocacy, and engagement in diversifying  perspective of and participants in the outdoor world and our relationship to it.

Photo Credit: James Edward Mills of The Joy Trip Project