Flat Aggie Learns About Outdoor Education

Hi there, it’s Flat Aggie!

 

I visited KACEE, Kansas Association for Conservation andEnvironmental Education, and got to meet the people that work for KACEE and a dog named Benjamin during one of their meetings.  They gave me a cool sticker to wear on my shirt, it says WILD!  I’ll tell you more about that in a little bit!

KACEE taught me how much FUN it is to learn and explore the outdoors!  I found out that KACEE helps teachers learn how to take their students outside during school days and use the outdoors as a tool to teach them about math, science, reading, writing, art, music, social studies, technology and many more things.  KACEE uses some cool books called Project WILD, Project WET, and Project Learning Tree to help teach the teachers.  I even got to climb a tree!  I could see so far!  I could see so much of our state, Kansas.  It is a neat place to live and I can’t wait to explore it more!

KACEE also taught me about their Kansas Green Schools program.  Have you or your teachers heard of it before?  It’s so fun!  With the Kansas Green Schools program students and teachers get to investigate water, energy, waste & recycling, the health of the school environment, and the outdoors spaces at the school and in the community.  My favorite was learning about how to recycle!  Do you recycle at home or at your school?

The yummiest part of the day was when I learned about KACEE’s Kansas School Gardens program!  Did you know that many Kansas schools have gardens?  The students, teachers, and community members help to plant, weed, water, and harvest the food that grows in the school garden and then the best part is they get to eat it!  It’s so fresh and yummy.  I tried two vegetables that I didn’t think I liked, but when I got to try them fresh from the garden, I changed my mind.  I tried fresh peppers and fresh cucumbers and they were so tasty I wanted to learn how to grow them myself.

  

One of my favorite parts of the day was getting to learn about the WILD program.  It was soooo….WILD!!  One of the people that I met from KACEE started the WILD program.  He gave me the cool sticker you can see on my shirt and I was so excited to wear it! Do you know what I’m holding in this picture?  

It’s a fishing pole!  Fishing is just one of so many awesome things that students who have the WILD program at their school get to do.  With the WILD program, students get to go outdoors and have amazing adventures like fishing, hiking, canoeing, camping, bird watching, and more.  I can’t wait to have an amazing WILD adventure!

I had so much fun with KACEE learning all about the outdoors, Green Schools program, school gardens, and WILD.  I hope all kids get the opportunity to learn about each of their subject areas at school through the outdoors and they get to plant their own school gardens, watch and help their plants grow, and taste the fresh and yummy produce they harvest.  I can’t wait to have my next Kansas adventure!