Alabama Plants Trees for Wildlife
The Alabama Wildlife Federation is always looking for ways to teach kids about the environment, so we were thrilled to receive free native tree seedlings from the National Wildlife Federation this past spring. These seedlings enabled us to share the great outdoors with school children and their families in our area.Almost 600 students from Prattville Elementary School, Prattville Christian Academy, and the Alabama Nature Center’s Expedition Lanark Outdoor Day camp chose between a flowering dogwood and an American sycamore to take home and plant in their yards!
Most of the youth involved are in fourth grade or lower, and each shared with me their ideas for where their tree would be planted and how they would take care of it.
One of my primary responsibilities as a conservation educator is to instill a sense of care and responsibility in the students we teach. With programs like NWF’s that sponsor trees for wildlife, educators are equipped to do just that. With the right tools to teach today’s youth about our environment and how to care for it, it makes it easy to promote the balance of use, protection and conservation of our natural resources!Thank you NWF for helping teachers through this program. Everyone needs a little more green space!
About the Author: Elizabeth is originally from Montgomery, Alabama, and earned a B.S. in wildlife Science and a M.Ed. from Auburn University. She has worked at the Alabama Wildlife Federation since 2008 and currently serves as the Director of Education, although she also has served as Camp Director and Education programs Specialist in the past. One of her favorite parts of her job is taking children into nature, showing them the animals, plants, water and soil they don’t usually pay close attention to. A hands-on experience into the outdoors with a seasoned naturalist can make a world of difference in a child’s life.