NAAEE is seeking real-world stories of how environmental education has benefited K-12 students and teachers, and we would love to hear from you! Specifically, we are seeking EE “poster” students and teachers to showcase how EE has benefitted the learning and lives of participating students and teachers.

Your stories and insights will contribute to our Anecdotes to Evidence (A2E) initiative, a project we’ve spearheaded with Stanford University to substantiate inspiring stories from across the field with empirical evidence.

We are seeking short stories, reflections, insights, and quotes from students, teachers, and parents who have experienced or observed rewarding EE programs. We would love to hear yours! Please email A2E project manager Kristen Kunkle at Kristen@naaee.org to learn more or contribute your stories, quotes, and reflections.

Thank you for considering this request, and we hope to hear from you soon!

Here are some specific examples of the kinds of things we’d love to hear:

“I think this project changed everything we thought we could do. I always thought kids meant nothing. I really enjoyed doing this, it was fun and I felt like our class just knew exactly what to do. I feel that it did show me that kids can make a difference in the world, and we are not just little dots." – Allison, Philadelphia, PA

"For a kid who struggles at school—to see that smile when he comes off the bus and to see how motivated he is to learn; how powerful this program has been for his own development as a person. I don’t have words." – parent, TRACKS program

Jeremy, a high school senior, struggled with writing and “tying facts together.” His English teacher beamed that Jeremy’s 2400-word paper he wrote about an environmental project he took on at school was “awesome.” Jeremy then wrote a piece for the state capital’s newspaper on his research.

Every morning before school started, even before the teacher arrived at the classroom door, Daniel was there waiting for her. When she asked why he was so excited about the EE program, but never got that excited about his other work, Daniel said, “Nobody’s ever asked me to study something like this before!”

Middle school teachers in Palm Beach County, FL reported that EE has helped them bring more innovative instructional strategies into the classroom and take more leadership in school change. The new strategies and the improvements they have observed among their students have made them more enthusiastic about their teaching. Principal Connie Gregory remarks, “Our teachers are inspired by the new instructional strategies and the improvements they are seeing in their students. And we all know an inspired teacher is a better teacher.”