Big Trees Innovation Fund

"I should ask that a gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life, as an unfailing antidote against the boredom and disenchantments of later years, the sterile preoccupation with things that are artificial, the alienation from the sources of our strength." --Rachel Carson

I was lucky to grow up with that sense of wonder and I like to think that I still have it! Unfortunately, as an environmental educator, I notice that many kids nowadays don't look at their world and wonder "Why?" or "How?" They don't appreciate the beauty and importance of time spent outdoors or understand how our world works. 

But, through environmental education, students can better appreciate the wonders of our natural world and how to protect it. They can enjoy the benefits of being outdoors, and become better, more informed citizens. Environmental education helps students to think critically and ask questions, all the time discovering how the world is interconnected. Some of these students will even go on to be scientists someday, working to solve the important scientific issues of our time.

The Iowa Conservation Education Coalition works with teachers to help them better instill that sense of wonder in their students and assists them as they help their students to develop the thinking skills they will need as they become adults. This new fund will allow the ICEC to expand their outreach efforts through new projects that will further assist teachers as they educate the next generation. As a result, I encourage you all to contribute what you can to this effort.  

Together, we can all work to install that "indestructible" sense of wonder that is so important and help our young people acquire the essential skills that they will need to protect this planet in the future.