Wingra School will host the Madison Area Green & Healthy Schools Summit on Tuesday, June 20, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. The summit is sponsored by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, Green & Healthy Schools Wisconsin, Outdoors We Learn, and Wisconsin Association for Environmental Education.
The event will kick off with a welcome from Principal Nou Vang Vue of Lake View Elementary, and breakout sessions will follow with a short break in between. Breakout sessions offer a variety of different topics centered around the summit theme of “Embracing Nature Connection & Outdoor Learning for All.”
“Outdoor learning is the best part of my week! It is how I feel and what I hear so often year after year from students and families,” said Angie Mortensen, Grade K Bilingual at Midvale Elementary, in a statement.
“I have been teaching in Kinder-2nd grade for the past 22 years and always try to include one part of my week with students focusing on nature and the world around us. I can successfully find a way to fit outdoor learning into literacy, science, or social studies and will continue to advocate for students to have opportunities outside.”
After lunch, there will be a panel with teachers and educators from Madison including Shannon Richards, Susie Susie Janovich-Jodie, Angie Mortensen, James Kersten, and Brian Counselman. Also in the afternoon, there will be another round of workshops for engagement with nature and the outdoors.
To round out the summit, Color in the Outdoors founder Christopher Kilgour will deliver a keynote presentation. Kilgour’s Color in the Outdoors was started to connect diverse populations to nature and the outdoors with diversity, equity, and inclusion at the forefront of that effort.
Registration is $15 and gives access to the whole day of activities, ideas, and hands-on learning, as well as a yearlong membership to the Wisconsin Association for Environmental Education and 0.5 PACs.
To learn more and to register, visit the Madison Area Green & Healthy Schools Summit website here.
