Embracing the Good New for Planet Earth: First Impressions of Merry Lea

Greetings from northern Indiana … I hope you all are enjoying the fall weather as much as I am!  As some of you perhaps know, I am now living in a small town in northern Indiana working on my Master’s degree in environmental education at beautiful Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center, a 1,100+ acre nature sanctuary, which is part of Goshen College.  It has been a whirlwind adventure thus far as I just finished up my first round of classes ranging from principles of education to natural history to research methods. 

We have now moved into our fall teaching schedule so we have been having fun leading student explorers across the property focusing on the sustainable working farm where they raise over 30 varieties of vegetables, plus chickens, hogs, and turkeys.  The Nature Center includes an ecological field station incorporating energy from both a wind turbine and solar panels.  The project was awarded LEED platinum certification in 2007.  It has been a lot of fun teaching the students about where their food comes from, as many these days don’t understand this and the processing food has to go through to get on their plate.  Not only do we have a class touring the sustainable farm but also provide autumn adventures, exploring wetlands, and so much more.  For me it is just such a joy to get students outside of the classroom and exploring nature – many for the first time.      

Although we have been focusing on classes and teaching, I am also working on my yearlong project – working with an urban community garden in a low income neighborhood in Fort Wayne, Indiana – helping them develop curriculum to provide outreach to both students and adults alike.  We do have plenty of time to play though (mostly on the weekends) so I have been active visiting the farmer’s market, hiking around Merry Lea and local Chain O’ Lakes State Park and visiting fairs and festivals around the region – so if you’re ever in northern Indiana let me know!

Kaitlyn Bradley

Bird banding

Gene Stratton Porter Historical Site

Working a local fair booth.

Beautiful sunrise

Observing a local pow-wow in Michigan.

Embracing the Good News for Planet Earth - Projects in Our Own Backyard!

The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. ~Gandhi

This month we are shifting the focus to some real life examples of environmental stewardship here in our local community. We decided to talk with our very own Dane Steinhauer as he discussed his Eagle Scout Project that he completed in 2014. His project focused on working at Blue Ridge Elementary School on their outdoor education center which consisted of a short trail and small outdoor classroom area. Dane wanted to complete this project to encourage more students to get outside the classroom, explore the trail, and learn about some of Missouri’s native trees.

In order to accomplish his goal, he had to organize and put in motion many smaller projects: removing trash - particularly plastic bags (he received help from 4^th and 5^th grade students attending summer school), removing invasive bush honeysuckle, replacing existing culverts, “chatting” over the culverts and trail (applying a layer of fine, white gravel), and then finally installing the tree markers as well as creating a brochure for students to use. By the time it was all said and done Dane had helped organize over 165 hours of work -- including work completed by himself, his family, other friends, as well as elementary students and Cub Scouts. Although most of the manual labor was completed in July, a lot more work went into drafting the proposal, meeting with stakeholders, and completing all the required paperwork. He claims that his biggest satisfaction was helping to inspire younger Scouts to complete their own Eagle Scout Projects.

Way to go Dane and good luck starting your senior year at Battle High School!