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Michigan Technological University staffer has been recognized by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment as the
Michigan Project Learning Tree's Educator of the Year.
Joan Chadde is the education program coordinator for the Western Upper Peninsula Center for Science, Mathematics and Environmental Education, in partnership with Michigan Technological University.
Michigan Project Learning Tree coordinator Ada Takacs says the program's larger goal is to get students more aware and involved in their environments.
Understanding the importance and relevance of what is going on in the natural world is something all children and adults must learn in order to ensure its survival and healthy continuation. Joan Chadde's name has become synonymous with outdoor education in Michigan. She is very deserving of this award," Takacs says.
The Learning Tree program helps teachers and community leaders educate students from preschool to high school on environmental education topics. Chadde has spent 30 years in environmental education, and since 2006, she's served on the board of the Michigan Alliance for Environmental and Outdoor Education.
As Michigan's educator of the year, Chadde will go on to compete with 14 other educators for honors from the national Learning Tree program.
She earned the award partly through her recent work as co-coordinator of a program that brings environmental education into urban Detroit classrooms. Through her Michigan Tech position, Chadde shared lessons and activities that Detroit teachers could use in their own classrooms, and also coordinated fundraising, teacher recruitment, professional development and program evaluations.
Writer: Sam EgglestonSource: Ada Takacs, Michigan Project Learning Tree
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