EEAI
Awards Program
The
Environmental Education Association of Illinois' awards program
exists to recognize and encourage excellence in the field
of environmental education. Please take a moment to nominate
a deserving fellow environmental educator for next year's
awards. Nomination forms
are always available on this website and are due November
30th of each year.
Formal Environmental Educator of the Year
This award is presented for outstanding, ongoing efforts in
infusing environmental education into the schools curriculum.
Teachers from all subjects and grades are eligible.
Non Formal Environmental Educator of the Year
This award is presented for exhibiting innovative and exemplary
effort in providing environmental education opportunities
for general audiences. Professional and volunteer educators
who teach in non-school settings are eligible (e.g. nature
centers, zoos, museums, conservation or agriculture agencies,
etc.).
Malcolm D. Swan Award for Outstanding Service
The Malcolm D. Swan Award is the Association’s most
prestigious honor. This award is presented for long-term,
outstanding service and contribution to the field of environmental
education in Illinois. It is intended to recognize the efforts
of those people who have had a large-scale impact in the field.
These efforts may have taken the form of publications produced,
legislation created, facilities developed, innovative curricula
or programs developed, leadership provided to supporting organizations,
funding acquired, or any other major contribution to the field.
All award winners are recognized at the EEAI annual conference,
receive a one year paid membership to EEAI and an engraved
plaque.
To nominate yourself or another individual for any of the
awards described, please fill out the nomination
form. Submission deadline is November 30th.
For further information, contact Richie Wolf at 815-234-8535
ext. 217 or e-mail him at Richie@byronforestpreserve.com.
EEAI
Award Recipients
Malcolm D. Swan Award for Outstanding Service
2011
Recipient: 2011 Recipient: Sarah Livesay. EEAI Projects Coordinator
Graduating
from Eastern Illinois University with a Bachelor of Science
in Environmental Biology, Sarah Livesay has continued in the
field of environmental education with an energy and fervor
few can match. From her beginnings as a field biologist for
both the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) and
the Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS), to the Environmental
Education Coordinator for the Champaign County Forest Preserve
District (CCFPD), to the President of the Environmental Education
Association of Illinois (EEAI), Sarah exemplifies the traits
we seek in a Malcolm D. Swan award winner.
Throughout
Sarah’s career, she has continued to challenge herself
in areas of professional growth. Nowhere is this more evident
than her involvement with EEAI. She was elected as a Regional
Director in 2001, Secretary (2003-2007), President (2007-2009),
and Immediate Past President (2009-2011). It has been Sarah’s
personal mission to work with the board and committees to
increase professional development opportunities state-wide,
strengthen the organization’s financial autonomy, and
increase the professionalism of EEAI.
Sarah
has served a pivotal role on numerous conference planning
committees, most notably on the 2004 EEAI Annual Conference
and the 2009 Midwest Environmental Education Conference (MEEC).
Her role as Fund Development Chair for the 2009 MEEC produced
numerous grants and sponsorships, resulting in a $30,000 net
profit!
Currently,
Sarah is serving as advisor in re-writing the Environmental
Literacy Plan for Illinois and participates in IDNR’s
Conservation Congress. She has also been a leader in bringing
several professional development workshops to Illinois educators,
including Project Flying WILD™, Project WET, Growing
Up WILD™, and Project Learning Tree®. She co-authored
the “Flying WILD™ Links to Boy Scouts of America
Merit Badge-Achievement Activities” and “Flying
WILD™ Links to Girl Scouts of America Badge-Try-It Activities.”
Sarah
has established a personal consulting business, Pages from
the Prairie. Through a series of six professional development
workshops created exclusively by Sarah, hundreds of formal
educators have learned how to integrate EE into the classroom
using children’s literature. Audiences for “Pages
from the Prairie” have included school districts, Regional
Offices of Education, governmental agencies, workshops at
regional conferences, and private nature centers and museums.
Sarah
is now the EEAI State Projects Coordinator charged with managing
three national environmental education curricula: Project
Learning Tree®, Growing Up WILD™, and Project Flying
WILD™.
2010
Recipient: Steve Kolsto, Coordinator of Education,
Surface Water Section, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
2009 Recipient: Judy Miller, Environmental Programs
Manager, Anita Purves Nature Center
2008 Recipient: Robert L. Carter, Instructor-Department
of Teaching and Learning-Northern Illinois University
2006 Recipient: Nan Buckardt - Environmental Education
Manager, Lake County Forest Preserve District - Deerfield,
IL
2005 Recipient: Angela Smith- Director & Naturalist Sugar
Grove Nature Center - McLean, IL
2004 Recipient: Mary Rice, Environmental Education
Coordinator and Naturalist Schaumburg Park District's Spring
Valley Nature Sanctuary.
2003 Recipient: Kathy Andrews, Illinois Department
of Natural Resources, Springfield, IL.
2001 Recipient: Suzanne Saric, US EPA Region
5 Environmental Education Program Manager, Chicago. IL
Formal Environmental Educator of the Year
2011 Recipient: Caitlin Bouse, Atelierista & Nature Curriculum
Specialist for Elmhurst Academy
At Elmhurst Academy, Caitlin Bouse supports teachers
and students by providing insight, research, and resources
that they might not otherwise be able to access. Caitlin acts
as a resource to the teaching staff by aiding them in bringing
the classroom outside and the outside into the classroom on
a daily basis. Quite often, teachers and students find themselves
with gifts of nature in their classroom, set there by Caitlin
for them to discover.
Caitlin was integral in earning Elmhurst Academy’s national
designation as a certified Nature Explore Classroom from the
Arbor Day Foundation and Dimensions Educational Research Foundation.
It is only the second certified classroom in Illinois and
one of 45 in the United States! Caitlin has also created an
outdoor classroom for the Academy, a semi-enclosed area for
students to create nature art, woodworking projects, and other
environmental education initiatives.
Caitlin continues to connect young children to nature, teaching
them of the importance of nature exploration as a part of
healthy growth and development.
2010
Recipient: Dr. Jeffrey T. Hoyer, Deerfield High School
2008 Recipient: David E. Brown, 5th Grade Teacher,
Baldwin Intermediate School-West
2006 Recipient: Dr. Marylin Lisowski - Professor,
Eastern Illinois University, College of Education - Charleston,
IL
2005 Recipient: Renae Frigo - Naturalist Supervisor/Interpreter
St. Charles Park District
2004 Recipient: Jill Carter, Instructor and Science
Department Chair Pekin Community High School.
2002 Recipient: Anita Scott, Teacher/Director Friendship
Corner School- Schaumburg, IL
2001 Recipient: Rick Livesey, Herscher High
School, Herscher, IL
Non-Formal Environmental
Educator of the Year
2011 Recipient: Joyce Mitchell, Volunteer
at the Wildlife Prairie State Park
Joyce Mitchell has been a volunteer with the Wildlife Prairie
State Park for six years, donating over 3,000 hours of her
time to their education department. Joyce delivers and evaluates
the variety of programs that are offered at the state park
throughout the year. She also plays a key role in the development
of new programs for the park including creating specialized
education programs for the local school district; leading
volunteer training sessions; obtaining and implementing the
use of GPS systems for student, adult, and family programs;
and so much more.
Before volunteering at the state park, Joyce was a 3rd grade
teacher for almost 40 years at Illini Bluffs Elementary school
in Glasford, Illinois. Joyce takes what she has learned from
teaching in the classroom to act as a liaison between the
park and schools.
2009
Recipient: Pat Sullivan, Owner of the Peace of Earth
Environmental Learning Center.
2008 Recipient: Lara Darling, Environmental
Educator and Volunteer Coordinator,Vermilion County Conservation
District
2006 Recipient: Tara Wisnewski - Environmental Education
Specialist, Forest Preserve District of Will County - Mokena,
IL
2005 Recipient: Sally Patterson- Education Coordinator
& Naturalist Abraham Lincoln Memorial Garden - Springfield,
IL
2004 Recipient: Janet Hawes-Davis, Environmental Education
Coordinator Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
2002 Recipient: Sarah Livesay, Champaign County Forest
Preserve District (CCFPD)-Champaign, IL.
2001 Recipients: Jill Stites and Char Heckel
of the Crane Chronicle Development Team, Lake County Forest
Preserve District, Deerfield , IL
2001
EEAI Outstanding Service Award:
Cathy Cunningham, Champaign, IL
