Texas Outdoor Education Association

Information Area

Workshop Round-Up

Well, we don’t call it an outdoor education workshop for nothing.

The rains came Saturday afternoon and many of the sessions were forced inside or at least under a roof somewhere, but others went on in the rain and drizzle that continued through Sunday morning. As everyone was leaving on Sunday, the skies cleared and the sun shown. Some had to drive home in the rain while others were more fortunate and had clear skies for their drive home.

The rain was greatly appreciated by all of the local residents as the area around the H.E. Butt Foundation Camp has been in a severe drought for well over a year. And the rain certainly didn’t dampen the spirits and enthusiasm of the workshop participants. Fishing, hiking, bird watching, Native American history, archery and many other outdoor activities continued in the light to moderate rains throughout the workshop in the rain.

Don Carter, President for 2009, organized a great lineup of presenters and sessions for the workshop, blending many of the older “tried and true” sessions with several new ones. All of the sessions were well attended and the participants appeared to enjoy what they were learning. Many were especially thrilled to participate in the same learning process that they will take back to their students.

The new executive board has already started on preliminary plans for the 2010 Annual State Teacher Workshop which is tentatively scheduled for October 1-3, 2010. Mark it on your calendar and make plans to come next year. If there is a particular session you would like to see presented, please contact Karen Howden, the 2010 workshop coordinator, and she will try to accommodate your request. The board is endeavoring to provide a workshop that reflects what you want.

Plans for Other Future Workshops

As soon as one Annual State Teacher Workshop is over, planning starts for the workshop for next year. You can find articles and information about the 2010 Annual State Teacher Workshop here.

The Past Presidents meet each year at the Annual State Teacher Workshop to discuss ways to make outdoor education more available to educators at an affordable price. This year part of that discussion focused on reviving the second teacher workshop previously held in West Texas or holding a second workshop in the panhandle area during the spring or summer.

A possible partner for a teacher workshop in West Texas is the Davis Mountains Education Center near Fort Davis. Possible partners for a teacher workshop in the panhandle include Texas Tech University and the Texas AgriLife Service.

Outdoor Ed Challenge

Alan Warren is a member of TOEA, volunteer Director of Marketing for TOEA and an avid outdoorsman and promoter of outdoor education. Alan’s company produces a television show called Alan Warren Outdoors which emphasizes and recognizes the importance of outdoor education at the end each of his shows. Alan outlined an ambitious project for TOEA at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Membership and challenged the members and others to join in this project.

The challenge is to assemble lesson plans and curricula that incorporate outdoor education in classroom activities and after school activities to be distributed nationwide at a minimal cost. We are asking all of the TOEA members and anyone else who believes that outdoor education is important to the youth of today and tomorrow need to step forward to help make this project a success. How can you do that?

Do you have a favorite lesson plan or activity that utilizes outdoor education to teach a classroom subject? Do you have a favorite lesson plan or activity that promotes a lifetime recreational activity to improve the long term health of your students? Do you have a favorite lesson plan or activity that promotes and encourages environmental awareness? Do you feel your lesson plan or activity isn’t worthy of being included in an outdoor education curricula? If you answered “Yes” to any of these questions, we need you lesson plan or activity!

The format of your favorite lesson plan or activity doesn’t matter. It’s the content that is important. Please help TOEA to share what you know about teaching and promoting outdoor education with others.

2009 Annual Outdoor Education Teacher Workshop

The 30th Annual Outdoor Education Teacher Workshop will be held on October 2–4, 2009 in Echo Valley at the H.E. Butt Foundation Camp north of Leakey, Texas on the banks of the beautiful Frio River. President Don Carter and his committee have been working to bring you quality sessions on outdoor education that you can take back to your school, camp or group to further outdoor education.

Major Sessions which are 3 hour presentations include America’s 14,000’ Mountains and How to Climb Them, Bicycle Trail Riding, Balsawood Gliders, Digital Photography, Environmental Wonders of the Frio River Canyon, Geocaching, Hiking, Outdoor Photography Skills and Techniques, and Talking Sticks.

Regular Sessions which are 1 1/2 hour presentations include the Ancient Game of Bocce, Archery, Hawke (Axe) Throwing, Backpacking for Beginners, Dutch Oven Cooking, Building Feeders and Nesting Boxes, Life and Times Around the Chuck wagon, CSI:Leakey, Disc Golf Basics, Aquatic Sampling, Easy Science Experiments, Ethnobotany/Xeriscaping, Firearms Safety, Giving Good Directions, Grant Writing Basics, How to Utilize the H.E. Butt Foundation Free Camps for your School, Hemp Jewelry, Hot Air Balloons, Initiatives, Introduction to Pistols, Rifles and Black Powder, Kayaking, Knots, Mountain Biking and Maintenance, Making paper, Nature Realized: Connecting Children to the Land, Rope making, Saltwater Kayak Fishing Techniques, Songs to Get Kids Moving, Texas Native American Tools, Tree Games and Wild About Turkeys and other informational and informative sessions.

Session presentations are designed to provide you information and direction that you can use to teach outdoor education at any level and incorporate outdoor education into teaching TEKS in your curriculum if you teach in public or private schools.

The complete list and descriptions of all of the sessions along with the detailed session schedule will be posted on the TOEA website in late August or early September so that you can plan which sessions you would like to attend before you come to the workshop. Check back at our website often for updated information.

Registration for the workshop is due on September 26, 2009 to Brenda Talley, Vice President for Membership. Please be sure to let Brenda know if you want to room with your friends so she can plan accordingly.

Encourage your co-workers, friends and others that are interested in furthering outdoor education to attend the workshop. For those that have attended before, you know the excitement and enthusiasm that you experienced at the workshop and you need to renew that experience and offer it to others to be involved in outdoor education.

Spring 2009 Newsletter

The Spring 2009 TOEA Newsletter is now posted under the Information Area tab at the Newsletters link on the left sidebar.  It has a wealth of information about the activities of TOEA and other outdoor education resources and opportunities.

In the Spring 2009 Newsletter is information and nomination forms for the John Fortner Award and the Outstanding Outdoor Education Program Awards.  You can read more about the John Fortner Award under that tab in the Information Area.

Also in the newsletter are more links for outdoor education opportunities and resources.  We are trying to increase the number of links available so anyone interested in working with youth in outdoor education have the resources they need to get our youth outside.  TOEA would like to become a clearing house of information as well as educators of educators.  If you have a link we can add, please contact one of our officers at the addresses shown under the Contact Us tab.

Texas Outdoor Education Assocation launches new website

We’ve redesigned our website.  There are two reasons why.

First, we wanted to make it easier for our visitors to find what they’re looking for.  Of course, if there is something you cannot find, you can always contact us and we’ll do our best to help.

And second, we wanted to improve our ability to communicate the importance of outdoor education to the general public.  Though we have many new offline efforts underway - more about them soon - our website will also continue to play an increasingly important role in the process.

If you have any questions about our new site or suggestions for improving it, please let us know.