The 27th Annual MAEOE Conference - Provoked yet?

It's an exciting time for environmental education in Maryland. Environmental literacy plans are under development across the state. Regional Environmental Literacy Workshops are beginning this week to discuss effective development and implementation. At this year’s MAEOE Conference, Dan Blumstein and Charlie Saylan challenged attendees to tweak their approaches to achieve environmental education's potential. The Hot Topics of Fracking, Wind Energy, and the Dangers of Chemical Exposures were examined by Dan Soeder, Mike Tidwell, and McKay Jenkins. Over 600 educators of all types learned, networked, and had some fun. On to the planning for next year!

Getting Ready for the 2012 MAEOE Conference

This week more than 500 educators will convene in Ocean City for the largest state environmental education conference in the nation. They will stay in local hotels, eat and drink at local establishments, enjoy local nature and discuss the challenges, complexities and successes of environmental education.

"Fulfilling Environmental Education's Promise: Authentic Learning and Real World Impact," is the 27th annual conference of the Maryland Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education.

It is an exciting time for environmental education. During the last session, Maryland lawmakers passed legislation citing environmental literacy as a requirement for high school graduation, the first requirement of its kind in the nation. Now, school districts across Maryland are working to implement Environmental Literacy Plans.

For example, in Worcester County, Board of Education officials have enlisted local nonprofit organizations, museums and parks to assist with identifying and delivering age-appropriate, curriculum-based outdoor learning experiences for every child, every year.

The MAEOE conference will provide a variety of opportunities for both school-based, or formal educators and non-formal educators to increase knowledge, gain new skills, access newly developed resources and network with other education professionals.