Kids Outside ... no child left inside !

Students have narrowed down their projects to a high level of specificity and made contact with their community contacts. They are ready to go! We are entering a new phase in the senior seminar (capstone) course -- the action phase. Students are entering the field as we speak, using their knowledge and skills gained over the last four years in UMaine's Parks, Recreation & Tourism program to create new knowledge or affect change related to nature deficit disorder. HOORAY! WATCH THEM MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

Here are their capstone project titles:

Students turned in their draft senior capstone project proposals today. My initial review is quite positive. It looks like students are taking these projects seriously, and are taking the time to plan them out carefully in order to optimize their chances for success. We've set the stakes quite high in that by success we mean making a difference in Maine to improve the youth-nature connections. This reminds me that I need to add a book on practical idealism to my reading list for next summer.

Week 3 was a technical class session where we covered the logistics of how to write a literature review using previously published research articles. We evaluated 7 theses and dissertations from the University of Maine to see how graduate students approach their literature reviews.

Then students shared their ideas for the literature review that they will write as part of this class:

Matt F. - therapeutic values of fishing
Zachary - nature therapy for mental health
Lee - connections between sound/music/hearing and nature
Matt S. - directed attention theory

Tonight we had another night class and ran way over schedule. We started with the Newsie report led by Bill and Charlie. They took the prior week's worth of Bangor Daily News and shared current events going on related to Maine's outdoor recreation. Plum Creek, the spring salmon fishery on the Penobscot, snowmobilers and landowner relations, the recent editorial on tourism spending in Maine and LURC's decisions regarding wind power were all discussed.

Hi,
I thought I would use the blog function to keep you posted on the happenings in my senior capstone course for parks, recreation & tourism majors at UMaine. We going to make an impact in the No Child Left Inside movement this semester.

I sent out an email soliciting project ideas for tangible things they might do to make a difference and have an impact in meeting the mission of the Join ME Outdoors Alliance. Some of you may have seen it. I had over 27 people send me ideas!

Do you sometimes have trouble coming up with ideas for nature activities in the winter? Do you want to participate in the oldest and largest civilian science experiment in the world? Join the Audubon Christmas Bird Count! The count begins on December 14th and runs through January 5th.

After many names were discussed and debated, the naming committee has established the name for our initiative the Join ME Outdoors Alliance (JMEO). We believe that this name successfully encapsulates our mission and is active, inclusive, and catchy.

Phil Savignano has generously offered to help with the design of the logo, and we will be announcing that in due course.

On Tuesday November 27th, Richard Louv will be the keynote speaker at the New Hampshire Leave No Child Inside Forum, in Concord, NH. Louv will speak from 9:30 - 10:00 AM followed by a panelist discussion from 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM.

The forum is open to the public. More information, including the location and list of panelists can be found at: http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/ChildrenInNature/LNCI_forum_schedule_110...

I plan on attending so let me know if you are as well and I will be on the lookout for a friendly face!

The New Hampshire Department of Education and North Country Education Services are collaborating on an Online Faciliatated book discussion of Last Child in the Woods, by Richard Louv. They have invited our membership to participate in this discussion. This is a good opportunity for some of our membership to offer ideas and see different perspectives on ways to solve our ultimate goal - getting more children outdoors.

The book discussion can be found at: http://washington.ncedservices.org
The passkey is: nature

Attached is a flyer describing the book discussion.

Both Senator Olympia Snowe and Senator Susan Collins have agreed to co-sponsor the No Child Left Inside Legislation, S.1981. This great news is key in the attempt to have Environmental Education be included in No Child Left Behind.

Congratulations to everyone who sent letters and called the senators voicing your support for NCLI. This was a team effort!