Teachers Meghan Ceglie and Corinne Teichman graduated from the Greentree Foundation Teachers’ Ecology Workshop on June 25. The year-long program gives Long Island teachers the knowledge and techniques they need to the enhance their teaching abilities about the natural world in their classrooms.
Mrs. Ceglie and Mrs. Teichman started the program last summer. Facilitated by the Greentree Foundation and Seatuck Environmental Association, the workshop consisted of in-depth lectures, field-based programs and hands-on learning experiences designed to enhance one’s knowledge of Long Island’s natural world. The program also included a week-long session in July at Greentree in Manhasset. It continued throughout the school year with seven Saturday field trips that took place across Long Island for teachers to explore the region’s varied and unique natural features.
The skills and techniques that Mrs. Ceglie and Mrs. Teichman learned during the program helped them in writing Lynbrook’s curriculum for a districtwide program known as Flight School. The enrichment program is for Lynbrook students in grades 3-5. Throughout the 2019-2020 school year, Mrs. Ceglie pushed into classrooms at Waverly Park Elementary School while Mrs. Teichman pushed in classrooms at Marion Street and West End elementary schools to present engaging units of study aligned to classroom goals. Among the many topics that Flight School students studied were endangered species, native plants and animals, pollution and clean energy.
“We were so happy to be a part of such a special program,” said Mrs. Teichman. “It changed both of us, personally and professionally. We have a deeper appreciation for the world around us. It was truly a life changing experience.”