Canopy Connections is a team of the Environmental Leadership Program, a collaborative, interdisciplinary service-learning program at the University of Oregon. When I participated as a student leader, Canopy Connections was in its ninth year of designing and implementing curricula for local middle school students at HJ Andrews Experimental Forest.
As a member of the 2017 Canopy Connections team, I studied environmental education best practices, developed lesson plans for middle schoolers, and led five day-long field trips at HJ Andrews, as well as a pre-trip lesson. I logged over 27 hours in the field and taught 34 students, the majority of whom had never been to an old-growth forest before.