Liza Lowe, founder, director and lead teacher at Wild Roots Nature School, a nature-based preschool at Stonewall Farm in Keene, was named the 2016 New Hampshire Environmental Educators’ of the Year by New Hampshire Environmental Educators (NHEE). The award is presented annually to an individual who stands out as exemplary in their ability to engage students in environmental studies in lasting and meaningful ways. Lowe earned a Master of Education from Antioch University New England’s Integrated Learning program. She received the award on May 14, 2016 at the annual meeting in Concord.
Liza founded Wild Roots Nature Schools in September 2013.
“As a curious person by nature, I have been a hands-on learner for as long as I can remember,” says Liza in an article Sowing the Seed of a School, “In my work life—from my first job on a farm to becoming an environmental educator—I have always had a passion for the outdoors and the lessons it provides. I taught at nature centers in three different states over the course of ten years. The work I was doing—working with classroom teachers to get their students outdoors, writing curriculum to take into public schools, teaching summer camp, etc.—was rewarding, but I began to wonder how my work could be different if I could work with the same group of students over the course of a school year. Although I didn’t know it yet, I had started my journey to opening a nature-based school. It’s a journey that, in many ways, I started when I was very young, but it would take several more years to make it a reality.”
Recently, Liza was a guest presenter at the “Working With Parents and Community” course AUNE Core Faculty Dr. Ellen Doris taught this spring. She regularly presents at AUNE’s In Bloom conferences and hosts students and classes who want to observe Wild Roots in action and tour the Wild Roots outdoor (and indoor) classroom spaces.
For more information about Wild Roots Nature School, visit: http://stonewallfarm.org/education/wild-roots-nature-school/
