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Natural Awakenings Westchester / Putnam / Dutchess New York

Volunteer Nature Guides Needed for Local School Programs

Jenny and fellow Sheldrake environmental educators

This fall hundreds of area schoolchildren will leave the classroom and visit natural areas to discover the wonders of their “backyard” environments. Among those guiding children on these adventures are adults like Jenny Geer of Larchmont, NY, a dedicated volunteer educator from the Sheldrake Environmental Center.

 “I never get tired of leading children on our local trails,” she says. “What could be better than seeing the look on a child’s face as she is invited to let a daddy-long-legs crawl up her arm? Or cupping our ears to listen for the red-bellied woodpecker’s screeching call?”   

Sheldrakes’s environmental educators include lawyers, teachers, artists, business executives and others who share a love of being outdoors, learning from the natural world and teaching people about the planet’s ecosystem. Those wishing to volunteer are encouraged to join Sheldrake’s Volunteer Environmental Educator Training Program this fall. Program graduates will spend at least one morning a week leading school groups on local trails. For more information, contact Amy at 914.834.1443 or at [email protected].

Geer notes that spending time in nature is good for body and mind, especially in this age of Internet and social media preoccupation. “I don’t need studies to tell me the physical and psychic benefits of being in green spaces,” she says. “As I provide the children with those benefits, I’m also receiving them.”

The Sheldrake Environmental Center is located at 685 Weaver St. in Larchmont, NY. To learn more, call 914.834.1443 or visit SheldrakeCenter.org.