Photo by Makio Kusahara
The Seno Woodland Education Center has been awarded a grant by the Wisconsin Environmental Education Board (WEEB) to offer expanded programming to Boy Scouts and landowners in Racine and Kenosha counties.
The $19,357 grant will provide training to 60 Boy Scout leaders from the Southeast Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and 20 woodland owners from southeast Wisconsin. Training will focus on Project Learning Tree, Project WILD (Wildlife in Learning Design), LEAF (Learning Experiences and Activities in Forestry), and the Leopold Education Project curriculums.
In addition, 1,200 Boy Scouts from Racine and Kenosha counties will receive forestry related programming during their five-week summer day camp program at Camp Oh-Da-Ko-Ta in Burlington.
As non-formal teachers, Boy Scout leaders and woodland owners are eager to receive assistance, and knowledge of environmental forestry education program activities. Scout leaders are looking for quality forestry activities to use in badge programs, while forest landowners need assistance with Arbor Day programs and general school field trip programs to their properties.
Kendra Johncock, Seno education director, said “There is a need for youth and adults to better understand the role of the natural world in their daily lives. This grant will greatly increase our efforts to expose youth to nature.â€
This need is supported by formal research on the amount of time young people spend outdoors and in a natural setting. In his book “Last Child in the Woodsâ€, Richard Louv originated the term Nature Deficit Disorder to explain how our social disconnect with nature is affecting today’s children.
The Seno Center is located on Highway P in northwest Wheatland.
