Hello again!

For the past two months, I’ve been stuck at home with a bad virus, and have only recently begun exploring the outside world again. While being sick is no fun at the best of times, it certainly takes its toll when you are isolated and out of routine for so long. Unfortunately, it means that I had to give up a number of plans and step back from exciting things that always happen at the end of the school year. Saying “no” is a skill that I am still learning, but one bright point of this illness is that it gave me lots of opportunity for practice. Thankfully, my friends, family, colleagues, and students were amazing about reaching out to say hello and reminding me that I am loved and missed.

I wanted to share some excited news with you that was just announced today. This year I applied for and was chosen as the winner of the Edward Burtynsky Award for Teaching Excellence in Environmental Education. You can learn more about this amazing award for K-8 Ontario educators here. It means a lot of things, but what I’m most excited about is the funding my school will receive for environmental education initiatives. Needless to say, I’m feeling incredibly lucky and honoured!

Completely coincidentally, I recently had the opportunity to meet Edward Burtynsky himself as part of another project I’m also working on (look out for a blog post about that sometime in the fall…), and we just couldn’t resist the opportunity to take a photo together.

If you haven’t already, don’t forget to sign up for the Natural Curiosity Newsletter so that you can apply for this amazing award next year!

Thanks to everyone for your patience during my hiatus. I am now back with a vengeance and have a lot of blogging plans to make up for lost time!