A Center for Environmental Education and the Arts
News
The Healthy Planet features P. Allen Smith and a member of The Green Center!
Last Updated on Friday, October 05 2012 10:19 Friday, October 05 2012 10:18
Our very own Golden Laced Polish chicken named Alberta visiting P. Allen Smith!
The Heathly Planet highlighted this visit in their June 2012 magazine that you can view here.
P.
Richard Louv's Visit to The Green Center
Friday, October 05 2012 10:14
Richard Louv, author of "Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder" visited The Green Center on May 1st!
Backdoor Harvest at The Green Center
Last Updated on Friday, October 05 2012 10:03 Friday, October 05 2012 10:02
Check out the stlmag.com article about Backdoor Harvest's bee hives at The Green Center. The bee hives are located in Kaufman Woods which is behind the headquarters of the Center. The bees can be found daily around the hives and buzzing around all of our gardens!
5th Annual Fall Fire Festival
Last Updated on Monday, October 29 2012 07:35 Tuesday, September 04 2012 07:59
Our Fall Fire Festival is scheduled for Saturday, November 3 from 5:30-8:30pm. Come spend a fall evening with your family watching fire performers, eating chili and warming up by a bonfire while you make s'mores! All included in your ticket price!
Tickets are on sale now! Purchase advanced tickets at a discounted rate at our EVENTBRITE site. These discounted tickets are Adults: $10 and Children: $5 and will be sold until October 28th.
Tickets will also be available from October 30-(November 3: at the door) for Adults: $15 and Children $5.
We hope to see you there!
New Boardwalk in Urban Bird Corridor!
Last Updated on Friday, October 05 2012 09:00 Wednesday, August 15 2012 12:12
UPDATE! The NEW boardwalk is completed! Visit our Urban Bird Corridor and check out our new boardwalk!
If you visit The Green Center's Urban Bird Corridor in September 2012, please note that the wetland area is currently under construction. The boardwalk is being upgraded and will be accessible again soon!
Green Tie Affair fundraiser is scheduled for Saturday, June 9th, 2012!
Last Updated on Wednesday, June 06 2012 15:36 Friday, April 27 2012 08:30
Mark Your Calendar! This year's Green Tie Affair fundraising event will be held on Saturday, June 9th from 5:30-8:00pm
Get your tickets today! Members: $25 each (limit 2 /2012 membership) Non-Members: $40 each
Purchase tickets by credit card via our eventbrite link http://greentie2012.eventbrite.com or by sending in a check made out to The Green Center.
THANK YOU to our sponsors!
The Green Center Earns National Certification as Nature Explore Classroom
Tuesday, January 17 2012 13:40
PRESS RELEASE
Nebraska City, Neb. (December 12, 2011) – The Green Center outdoor classroom earned the national designation of a certified Nature Explore Classroom from the Arbor Day Foundation and Dimensions Educational Research Foundation.
The national certification places The Green Center in a growing network of organizations that have created effective outdoor learning environments for children. This network allows for idea-sharing, peer support, and continuous learning and development. The first Nature Explore Classroom is located in the Tree Adventure attraction at Arbor Day Farm, the Arbor Day Foundation’s interactive conservation venue in Nebraska City, Neb. Nature Explore Classrooms are part of the Nature Explore program, a collaborative project of the Arbor Day Foundation and Dimensions Educational Research Foundation. Developed in response to the growing disconnect between children and nature, certified Nature Explore Classrooms are designed to help fill the void by educating young children using research-based principles for integrating nature into their daily learning.
These classrooms, which are being developed across the country, offer interactive elements – including musical instruments made of natural materials, climbing structures, wooden blocks, garden areas, and natural materials for building and creating art – that give children important and inspiring nature experiences. While connecting children with nature, such unstructured play and activities are shown to enhance concentration, develop creativity and problem-solving, relieve stress, and improve skills in many areas.
The Green Center is located at 8025 Blackberry Avenue in University City, MO. Outdoor classrooms that are designed according to principles described in the Dimensions Foundation’s Learning With Nature Idea Book are eligible to become certified Nature Explore Classrooms. In a certified Nature Explore Classroom, children can create visual masterpieces in a nature art area, build with natural materials, climb on natural structures, and practice their balance, agility, and creativity in areas designed for music and movement.
“The Green Center has taken an important leadership role in a profoundly needed initiative to connect young children with nature, setting a wonderful example for education centers across the country,” said Susie Wirth, Nature Explore outreach director for the Arbor Day Foundation. “Everyone at Arbor Day Foundation and Dimensions Educational Research Foundation appreciates the commitment that The Green Center has made to the Nature Explore program and to providing nature education opportunities for young children.”
About the Arbor Day Foundation: The Arbor Day Foundation is a nonprofit education organization of more than 1 million members, with a mission to inspire people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees. More information on the Foundation and its programs can be found at arborday.org.
About Dimensions Educational Research Foundation: Dimensions Educational Research Foundation was formed in 1998 to study how science, math and literacy learning can be enhanced by the addition of more visual-spatial activities into classrooms and homes. For a number of years, the Foundation has conducted and collected research on how children best develop visual-spatial skills and how teachers and families can optimally support this development. Dimensions Educational Research Foundation’s goal is to create and deliver unique educational programming to 1) Help people better understand and appreciate the natural world by developing visual-spatial skills; and 2) Improve science, math and literacy learning through visual-spatial skills.
Connecting with Nature Student Art Exhibit
Last Updated on Wednesday, September 14 2011 10:13 Monday, September 12 2011 07:35
Check out the article in the University City Patch about our Student Art Exhibit featuring art work created by students that participated in our Connecting with Nature Camp this past summer!
A special thank you to the University City Education Foundation for helping to fund this program by awarding The Green Center with the Harriett Woods Award!
The Green Center Receives Award!
Last Updated on Friday, April 01 2011 08:59 Friday, April 01 2011 08:58
The Green Center received this year's Top Ladies of Distinction, Inc Area III Community Service Award for "Outstanding Contributions to Community Beautification." A special thanks to the Top Ladies for granting us this award at their 35th Annual Leadership Conference held on March 11 and both the Top Ladies and Top Teens that help us with our restoration events each year!
Kresge Arts in St. Louis
Last Updated on Sunday, February 06 2011 18:35 Thursday, November 25 2010 19:58
The Green Center is excited to announce receipt of a grant from Kresge Arts in St. Louis to support arts integration. This award will fund a key component of the Center's Green Jobs training program, aesthetic documentation. This form of ecological monitoring engages participants in the visual and literary arts by utilizing these in the process of data collection. Kresge Arts in St. Louis is a partnership of the Kresge Foundation, the Arts and Education Council, and the Greater Saint Louis Community Foundation.
The Green Center has also received a grant from the Albert I. Pierce Foundation www.aipfoundation.org to fund the EnviroArts Project, an initiative born of community interest in recognizing and celebrating the work being done to restore the Calvary Cemetery Prairie. Students from the community will design and install interpretive signage designating the prairie site.