Web Stories for Sierra Nevada Journeys
Green Jobs are too White: How environmental groups can increase diversity in the workplace
This year, the Oscars’ overwhelmingly White winners, speakers, performers, and presenters raised questions about the diversity of the red carpet and how the show’s producers could better embrace the ethnic backgrounds of the film industry.
Like these Hollywood worries, recent studies about the shortfalls of diversity hiring in environmental groups, from non-profit organizations to government agencies and foundation employment, show that the “Whiteness” of green jobs affects not only ideas and communication about the environmental movement but even the giving of grants and donations to environmental projects.
Read more here.
Beyond the Campfire: How summer camp helps kids reach important developmental milestones.
Allowing kids the opportunity to develop independence can be a struggle for many parents who question the safety and security of their child’s learning environment. Yet, child psychologists believe children develop their sense of independence by being away from their parents’ meticulous, and sometimes extreme, safety net. Summer camp provides an incredible balance between ensuring kids are safe, comfortable, and happy while developing the sense of independence necessary for self-control and self-reliance.
Read more here.
Girls in STEM
According to a September 2013 report by the United States Census Bureau, only 26 percent of employees in STEM fields were women, while 74 percent were men. This is a large division considering women comprise 48 percent of the U.S. workforce.Those numbers are similar in Nevada, where only 1 in 5 undergraduates in the engineering school at the University of Nevada are female.
STEM research studies point to a combination of cultural stereotyping and gender cognitive learning differences to understand the deficiency of women in STEM fields. Through all the research though one thing is clear, girls’ achievement and interest in math and science are shaped by their environments.
Read more here.
Critical Thinking is Critically Important for Environmental Ethics
The Critical Thinking community and other advocates of reason-based teaching believe that school has become based around models of regurgitation and indoctrination. Critics of the traditional classroom believe content seems to come and go as something independent of thought; dissociated from disciplined and actively engaged reading, writing, speaking, or listening. Rarely do students learn to grasp the logic of what they are learning and consequently, intellectual paralysis sets in. The trance-like state that students typically bring to class becomes permanent. The cost of learning what to think and not how to think is that students have little opportunity to grow cognitively and reason through important issues, especially urgent and relevant moral values, like environmental ethics.
Read more here.
The Nature of Playgrounds
Although child development specialists have long understood playtime as an important time for cognitive and social wellbeing, playground bullying has caused school principles and teachers to rethink outdoor playtime. In an effort to reduce instances of bullying, administrators have placed stricter rules on outdoor play, added more supervisors during recesses hours, or drastically cut recess time. But John Evans, author of the Deakin University study, In Search of Peaceful Playgrounds, believes the solution to playground bullying must center on the playground environment and its relationship with child aggression.
That’s right – the way playgrounds are set up have a direct effect on child behavior! The inadequacy of playground construction and the dullness of asphalt-built structures deny children the cognitive development playtime should cultivate.
Read more here.
Sierra Nevada Journeys Inspires Student to Pursue Outdoor Education as a Career
Melissa Mazzuca, a 3-year employee at Sierra Nevada Journeys, was the 2016 Senior Scholar recipient for the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources at the University of Nevada, Reno. This is one the most prestigious awards at the University. It is given to students from each school or college who meet exceptional program standards. During the reception, Melissa spoke about how Sierra Nevada Journeys inspired her to pursue outdoor education
We were able to connect with her during finals (of all times) to talk about her Sierra Nevada Journeys experience.
Read more here.