Summer Archives

Harris Laughrey Juneau, AK - Discovery Southeast

 

Discovery Southeast is a non-profit organization that works to educate both students and teachers on nature through hands on experience. Located in Juneau, Alaska, Discovery Southeast serves over 1000 youth annually. During my summer project I worked on three key areas of the program. Through the summer program, Outdoor Explorers, several other interns and myself helped to create programs throughout the week in order to educate children on the outdoors surrounding Juneau. We taught them not only about nature but the importance of preserving it. Along with Outdoor Explorers, I worked on a new teacher education program in which teachers actually had the opportunity to go out into the field and identify types of different whales. While the teachers received credit for taking this course they also got the opportunity to use the information they found in the classroom with students. The final part of my project involved a Health and Nature project. Research has found links between healthy lifestyles and time spent in nature and through Discovery Southeast we try to educate Juneau and all of Southeast Alaska on the importance of getting outdoors. I was only able to accomplish all of my goals through the help of the director of Discovery Southeast, Beth Weigel.