Contacts: Jon Pishney, 919.707.8083

Liz Baird, 919.707.9893

Museum of Natural Sciences selects participants for educational adventures

RALEIGH — This summer, 24 educators from across North Carolina will experience the natural world like never before as part of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences’ Educators of Excellence Institutes.

From June 20 to 28, 2018, Museum educators will lead a select group of 12 North Carolina educators to explore New England. Participants will explore the rocky Maine coast and the high peaks of New Hampshire’s White Mountains, comparing these two strikingly different environments and drawing parallels to the diverse habitats of North Carolina. Through interactions with researchers at the Shoals Marine Laboratory and naturalists at the AMC Highland Center, as well as other experts, participants will bring a wealth of knowledge, ideas, and resources back to their students in North Carolina.

Another group of 12 North Carolina educators will travel to Belize, Central America, from July 24 to August 1. Along with two educators from Belize, participants will learn about surprising similarities between the ecologies of the tropics and their own region of North Carolina. During this 31stannual trip, they will study birds, butterflies and other animals unique to the tropics, and have the opportunity to explore a rain forest, Mayan ruins and a coral reef.

“These trips have the power to change educators’ lives,” says Liz Baird, head of school and lifelong education. “Not only do the Institutes inspire and reward outstanding teachers, they also have a huge impact on how teachers teach and relate to their students.”

The N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences’ Educators of Excellence Institutes aim to inform and empower educators to teach students about North Carolina’s ecological connections to the rest of the world. All Institutes have an online blog [ that allows colleagues and students to follow along on the trip through pictures, journal entries and Q&A.

Institute alumni become part of the Educators of Excellence Network, which helps teachers exchange innovative ideas for teaching science and promoting conservation awareness. More than 500 outstanding North Carolina science educators have participated in Educators of Excellence programs since 1987, while more than 355,000 North Carolina children have learned from these teachers.

A list of participants is provided below.

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Belize Tropical Ecology Institute

Participant
Karen Barker
Rachel Carter
Nicole Cesari
Linda Dion
Shanni Haynes
Kate Keller
Gail Lemiec
Brooke Pritchett
Kristin Riley
Amanda Tuft
Andi Webb
Katie Yunker / School
Arendell Parrott Academy
Mt. Vernon Middle School
Ligon Middle School
Holly Springs High School
Polk City High School
Cane Creek Middle School
NC Aquarium at Ft. Fisher
Sampson Middle School
Orange High School
Camden City High School
Alderman Rd. Elementary School
Club Boulevard Elementary School / County
Lenoir
Wake
Wake
Wake
Polk
Buncombe
New Hanover
Sampson
Orange
Camden
Cumberland
Durham

New EnglandInstitute

Participant
Frances Brindle
Waymouth "Ira" Cumpton, Jr.
Jessie Francese
Cheryl Michalec
Blair Ogburn
Renee Pagoota-Wight
Ginny Mason
Sarah Otis
Josh Reed
Melanie Smith
Anna Ward
Beth Cranford / School
Carolina Friends School
Thomasville Middle School
The Exploris School
Sandy Ridge Elementary
Mountain Discovery Charter School
Sherrills Ford Elementary School
NE Regional School of Biotechnology and Agriscience
Envision Science Academy
Granite Falls Middle School
Union Elementary School
Ridge Road Middle School
NC Museum of Natural Sciences / County
Orange
Davidson
Wake
Durham
Swain
Catawba
Martin
Wake
Caldwell
Sampson
Mecklenburg
Wake County