Dear MEEA Members,

We co-hosted the Sustainability Institute for Educators (SIE) this month. It was virtual, which I honestly wasn’t excited about, but it turned out to be really invigorating and thought provoking for me. The theme was OneHealth, the interconnected nature of the health of people, plants, and animals. 

We heard some inspiring stories and grappled with some really big questions during SIE. For instance, researchers at Fontbonne University discovered that raccoons in the St. Louis metro area live in two distinct areas, separated by the “red line” infamously known in St. Louis as the marker of de facto racial segregation. The St. Louis Metro raccoons have been sticking to one side of the red line so consistently over enough time that they have become genetically distinct on either side of the line. Why in the world aren’t they crossing this geographical line? They cross highways and other major thoroughfares. One theory? The physical environment is so different from one side of the red line to the other that these populations of raccoons have incompatible ways of foraging and surviving. Doesn’t that just hit you in the gut, the profound impact of segregation on……everything? 

Another question that keeps coming to mind from SIE was posed by Leah Clyburn of the Sierra Club and Community First Plus, asking “How creative do we need to be?” Leah shared stories of communities up and down the Missouri River working hard to protect water quality, noting that we need to actively resist the notion that the work in St. Louis is somehow unrelated to the community efforts in Labadie and vice versa. Leah was challenging us to really understand that we are all neighbors, and not to accept the idea that we are separate from one another–black and white, rural and urban, liberal and conservative. She admonished us to remember that we are much more powerful when we come together than when we are wedged apart into factions. How creative do we need to be? And how do we get there unless we expand who we see as our neighbors?

I’m excited by the creativity and planning that has been going on behind the scenes with MEEA over the last few months. If you want to help rethink how we approach being inclusive and equitable, assist in growing our certification program, or join the Missouri Green Schools team, don’t hesitate to reach out. There’s always more room for new volunteers. Thanks, everyone, and please enjoy this month’s article by MEEA Board Member Joan Ruppert! 

Lesli Moylan, Executive Director

Kudos to Heartland Conservation Alliance and Exploring Roots for their merger!  This creative way-making resulted in the new program in Kansas City called Exploring Roots Summer Adventure Challenge and includes prizes for everyone who completes an outdoor adventure! Learn more by clicking HERE.

Kudos to Donna Rae Jones for facilitating the June Virtual Monthly Event with MEEA and KACEE! Donna Rae provides classes in mindfulness and yoga on the chair through St. Louis-based Yoga Buzz, and led us through a great chair yoga practice. Slowing down and tuning in to the present moment is a great way to foster openness and creativity. Thank you, Donna Rae!

Kudos to Gateway Greening for their creative list of summer school garden maintenance ideas! Each school is unique, and their ideas are sure to spark ideas to help create management plans that work for different situations. They suggest organizing community work days for big tasks, partnering with a summer camp, renting garden beds over the summer, asking families to adopt the garden for a week at a time, or even covering garden beds and giving the garden and volunteers the summer off. You can sign up for their newsletter to get more school garden advice!

Kudos to VOX Magazine for their article featuring Blue Fox Farm, a forest kindergarten in mid-Missouri. Blue Fox Farm is one of only about 10 forest schools in Missouri. Forest schools ground student learning in nature, spending time outdoors most of the day every day.

Kudos to Samuel Levac-Levey who created Solutions the Game to help people think about climate change in a way that focuses on creativity and solutions.  This board game was inspired by Project Drawdown. Creativity begets creativity!