Hamilton Conservation Authority’s (HCA) Environmental Education program continued to face challenges as students embarked on the 2021-2022 school year with ongoing restrictions and closures to in-person learning.

Thanks to ongoing program support from our amazing donors, HCA’s Environmental Education program remains very active in spite of the challenges. Program staff continued to create and deliver new innovative programming to address these obstacles. Staff designed open-ended sessions to provide four weeks of virtual program support for families that were delivered three days per week on topics that included Birds of Prey, Tracking, Hamilton Habitats, and Rocks and Fossils of the Niagara Escarpment.

Program staff also developed new Teacher Training Sessions for the 2021-2022 school year, to provide teachers with activities, ideas, and tips for outdoor teaching and taking the classes outside. Program staff created these instructional sessions and introduced four topic areas in the fall of 2021, with an additional four occurring this spring.

Just in time for the spring will be the introduction of the newest HCA Environmental Education initiative: to invite 10 pilot schools to join the Bee & Pollinator Project. Thanks to a donation from the Hamilton Industrial Environmental Association (HIEA), this initiative will be complete with do-it-yourself kits for the classrooms and monitoring opportunities for years to come.

Thank you to the fantastic supporters who donate to the Foundation’s Step Into Nature Fund, HCA Education staff continue to bring environmental education programming to classes throughout Hamilton, and are ready and eager to welcome students back to Dundas Valley Conservation Area when the time comes for their return.