2025 Arkansas Environmental & Outdoor Education Conference

ATU, in cooperation with the Janet Huckabee Nature Center and the Guy Fenter Education Service Cooperative, have developed and interventionalist program for Kids at Risk. Each of the representative school districts select a group of at-risk students whom they feel will most benefit from the experience. Those students attend the Students Assisting Teachers (SAT) program along with a teacher that has agreed to serve as the interventionalist for the students. Studies have shown that when kids feel a part of the school, have developed a cadre of friends, and have school support, educational performance improves along with student behavior. SAT provides that opportunity by providing students the joy of being “selected” to participate in the program and by participating in group bonding activities with teachers and other students.
Target audience: Classroom teachers, 3-12 grade

An estimated 20% of the world's population is neurodivergent and often have conditions or preferences that make them stand out or appear different. In some cases these differences make it difficult to include ALL in recreational/educational programming. This session will focus on tips for inclusion that will potentially help reduce anxiety, frustration, and/or resulting behaviors and allow the individual to better focus on the activity at hand.
Target audience: Classroom teachers, 6-higher education, Non-formal educators, Program directors

Outdoor Education: Enhancing Learning Beyond Classroom Walls will cover a variety of topics. We will define what outdoor education is and is not. We will look at the variety of educational benefits of outdoor education. The session will cover a variety of ideas and best practices when incorporating outdoor activities to classrooms regardless of age. We will look out to align outdoor education with NGSS standards. The session will also cover a variety of resources for teachers that include other PD offerings, books on outdoor education, the Outside for 5 program, and other opportunities.
Target audience: Classroom teachers, PreK-12 grade, School administrators, Non-formal educators, Program directors

Those seeking to further your personal stewardship of your watershed or to inspire stewardship in others, we’re here to give you “why”s and “how”s!

Presenter Jane Hurley will draw connections between engagement in watershed stewardship and community wellbeing, such as benefits to education outcomes, mental health, and lifelong relationships to their environment. Presenters Kristen Crawley and Suzanne Murphy will then share activities and projects they have found effective in developing this connection to the watershed. Through the sharing of experiences in using visual art to explain water flow and connectivity, participants will learn how to engage new audiences. Classroom educators and non-formal educators will come away with resources and strategies to recreate these and more activities.
Target audience: Classroom teachers, PreK-higher education, School administrators, Non-formal educators, Program directors

This session will have a classroom component and a field tour. The classroom session will focus on native plant gardens (smaller plots with individual plants in a structured format) and native plant meadows (larger, randomly planted wildflowers, often interspersed with native grasses) and Q & A. Participants will then carpool to Dardanelle Lock and Dam (Old Post Park-Russellville side of the Arkansas River, about 10 minutes drive). Arkansas Master Naturalists planted about 300 potted plants and broadcast more than 7 million seeds on the site in. Resources will include multiple native plant nurseries in our region and native plant seed sources. Participants will go through the steps of preparation and planting and discuss the biodiversity implications of native plants. Target audience: Classroom teachers, 3-5 grade, Classroom teachers, 6-8 grade, Classroom teachers, 9-12 grade, Non-formal educators