Today marked the end of my service learning at Dunwoody Nature Center (DNC).
Author: Jasmine Munoz
More Springtime Prep at Dunwoody Nature Center
Lots and lots of preparations are underway at the nature center!
I spent most of my time at the center this week hosing down the back porch. This is an enclosed area where they host a lot of the children’s’ activities, so it needs to be kept clean. Unsurprisingly, everything had a mean coat of pollen that needed to be sprayed away.
Last week, we did some digging. The program director brought in a couple different plants that she dug out from around her yard—though their names escape me. One variety will help soil retention around their pond. The other variety is meant to attract bees, as well as other insects and pollinators, to the front garden. I am excited to see these plants grow over the coming weeks! This also gave me an idea for our final project, which is partly aimed at combating soil erosion at a local level.
We got the chance to observe another field trip, this time with kindergarteners. The kids were very excited to be there—some of them seemed to have life-changing experiences smelling leaves and flowers for the first time. However, this did make me think about educational disparity. These kids were from a private school, and they had a lot of parent chaperones. You can tell that it really does make a difference in behavior and quality of education when there are smaller ratios of adult to kid. Unfortunately, this is not the reality for a lot of young children. Most families can’t afford private school. Even less parents have the ability to take time off of work to chaperone a field trip. Coincidentally, my Applied Georgia Politics class brought in a guest speaker this week that works as a public school lobbyist. We had a good conversation about education legislation and the impact of school vouchers. This made for an interesting lens to view the field trip through. The last field trip we assisted with was a public school group. They had a substantially different teacher-student ratio with no parent chaperones. It was clear that the teachers were tired and had a difficult job. Less one-on-one time decreases the quality of education. This is one of the reasons private school vouchers are appealing. At the same time, offering private school vouchers instead of investing in local public schools is what causes a lot of issues. The matter is very cyclical.
Overall, my service learning is connecting to my other coursework a lot more than I expected it to.
Entry #2: Getting Started at Dunwoody Nature Center
My first three weeks at Dunwoody Nature Center (DNC) have been a blast! I enjoy supporting their programs. On my first day I helped chaperone a group of kids on a field trip. As a kid, you don’t realize all the necessary organizational aspects behind school field trips, but it can get very hectic very fast. Regardless, it is rewarding to see kids enjoy their time outside.
Aside from the field trip day, I’ve mostly been helping out on the front half of programs, preparing materials and tidying up event spaces. Over our spring break, DNC had their annual Folktale Festival—an immersive children’s festival with crafts and storytellers. I was not able to attend the festival itself, but I did go in the day before to help with prep. There were lots of moving pieces and small details to take care of, especially for the crafts. Offering crafts to hundreds of toddlers really requires all the individual pieces to be pre-cut and organized to avoid chaos. I became very proficient in cutting out construction paper possum feet and ears. Even things like parking passes had to be cut out and laminated. I appreciate the level of detail and dedication DNC has to ensuring that their programs run smoothly.
Chibby and I went to the DNC yesterday, and we helped repaint one of their pre-k rooms. Everybody at the Center was working on various projects around the property, refreshing the space in preparation for the busy season. As the weather warms up and schools go on break, their programs are going to really ramp up. My neck and shoulders are rather sore from painting the ceiling, but it was honestly really fun. It’s nice to help improve the children’s facilities.
The only challenge I have come across is, unsurprisingly, transportation. I rely on MARTA to get around, and it only gets scarcer the further out from downtown Atlanta you go. It took me two hours to make my way back home yesterday. The buses run once per hour, and the bus I was going to catch was cancelled. The surrounding area is nice and the weather was pleasant, so it wasn’t a big problem. However, it makes it all the more apparent how inaccessible nature can become. Living in the city, you have to drive to find a nice wooded area. That means you have to have the extra time and money, which limits the frequency and extent to which people can venture out. This also opens issues of emissions and parking spaces, which quickly becomes counterintuitive to finding “nature.”
Despite my problems with getting there and back, I am really enjoying my time at Dunwoody Nature Center. The people there have been extremely kind, welcoming, and fun to work with. It is also definitely a nice change of pace from downtown Atlanta.
Introduction: Jasmine Muñoz
Hello! My name is Jasmine Muñoz. I am a senior Political Science student with a minor in History. Thanks to the dual degree program, I am actually also working towards my masters degree. Beyond academics, I have been a saxophone section leader in Georgia State’s athletic bands. This includes marching band and basketball pep band. In addition to being a musician, some of my other hobbies include makeup, jewelry making, and going to the gym.
I selected this service learning seminar as my last course to qualify for the Honors Laureate because I was curious what “urban ecology” actually meant. I am interested in urban planning and how it directs human involvement in an area. I thought that this seminar would lend itself to that vein of study, and it definitely has. I am learning a lot about nature. Perceptions of nature are one of the most fundamental beliefs of a culture. Differences between perceptions are a major driver of conflict. Our class also involves learning different approaches to conservation and environmental activism. I appreciate that we have read about a lot of local, small-scale approaches. Climate change is such a large problem that it is hard to find any meaningful place to begin.
Meaningful impact is one of the things that drew me to Dunwoody Nature Center. Dunwoody Nature Center does substantial work with environmental education for kids. I think this is important for several reasons. Children have less and less access to the outdoors, and not just because they would rather play on phones. Climate change and safety concerns increasingly limit children’s outdoor play. Environmental education helps teach people how to start protecting their local environment, and it helps children build a positive relationship with nature.
I myself am hoping to learn how to care for the local environment. Additionally, I hope to further develop my leadership and organizational skills.
I am excited to get outdoors and get moving!