Environmental Education Programs
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION FIELD EXPERIENCES FOR SCHOOL GROUPS
For over 50 years, the NJ School of Conservation has provided 3- to 5-day resident environmental education programs for school groups from throughout New Jersey. Over its long history, the School has served school groups from 19 of New Jersey’s 21 counties, some of whom have been returning for more than 40 years, and others who travel over 2 hours by bus to access a program for their students available nowhere else in the state.
With the reopening of the School by the Friends of NJSOC in 2021, school groups were welcomed back for a single-day program offering the same quality learning and all the magic of the NJSOC experience within a shorter timeframe. Renovations and repairs to NJSOC’s Civilian Conservation Corps-era buildings have been ongoing, readying them for the return of overnight programming. In May 2023, the Friends entered into a lease agreement with the site’s owners, the NJ Department of Environmental Protection, making it possible to resume SOC’s multi-day, overnight field experiences for school groups for the 2023-24 school year. Single-day field experiences will continue to be available as well. Let us customize a program to fit your school group!
To schedule a Field Experience for your school, please contact Allyson Lance, Environmental Education Coordinator, at alance@friendsofnjsoc.org.
About the Environmental Education Field Experience
- Single-day and multi-day overnight environmental education experiences are available year round.
- Program is customized for your group with classes selected from the NJSOC Class List
- Geared for Grades 5 - College
- Maximum group size is 135 divided into groups of no more than 15 students (9 groups of 15)
- Teacher/Chaperone to student ratio must be at least 1 to 10
- Each class is approximately 1.25 - 1.5 hours in length (depending on schedule)
- Classes meet outdoors, rain or shine
- Classes are taught by certified teachers and environmental educators
- All school groups must have a nurse on site. Schools can bring their own, or NJSOC can provide nursing services, for a fee.
The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and the Community Foundation of New Jersey established a field trip endowment fund to launch Field Trip New Jersey.
Field Trip New Jersey provides $100,000 in funds annually to help school children in underserved communities across New Jersey access the arts and culture, historical landmarks, nature preserves and science institutions, and college campuses. The fund makes field trips possible for more students across an even wider range of disciplines and interest areas. This program operates outside of NJSOC; for more information visit https://cfnj.org/fieldtrip/
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR EDUCATORS
The NJ School of Conservation offers professional development trainings that provide what teachers are looking for; meaningful connections to like-minded colleagues, hands-on field experiences that enhance content knowledge and resources and skills that are directly transferable to the classroom.
Recently, the NJSOC Teaching Fellowship has featured multi-day residential workshops on Place-Based Education and Geo-Inquiry, Biodiversity and, when our world tuned unexpectedly virtual, a weeklong online iNaturalist workshop. These workshops were generously supported by our partners at National Geographic Education.
Upon reopening in 2021, the Friends of NJSOC offered a series of summer climate change workshops for educators. More recently, educators were welcomed back for the SOC’s first overnight professional development workshop: STEAM into Monarch Butterfly Conservation in August 2023.
As we reimagine the NJ School of Conservation’s role in supporting NJ educators, we’re planning for additional trainings in climate change education, field-based inquiry and diversity, equity and inclusion. Please check our schedule for upcoming workshops and events for educators.
For more information, contact NJSOC Director of Education, Tanya Sulikowski at tsulikowski@friendsofnjsoc.org