Washington County Community College Hosts Learning and Growing from the Outside In, an outdoor adventure play training
Tara Williams, the Executive Director of Maine Association for Education of young children (AEYC)
With so much technology all around us it can be easy to forget about all that nature has to offer.
On Saturday, September 24th, Washington County Community College in collaboration with the Maine Roads to Quality Professional Development Network (MRTQ PDN), and the Maine Association for the Education of Young Children (MaineAEYC), hosted the 3rd annual Washington County Early Care & Education fall conference. This year’s conference title was Learning & Growing from the Outside In, and the theme was outdoor adventure play.
This day-long training was intended for people who work in early childhood education including family childcare, center-based childcare, and early public-school teachers.
The day consisted of various learning opportunities for educators.
A Keynote presentation by Tara Williams, the Executive Director of Maine Association for Education of young children (AEYC), kicked off the event. Tara believes that all children and adults can benefit from outdoor learning, play, and exploration. She shared her passion about nature-based education with those in attendance.
Spencer McCormick, local Outdoor Adventure expert, presented a workshop on self-care experiences through nature and adventure and how stretching your comfort zone and incorporating self-care into your profession.
Beth Wilkins hosted the last workshop of the day. She is a licensed provider of an all-outdoor play-based program for children called TimberNook https://timbernook.com/ , as well as an occupational therapist. Beth came to share her passion about creating spaces for children to dig into their important occupation of play.
“We had a wonderful day, with participants enjoying the workshops, networking, and especially the interactive nature of some of the workshop activities. The high winds limited our outdoor time somewhat, but we still had a chance to get outside and play,” mentioned Theresa Fisk, District Early Childhood and Youth Coordinator for Maine Roads to Quality Professional Development Network (MRTQ PDN).
Food was provided and door prizes were given away throughout the day. There was even a Grand Prize of a free 3-credit college course from WCCC.
More information about 2022 Washington County conferences, please contact Theresa Fisk at theresa.fisk@maine.edu or 207-956-2070.