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Saskatchewan Outdoor and Environmental Education Association
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Greetings from SOEEA! - a message from our President
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2014 SOEEA President Dennie Fornwald
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Welcome to another great year of SOEEA events and programming! We are very excited to welcome our new board members, and thankful for the ongoing work of our seasoned members and general manager. We are also excited to welcome back Leah Japp in her new role as SOEEA outreach coordinator. The year is off to a great start. We had our AGM at the Tartan Curling Club, and just last weekend sent a group of folks to the Duck Mountain Loppet. Keep an eye on our website, facebook page, and your email inbox for upcoming events throughout the year.
As February has drawn to a close many people may be longing for spring, and believe it or not, it is coming. Now is a great time to plan your garden and gather seeds, or even start thinking about some warm weather activities and camping trips. Many parks open their online reservations at the beginning of March, so if you hope to have a sweet spot for a long weekend, make sure to book far ahead of time. If you've always wanted to get out and camp but are afraid that you lack the skills, then make sure to attend the Learn to Backpack and Camping Basics workshops that SOEEA is cohosting with Regina Public Libraries in May and June (stay tuned for more details). I've been reading about how to camp with kids and I recommend The Down and Dirty Guide to Camping with Kids, and Let Them be Eaten by Bears: A Fearless Guide to Taking our Kids into the Great Outdoors, both available at the library.
This year I have been enjoying maternity leave with our 7 month old baby, Henry, but with the plunging temperatures it has been a challenge to get out as much as I normally would. However, I keep re-learning the important lesson that it is worth the effort to get out, as it breaks me out of my cabin fever and always lifts my spirits. I encourage you all to avoid the urge to hunker down until spring. On particularly nasty days you can always be active at an indoor pool in your city, or soak up some sun at the Floral Conservatory in Regina. Spot some sun dogs, shovel some snow, and be proud of being a stalwart prairie person! Late winter is also a good time to watch for good deals on winter outdoor gear such as cross country skis or warm clothing - and here in Saskatchewan we still have plenty of time left to put these things to good use!
Yours from the outdoors,
Dennie Fornwald
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2013 SOEEA AGM & Final Report
 Thank you to everyone who made it out to our Annual General Meeting in Janurary. As always, it was a great opportunity to check-in with our members, review the last year, throw a few rocks, and get to know the 2014 board of directors.
Past SOEEA President Karen McIver put together an excellent presentation summarizing the events, challenges and successes of 2013 for SOEEA. Click here to see her full prezi.
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Duck Mountain Loppet
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SOEEA Members out on the trail
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SOEEA kicked off another full year of programs and events with a weekend at Duck Mountain for the Kamsack Ski Club Cross-country Loppet.
Thank you to all of the volunteers, the Kamsack Ski Club, and the Duck Mountain L odge for making this fantastic event happen. We will definitely be returning next year!
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Environmental Action Program Feature Article
SOEEA EAP $upport recipient profile:
Students from Sākewew High School in North Battleford were invited to participate in a semester long NatureQuest / Boreal Forest Learning Centre program to explore the concept of an ecosystem and their place within it from a First Nations, boreal ecology, and permaculture perspective. A focus on Permaculture seeks to promote positive and practical solutions to the challenge of living in a truly sustainable way while honouring and valuing the deeply important lessons that come from a traditional First Nations worldview.
 Students participated in weekly activities with Kjelti Anderson, program coordinator and facilitator, from January until June that covered everything from soil science to storytelling. Guest facilitators John Murray and Joseph Naytowhow used song, dance, maps, history, and photography to engage the students on the profound ecological and cultural significance of the great boreal forest. Bonnie Logan captivated them with tales from Africa and Mexico, and Daphie Pooyak brought some of her gathered plant medicines for them to touch, smell, and learn about.
A three-day trip to the Ness Creek Cultural and Recreation site in May allowed students that first-hand experience that no classroom lecture can conjure; the chance to see, breathe, touch, smell, and truly feel the forest. While in the forest, the students created nature mandalas from medicinal plants they gathered themselves, worked hard in the Ness Creek Forest Garden - a permaculture demonstration site - to plant a number of edible vegetables and herbs, had opportunity to swim and canoe, and bike, and also participated in a traditional pipe ceremony with a local Elder, who bestowed upon each student the title of custodian of Mother Earth. Each student also had a chance for solo time - where they find a quiet place to simply be in the forest. It was during this time that I think many of the students were able to find a quiet within themselves impossible to find amidst the chaos and confusion of city life.
The program wrapped up in mid-June with students creating a small food and medicine garden right outside the front doors of their school! This 1.5 m by 4.5 m garden is now home to 2 saskatoon berry bushes, strawberries, sweetgrass, giant hyssop, wild mint, sweetgrass, prairie and pasture sage, tobacco, pink onion, wild hops, and some other native medicinal plants. For years to come, this garden can serve the staff and students as an outdoor biology lab, cultural classroom, and of course place for harvesting! In the words of one student - "now what we've built will help other students learn like us." 
The success of the program was celebrated by students and staff. In addition to funding through SOEEA's Environmental Action Project grant program, the first year was made possible with support from Nature Saskatchewan and The Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority. The second year of the program will begin in February 2014.
Article by Kjelti Anderson
Kjelti Anderson is a permaculture educator with a fiery passion for the boreal forest and facilitating student interactions with the soil, the plants, the trees, and the magic of how all these things come together to form our forest home. Her education style is innovative and experiential - encouraging students to create their own learning experiences in a creative and safe way.
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SOEEA's next EAP and OEE $upport application deadline is March 15, 2014. Visit the $upport Tab at www.soeea.sk.ca to learn more.
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Community Journal
We hope that you have thoroughly enjoyed the 1st edition of our new community journal, Of Land & Living Skies. Copies of the first edition have been mailed to our members. If you are a SOEEA member and have not yet received your free copy, please fill out this address form to let us know, and to make sure we have your current and complete mailing address.
In celebration of our new community journal, we would like to formally invite you to join us on March 27, 2014 at 4:30pm-6:30pm for our Journal Launch Event in room 114 in the Education Building at the University of Regina. The launch event will highlight two of the authors presenting their articles from within the journal, as well as a general discussion around the future of the journal and ideas for moving forward. It is a wine and cheese event and hope that it can also act as a networking event for groups in Saskatchewan interested in environmental education and communications.
If you aren't able to join us, please still send us your feedback and ideas for future issues and contributors to [email protected]
 The second edition of our journal (pictured here) will focus on Land, Learning, and the Arts, and is set to launch this spring.
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To Praise a Prairie Winter
Chase a prairie winter
through swirling mounds of snow
while winds unharnessed wail and blow
and eyes peak out through frosty lash
to joy at thirty five below
a circling sundog's flash.
Ponder prairie winter
midst darkness of the night
while age worn ways are whispered white
and soft descending flakes declare
that earth, to snowy hope's delight
will chart new paths to share.
Sing a prairie winter
as plodding through the deep
young children wakened from their sleep
without the weight of ancient woe
and frozen choices left to reap
make angels in the snow.
Taste a prairie winter
deep in the lungs the fill
of calloused cold, the tingling chill
that favours none yet bears no shame
although perverse its twisted thrill
to nip each nose the same.
Hold a prairie winter
for just a few more days
then just before the river frays
sling one last skate without a care
while folks debate why spring delays
as if that were quite rare.
Praise a prairie winter
just wait until July
when feeling like we're going to die
'cause thirty five contains a plus
it's then that we recall just why
our winters rate no fuss.
Have a poem to share? Send it to [email protected] and look for it in a future edition of Envisage.
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Upcoming Events and Opportunities of Interest
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ATTENTION EDUCATORS!!!
Below Zero Workshop in Regina
Saturday March 15, 2014 from 10:00AM to 3:00PM
University of Regina (Education Building)
Where do dragonflies go when the snow flies? What keeps wood frogs from croaking in winter? How do polar bears find cold comfort in Arctic climes? Most Canadians live with snow and ice for at least five months of the year, yet we know surprisingly little about life in frozen environments. Put on your long-johns and join us on an amazing sub-zero safari into the winter world of wildlife.
Below Zero is an educational program designed to promote understanding of wildlife under winter conditions. Developed by Canadian Wildlife Federation and launched in 2003, it features 46 complete lesson plans that can each be adapted for any age, grade or subject.
Click here to register
Contact Leah Japp
SOEEA Outreach Officer
306-525-6487
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Nature Quest with Nature Saskatchewan Present:
You are invited:
To consider how you see the forest in all those trees;
To notice where you choose to look;
To reflect on how you picture this.
Two overlapping workshops on the relationship between our experience of the natural world, our habits of perception and the way we make visual representations
Painting with Kim Ennis BFA, MA
Photography with John Murray
Ness Creek
May 16-19, 2014
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Nimis Kahpimotate - Intercultural Women's Canoe Trip
The purpose of this project is to promote understanding and build positive relationships among a group of First Nations and non-FN women through the experiences of planning, preparing and participating in a wilderness canoe trip.
Goals of the project are to live, work and play together to build friendships, deepen intercultural relationships and empower participants to seek justice and reconciliation AND to acknowledge and strive to overcome the separation between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples as a result of colonial practices and the residential school legacy.
The trips in 2012 and 2013 included First Nations (residential school and intergenerational survivors) and non First Nations women aged 25 - 65. There will be a 'third annual' trip in July of 2014. As we did last year, we are hoping to have a blend of former and new participants.
The invitation to take part is extended to any woman of any age who feels deeply and passionately about nurturing friendships and strong relationships between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians, has been connected or interested in the TRC process in some way and either has experience on canoe trips or a desire for this new adventure.
Our WEBSITE for 2014 http://nimisjourney.wordpress.com is nearing completion; you can obtain most of the basic information there now.
We are grateful for your support.
Dawn Guenther and Terry Harrison
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Call for Nominations: 12th Annual SEN Environmental Activism Awards
Do you know someone or a group of people who deserve recognition for the part they play in protecting the environment, someone who is hardworking or innovative? Is a group or business doing something significant, trying a more conscientious or respectful approach to the environment? Why not nominate them for a Saskatchewan Eco Network Environmental Activist Award?
The life of environmental activism is often challenging but sometimes, activism pays off - a species returns from the endangered list, an area becomes protected, a health issue becomes widely acknowledged. The Saskatchewan Eco Network is celebrating the lives and the accomplishments of environmental activists through its Twelfth Annual Environmental Activist Awards.
Deadline to submit nominations is March 15th, 2014. Please send us the name, address, phone number and email of the person or group you are nominating along with some biographical information about the nominee. Please include your name, phone number and email, as well. You can send all nominations to [email protected].
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Interested in Wilderness First Aid or Leave No Trace?
Leave No Trace Awareness and Master Educator Courses, along with Wilderness First Aid and other outdoor recreation training courses empower educators and community members to take groups outside. These courses equip leaders with the skills and confidence required to get more of our Saskatchewan members and groups exploring and learning outside.
Unfortunately due to low registration SOEEA had to cancel two of these courses last year. We have decided to facilitate and run training courses for 2014 on an on-demand basis, meaning when we receive enough interest from individual members or group organizations we will do our best to set up and run a course.
If you or your group are interested in taking Wilderness First Aid some time in 2014 please follow this link and fill out the form to help us plan a course that better meets our member's needs. If you are interested in a leave no trace awareness workshop of mater educator training course please email [email protected] for more information.
As always, thank you for your input!
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Meet our Board - 2014 Slate of Officers
Past President - Karen McIver
President - Dennie Fornwald
Interim Vice President - Leah Walberg Program Director - Christie Thomson Treasurer - Alexandra Fourlas
Communications Working Group Leader
- Crystal Palmer
Education Working Group Leaders
- Jeff Moore, Brooklyn Berns
Public & Families Working Group Leaders
- Jeremy Black, Ian Mulhuland
Members at Large
- Kyle Lichtenwald, Adam Hering, Rod Figueroa
If you are interested in joining the board or one of our three
working groups drop us a line for more information.
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SOEEA Annual Report
If you would like a digital a copy of SOEEA's 2013 Annual Report or a printed copy of this poster, with our annual report summary printed on the back, please email [email protected] for your copy!
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Help us spread the word! Please forward this envisage e-newsletter on to anyone you think might be interested in SOEEA programs and initiatives. You can also follow this link to find out more about what a SOEEA membership has to offer you, your family, or your organization. If this e-newsletter was forwarded to you by a friend, and you would like to receive future envisage communications from SOEEA directly, please follow this link and fill out the attached form.
Sincerely,
Jessica Wood
SOEEA General Manager
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