Who we serve...

Who are typical members of AEOE?

While our membership is always changing and includes people from a broad range of backgrounds, AEOE's base membership has historically been, and still is today composed primarily of naturalists, teachers and science instructors who teach at residential outdoor schools in California. Children, usually 5th or 6th grade, come to these outdoor schools (sometimes called "science camps" or "sixth-grade camps") for one school week of instruction outside on the trail. The outdoor schools vary from County Office of Education-run programs to Y-camps to Christian camps or other privately owned sites. Click here to see a map showing our member organizations and links to their websites.

The programs of instruction vary from site to site, but usually include a strong component of natural history/natural science and environmental education. Many sites incorporate team-building activities with ropes courses, while others also offer outdoor education-type activities such as orienteering, Native American culture, and survival skills along with other more camp-like activities such as crafts and folk dance. Some programs are focused on stewardship of the land, others on natural history, others on science, and some on race and human relations. All have strong outdoor components.

The background of the instructors varies greatly from program to program. Some programs use only credentialed teachers for instructors, but they are the exception rather than the rule. Many programs require naturalists to have a science degree and/or strong science experience, but many programs also use interns who may have little background in science or education. At our annual statewide conference, usually about 50% of the attendees are new to the field.

Other members of AEOE are administrators of such programs who are our most long-term members, as well as classroom teachers, often those who bring their students up to outdoor school or who are involved with getting their students outside and engaged in the environment in some way, such as school gardens and service learning programs, and others may be naturalists at nature centers, museums, parks, urban EE programs, and many more. Most are people who, currently or in the past, teach children about the natural world in the outdoors. All are extremely dedicated individuals who care about the environment and about children.

AEOE's mission is to support and inspire educators in their quest for the knowledge, skills, and attitudes essential to help all learners understand, appreciate and care for their environment. As an integral part of achieving our mission, we encourage direct experience outdoors.

To achieve this mission and serve our members, we help to create a community network for outdoor and environmental educators in the state, provide conferences for professional development and inspiration, publish quarterly newsletters, maintain an active joblist, offer occasional outings and adventures, and continually add to the many resources on this website.

We do all this with an all-volunteer board who also work in the field of outdoor environmental education and whole-heartedly believe in what we do!

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