This year at the Spring AEOE Conference in Malibu, Zayanne Thompson was awarded the Howard Bell award. This award shows recognition and appreciation for the contribution that an individual has made to AEOE, and to the field of environmental & outdoor education.
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Zayanne Thompson
Speech by Tara Murgatroyd I was so excited to hear Zayanne Thompson had been nominated for the Howard Bell Award. Zay has been involved in the Outdoor Education field since she graduated from UCSB in 1986. She began her career with San Mateo Outdoor Education and found her passion for teaching children about the environment. She decided to go back to school to earn a Masters in Education and a teaching credential, and then moved to Julian to direct the program that I now have the privilege to run at YMCA Camp Marston in San Diego County. She took a small program and established a curriculum to develop it into a full school year program. Along the way she has touched the lives of so many staff. With her caring, passionate demeanor she has mentored many young naturalists who have gone on to pursue careers throughout the field. She is currently the Department Head at YMCA Camp Surf where she started another successful OE program, continues to guide and develop staff, inspire children, and improve the costal environment. |
Her involvement with AEOE is long and has been extensive – from her own participation as a naturalist at these conferences to being volunteered by her staff years ago to take care of things that most of us hate as naturalists – finances. IN the early years she was the Southern Treasurer. As the statewide CFO she has led AEOE from two separate, disorganized accounts in the north and south to a combined highly tracked financial system. Zayanne also helped spearhead the process to officially get AEOE non-profit status, and continues to manage merchandise and T-shirts for AEOE conference. Beyond her service to AEOE, Zayanne has been an active advocate of educating people about the environment throughout her career. She has volunteered at a zoo and several local non-profits focused on environmental education. She spent several summer working for a museum and the National Park Service to educate families about the outdoors. Zayanne served on a national task force for the YMCA creating the iCARE environmental initiative, which is being implemented into YMCA camps and branch programs such as Y Guides, after-school and childcare, youth sports and many others throughout the country. She has also written award winning articles on incorporating environmental education and stewardship into camping for the American Camping Association (ACA) publication Camping Magazine. Zayanne truly embodies the spirit of the Howard Bell Award and is a very deserving recipient
