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AEOE OUTSTANDING SERVICE AWARDStatement written and compiled by Michael Charnofsky, Award presented by Laura Vandezande at the Photo at left shows Outstanding Service Award winner, Maggie Wolfe, with 2006 Environmental Educator of the Year, David Macander at the Fall 2006 Southern California AEOE Conference, proudly displaying their awards. |
(below is a transcript of the award as presented at the conference)
AEOE has three annual awards that we give to recognize extraordinary work by environmental educators in California: The Northern and Southern AEOE Environmental Educator of the Year Awards, and the Howard Bell Award. This next person we are going to honor could easily win any of these awards, but the AEOE Board decided to create a special award, unique for this very special person, called the Outstanding Service Award.
In 1998, Southern AEOE needed a Newsletter Editor. (pause - this is the point when Maggie's head jerked around and tears welled up in her eyes, realizing Laura, who presented the award, was talking about her!) When a very enthusiastic, fun, and dorky person volunteered, nobody in AEOE at that time could have imagined what that meant for the future of the organization. MAGGIE WOLFE volunteered for the job…
At first Maggie didn’t know much about designing a newsletter, she was an outdoor educator with relatively little computer experience. But that unique brain of hers was perfect for the job, and she taught herself what she needed to know and became a computer nerd in no time! Maggie was the ultimate communicator---she was able to inspire folks to write creative, relevant articles on many topics. And the newsletter was always beautifully and professionally designed.
Maggie didn’t stop there….during this time, she also became:
Maggie’s work was crucial for these very successful conferences. The same goes for all conferences after that, including this one. Maggie has always been a multitalented volunteer!
In 2003, Maggie took on the job of AEOE webmaster. Thanks to her dedicated work, the website has become well known and respected throughout California and the whole United States as a fantastic resource for the environmental education field. It has also drawn global attention from people throughout the world (mostly in Africa) who constantly email her (and other board members) wanting to share their lottery winnings with her! (ha)
She taught herself many of the necessary computer skills for the job, but even more important were her vision and dedication. She went above and beyond the basics of updating conference material and the job page. While Maggie worked 40 hours/week as a naturalist, she would often spend her evenings, weekends and vacation time dedicated to her obsession, the website. If Maggie were paid for her webmaster job instead of working as a volunteer, she would be quite wealthy by now. If you have never explored the AEOE website, you will be amazed by what’s there, too much to even start to list it all here. Simply put, Maggie is a web goddess!
Maggie promoted and developed the AEOE Institutional Membership category by networking with EE programs throughout California, offering them website services that would normally cost hundreds of dollars per year, such as free job postings and free promotion of their programs. The AEOE website job page is the most heavily used for EE jobs in California, and certainly one of the very top in the country. AEOE’s Institutional Membership has probably increased by more than 300% since Maggie became webmaster.
The preceding statements don’t tell the whole story. Maggie is loved and respected by those who work with her.
Now for my personal story (Michael): being an AEOE board member has been fun and rewarding. But without Maggie to offer her comic relief, her unique perspective, her extra long and entertaining stream-of-consciousness emails that change subjects many times but are (almost) always relevant …without all of this it would never have been as much fun. Personally, I have learned so much from Maggie, and she is a great source of inspiration.
Below are just a few comments from other folks on the AEOE Board and Councils:
Maggie has given so much to the organization. Maggie is a rock star!
- Lisa Murphy (Northern AEOE past chair, past treasurer)
There are no words to describe her contribution to the Organization. She has been an incredible mentor. She brought me into the organization when I met her at the Los Angeles Environmental Education Faire several years ago. Her contribution to the development and…(upkeep)…of the Website has been amazing.
- Judy Toothaker (Southern AEOE Member-at-large, 2004 spring conference workshop coordinator)
As an institutional member I can far and away attest to the magnificent job Maggie does with the job list. Having been a part of similar organizations in other states - nowhere can compare to the services offered on the AEOE website. To know that Maggie has really created that entirely through volunteering is absolutely amazing, not to mention it is taking 2 people to replace her just for her website duties.
- Tara Murgatroyd (Southern AEOE Chair-elect)
Maggie has been a major force behind taking AEOE to the next level and has had a tremendous impact on our recognition all over the country through the countless hours she has spent on the AEOE website. She is also the first person to come to anyone's rescue - all you have to do is ask a question to the board and Maggie will respond with a 1-3 page list of summaries, comparisons, original suggestions, and links to examples....all in about 15 minutes after you posted your questions. We are very lucky to have such a wonderful geek in EE and in AEOE.! You are my hero Maggie, I don't how I would survive without you!
- Love from the money person (snore, yawn...wake up!) Zay! (Zayanne Thompson - AEOE Chief Financial Officer)
Two of Maggie’s greatest strengths are her endless enthusiasm and her ability to see the potential within her students, and within everyone she comes in contact with. With her encouragement and confidence in my abilities, I felt I could take on such tasks as organizing 3 Fall Conferences and becoming Southern Chair of AEOE. We can only imagine the impact and inspiration she has had on the thousands of students she has worked with throughout the years!
- Laura Vandezande (Southern AEOE past chair, past outings coordinator)
There are many dedicated and hard working volunteer board members, but there is a very good reason AEOE created this award just for Maggie. (Maggie must be blushing right now, please take pictures!). AEOE is honored to present Maggie Wolfe with the AEOE Outstanding Service Award!