CEDAR CITY — Ask Mona Woolsey what she thinks about being recognized for her environmental efforts with her fourth-grade class and she'll more than likely respond that it's "cool."
Just like the 58-year-old teacher thinks science, her students and their annual camping trips are cool.
One of just 13 elementary teachers across the nation recognized for their efforts in the area of environmental-based and science education, Woolsey, a teacher at North Elementary School in Cedar City, was among the first ever recipients of the Environmental Education Teacher Professional Development Awards, and the only one in Utah to receive such.
The awards come from the President's Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and The National Environmental Education & Training Foundation (NEETF), the result of a NEETF study citing evidence from 11 schools to show that environment-based education programs help motivate student learning, bring relevance to the school experience and improve academic performance.
Now entering her 20th year teaching, Woolsey has helped to create what North Elementary principal called a "magic" classroom for all that goes on there.
For example, there is her experiment with wind erosion, faulting, freezing and precipitation modeled with layers of Jell-O, crushed Oreos and cream.
Another has the class in gloves and surgical masks attempting to salvage some clean water from six gallons of dirty water, an excursion that usually merits less than half a cup, still somewhat muddied.
But it's when Woolsey makes the outdoors her classroom that she really reaches deep into her bag of tricks.
That's when her students scribble in their notebooks about getting to see prairie dogs (now an endangered species), tour a thermal plant and hike through Escalante to see the red rock. Her two-day, three-night field trip at Gooseberry ranger station in Fishlake National Forest — where they visit various stations, learning about trees and water conservation from various speakers, for example — is one her students will talk about all year long.
"I want them to see all the things they're studying in Utah. We can't see it all, but I want them to get a taste of what Utah is about," Woolsey said.
"I love to integrate stuff into what we're doing . . . and make it feel like it's more 'real life.' Kids are not going to go and just do math or science — they're connected. It's a whole lot more interesting if you can make math and science work together."
Woolsey applied for the award as a result of how the demographics surrounding the school were changing. Being an inner-city school and part of a lower economic area, more and more nearby homes are becoming rentals, and the people living in the area are aging.
"I felt like we needed something to be proud of, that our school has opportunities and we have things here for these kids. We want them to have all the experiences we can possibly give them," she said.
As part of the award, each teacher receives a $1,500 sum, which Woolsey says will probably go toward purchase of a computer.
E-mail: dmoody@desnews.com