Beth Girard, Acting School Forest Coordinator, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry, St. Paul, Minnesota
Beth Girard helps teachers from 109 participating schools and organizations connect their students to the natural world using school forests as outdoor classrooms. She is also an outreach presenter for Eco Education and a volunteer educator for the Wildlife Science Center in Forest Lake and for the University of Minnesota’s Raptor Center in St. Paul, presenting around 250 environmental programs annually to more than 5,000 students. As a trained PLT facilitator, Beth leads 10 workshops a year, mentoring hundreds of formal and non-formal educators in environmental education. She specializes in researching resources, materials suppliers, literature lists, and other classroom learning tools that help teachers build students’ knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behavior towards the environment. Beth has also created several activity trunks to support Minnesota PLT’s early childhood supplement, for which she has a particular passion.
Beth was named National PLT Outstanding Educator Honoree in 2007.
Vanessa Bullwinkle
Vanessa Bullwinkle
