Young children are naturally curious about nature; everything from insects, birds, plants, weather, seasons, and more. Growing Up WILD builds on children’s wonderment and sense of exploration as the curriculum is specifically designed for early childhood educators. Growing Up Wild offers a rich set of ready-to-go activities for early elementary teachers to integrate nature, wildlife, and environmental sense into their classrooms in an engaging, holistic way. The guide contains 27 field-tested, hands-on, nature-based lesson themes, with over 400 experiences in total for young learners which covers cognitive (science, math, literacy), physical (movement, outdoor play), social/emotional (co-operation, reflection, respect for living things), and language (vocabulary, discussion) domains.  ​

This fall, Environmental Educator, Mary Ronan, facilitated an interactive learning experience with our PreK educators. The activities are designed to be teacher-friendly and include: “Quick Facts,” “Warm up,” “Go” (main activity), “Wrap up,” and extensions such as “Take Me Outside,” “Healthy Me,” “Mighty Math,” and “Home Connections.” The structure of the day helped PreK teachers experience some of the activities and then time was provided for them to collaborate with one another. Educators worked on ways to adapt the lessons to indoor/outdoor settings, split across shorter sessions, and integrate into existing routines.

Our PreK teachers LOVED the experience! Mark your calendars for April 15, 2026, as Mary will be returning to share Project Learning Tree with our young childhood educators at our Spring PreK CLC. 

​By: Jessica Schirrmacher-Smith, Senior Coordinator for Curriculum and Professional Development​

Popcorn, that’s what!

The Environmental Education program at CA BOCES partnered with SNAP Education to provide an exciting opportunity to our members. Students were treated to a combined life science and holiday nutrition lesson. During this lesson, students learned about the parts and needs of a seed, the needs of a plant, as well as the importance of grains, and traditional holiday foods from around the world that are made with grains.

At the end of the lesson, students got the chance to see science in action as they watched popcorn pop in an air-popper, breaking its seed coat and becoming the munchy snack we all know and love. The popcorn was then given a cinnamon sugar flavoring, and students got the chance to try the classic holiday treat. We look forward to our continued partnership with SNAP-Ed and are currently looking forward to planning future paired lessons for the spring.  

By: Matt Bucholz, Environmental Education and STEM Coach

The Environmental Education Program at CA BOCES has worked with four of our component school districts this year to help make the dream of an Ecology Camp a reality. Students at Cuba-Rushford, Franklinville, Olean, and Cattaraugus-Little Valley had the opportunity to spend a night or two at Camp Allegany, in the heart of the beautiful Allegany State Park. While there, students had the opportunity to fish, fly kites, and learn from experienced Allegany State Park staff about some of the animals and plants found in the park. Students had the chance to learn important skills such as backpacking, orienteering, and kayaking while at the camp. Many of the kids truly enjoyed the opportunity to spend the night in a cabin along with many of their friends. The students had a great time and created memories that will last forever! We look forward to helping with the Ecology Camps in the future. ​