Q&A with Young Alumni Award Recipient Sara Boone
Sara Boone interned at the Au Sable Institute in 2014. She received an undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point in wildlife ecology and a masters degree in the same field from the University of Maine, Orono. She currently works at Manistee Middle High School in Michigan teaching science and is one of the recipients of this year’s Au Sable Young Alumni Award.
Tell us about your time as an educational intern at Au Sable.
It was probably one of my favorite introductory jobs right out of college. I loved getting to teach other people about the environment, which was something I was really passionate about myself. Sharing that excitement with kids who could match my energy was really exciting.
We worked with school groups coming in every day, preparing different lessons on mammals or birds or fungi or trees. The Michigan history lessons were super fun. We told the kids a story about getting lost in the woods and coming across these little medallions that would take us back in time. A significant cohort of kids one hundred percent thought we had gone back in time.
We would lead them back to the trails to get to the 1800s cabin or the 1900s cabin. One of us would be stationed there, dressed up in time-appropriate clothing. We’d show them around and talk about what life was like at that time. In the 1900s camp we made cookies using the wood stove and very simple ingredients. In the 1800s camp, we made candles. There was no electricity in these buildings and they were very immersive experiences. We’d always have kids who would whip out their cell phone and say, “Do you know what this is?”
What was your path from graduation to where you are now?
When I went to school for wildlife biology I realized pretty quickly that was where I felt I should be. After I graduated, I spent five years or so moving around the country and doing seasonal jobs. In 2017 I started my master’s degree at the University of Maine in Orono.
I graduated in the summer at the beginning of Covid. There were no jobs; nothing was open. But that following fall a lot of schools re-opened again and they were really looking for help. That was when I started my true step into the education world, at least in a school setting.
I started as an ed-tech at a grade school. It was really cool how they were integrating a lot of environmental concepts so early on. They had this weekly activity where they would go outside and sit quietly for five minutes and write down observations – things they could see, hear, feel, etc. It was a really nice way for the kids to slow down and start observing things around them.
They had a forest school and a lot of outdoor activities—a garden, composting. A local community member who had learned from a local Native American tribe member would teach kids survival-based skills like making baskets and grinding acorn flour, in a way that was understanding of local native history.
I found a lot of purpose learning how to connect with them and awaken their ability to believe in themselves.
When we moved back to Michigan, they needed a science teacher at the alternative high school. I started as a long-term sub and fell in love with teaching those kids. All of them had something that had held them back from success in the past but they were all good kids at their core. I found a lot of purpose learning how to connect with them and awaken their ability to believe in themselves.
This is my first year teaching in general education—eighth grade science, high school biology, and high school chemistry. I most enjoy connecting with the kids on a level where they feel seen and heard.
When you were doing your master’s program, were you thinking already of going into education?
I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to get into. I am so grateful I was able to do the master’s work, but I felt a little burnt out by the end of it and unsure where to go next.
Environmental education unfortunately doesn’t always pay super well. It’s probably my dream job, but I also have to be able to pay my rent, groceries, and gas.
What are some ways you have incorporated innovative environmental education approaches in your teaching roles?
When I was at Colombia Options High School, we did a lot of projects incorporating native plants around our school and creating gardens to beautify our school.
We had a small forested area behind the fields where I started doing daily observations with my ecology class to get them to slow down a little bit and start looking at what’s around them rather than just watch their screens. We did a lot with native species of Michigan that I was able to integrate into ecology, biology, and earth science classes.
How did your internship with Au Sable inform what you do now?
I was certified through the internship to teach Project Wild and Project Learning Tree—programs that use activity-based learning to teach ecology concepts. I have used some of those lessons in my classes to teach concepts like population density and carrying capacity.
The Au Sable internship gave me a lot of skills to be able to translate my excitement and passion into an actual learning goal that I could measure with my students.
A lot of what I did with those school groups translates. How do you connect with kids and make the topic something interesting that kids want to learn about? How do you take a school group on an exploratory journey rather than just a slide show lesson in the classroom? The Au Sable internship gave me a lot of skills to be able to translate my excitement and passion into an actual learning goal that I could measure with my students.
How is doing environmental education an outworking of your own faith?
It’s always an undercurrent in everything that I teach, that this world has been created and is amazing just because it exists. A huge part of what I teach is appreciation for what we have and caring for it because we are stewards of the earth. Everything we see is a design.
What are your favorite topics to teach?
I love teaching about native ecosystems. I have worked for a few different years with students on creating a native plant garden.
You know you’re doing a good job when your students are going into other classrooms and talking about it and debating concepts. That’s how you know you’ve made it.
Each year we’d create a plan and start building these native garden beds around our school. That paired really well with our lessons on pollinators and sustainable food. Those really integrative lessons were so fun to share with the kids. They would really get into it. Some of the boys would struggle with sitting still and writing but when we got outside, they were learning so much by being able to do things. You know you’re doing a good job when your students are going into other classrooms and talking about it and debating concepts. That’s how you know you’ve made it.
Anything else you want to share with the Au Sable community?
Au Sable will always have a very special place in my heart. It was such a welcoming place where I could explore the two things that I feel really passionate about. I felt like I could be comfortable in my faith while also being able to explore science and the environment. It was really a cool experience to have the space to do that.
