CEED Board Member Recognized by EPA!
We’re so proud to announce that CEED Board member Veronica Morabito-Weeks was recognized with the Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Education on Earth Day, April 22, 2020. Veronica is an amazing fifth grade teacher who inspires her students to experience and love the natural world. We’re honored to have her as a member of CEED’s Board of Directors. Veronica also served as a volunteer counselor at our first Summer Nature Experience last year.
“Ms. Weeks” as she is known to her fifth-grade students in Hauppauge, is one of 10 teachers nationwide who received this prestigious award for employing innovative approaches to environmental education. In its official press release, the Environmental Protection Agency, which administers the award in partnership with the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said of Veronica:
Veronica Morabito-Weeks utilizes her 26 years of teaching experience to create inclusive, rich experiences that meet the diverse needs of her students. Her students gain firsthand experience interacting with nature by studying and caring for animals including axolotls, chinchillas, trout, Bobwhite quails, and horseshoe crabs.
The entire school community benefits from her environmental leadership. Students benefit from Ms. Morabito-Weeks’ initiative in creating a butterfly garden, a native plant garden, and the Environmental Science Club. Every year, Ms. Morabito-Weeks organizes multiple environmental education field trips for the entire fifth grade. As a New York State Master Teacher and a Lead Teacher for her Teacher’s College Language Arts Program, she provides professional development for other educators and takes part in continued citizen science opportunities to bring new projects back to her school.
When she accepted the award, Veronica said, “I am absolutely thrilled to receive this award. I am motivated every day by my students’ deep commitment to make positive change in the world. I know that they are ready to be powerful stewards of the Earth, and I share this great honor with them.”
We are so lucky to have Veronica as part of the CEED family. Congratulations on this well-deserved award!