Educator Spotlight: Matt Rogers, Teaching Assistant @ Wetlands

Matt recounts a week spent with his preschoolers at the Salmon Center. "We spent the day with the agenda of collecting stinging nettle, so that we could make pesto for the kids. What I love about preschool is giving kids direction and watching their excitement grow as we explore our daily activities. The fact that we ventured into the woods with 10 kids of preschool age and collected stinging nettle without catastrophic result, and instead saw intrigue and laughter is remarkable. Then to connect that with the following day of program, we made pesto that kids joyfully participated smashing and blending, then ate on pasta out of hand. Many of the kids can now identify stinging nettle, it’s these types of connections that I most love about outdoor program."