Episode 19: Getting students out of their comfort zones

With Laura Frost and Scott Lenhart of Project Dragonfly, Ecoteach, Ohio Certified Volunteer Naturalist program, and Boardman Glenwood Junior High

You can push students beyond their comfort zones by taking them abroad to work in a rustic biological station tucked into dense rainforest. You can also do it at your nearby creek just by implementing an inquiry-based teaching method in an outdoor setting. Laura Frost and Scott Lenhart honed their craft at Miami University’s Project Dragonfly and they apply their innovative teaching method daily with their 8^th-grade students. In this layered discussion, Laura and Scott share their insights about making distant places locally relevant, pushing the limits of comfort, learning local, and engaging with community members.   

Guests:

Laura Frost and Scott Lenhart have been teaching 8^th-grade science together at Boardman Glenwood Junior High School in Boardman, Ohio since 2013. They both earned Master’s degrees from Miami University’s Project Dragonfly as part of the Global Field Program. Laura and Scott have also completed the Ohio Certified Volunteer Naturalist program through Ohio State University. In 2017, they began taking select students on excursions to Costa Rica with EcoTeach. They are currently developing and implementing an outdoor-based curriculum called Project STREAM in collaboration with the Environmental Collaborative of Ohio. Their goal is to connect students to their local environment and professionals in the STEM field.