2007 AEOE Southern Fall Conference Proceedings

What a conference! Friday night started as usual with loud camping living up to its name. People stayed up late exchanging songs and teaching ideas, but luckily, our campus is large. In the morning we were honored with an inspirational opening ceremony by alumni Gerry Cox, after which we floated to our workshops. Bryan ‘Rain’ Snyder and co. (five other ods staff) prepped a mountain of grilled cheeses for everyone, then came the pumpkin carving (and props go to the "AEOE" pumpkin which was mistakenly left out of the awards). Afternoon break found people reading, journaling, and napping in the Santa Barbara sun. Thai dinner by Buzzard (Paul Grafton) and Choppers was too darn yummy—the Howard Bell and Michael Charnofsky curries were the first to disappear, followed quickly by everything else, leaving only sad faces staring into empty pots. That's the last time we’ll make dinner this tasty! The Saturday campfire show was a blast as always. Rhymin’Reason, aka Rich and Tonya Mandl, were the familiar masters of ceremony, and treated us all to a few of their original tunes, old and new. A personal highlight was Steven Morris' Jimmy Buffet cover with original lyrics about the conference, written by Steve, with no help from his co-staff (inside joke you’ll get if you saw him). Of course, more loud camping was to follow... The next day Pack Rat Frank rushed off to fight a fire, but all else went as planned. At the closing ceremony my good and close friend Nicole ‘Kestrel’ Larson won the environmental educator of the year Award. 2007 at Rancho Alegre was the casual yet inspiring conference that fall is known for. If you missed it, don't do that again! See you in the spring at Malibu.

—Jay “Bluejay” Bishop, Rancho Alegre Outdoor School

Awards

Workshop Materials

Effective Teaching Strategies by Laura "Leaf" Vandezande

Addressing Hidden Diversity by Adam Hamme

Creating a Culture of Passion by Adam Hammes

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