EE Works for Wisconsin!:
State-Level Leadership Clinic Emphasizes Media and Meeting Facilitation Skills for Promoting EE Programsby Nancy Piraino, Wisconsin Association for EE Chair-Elect
The Environmental Education Advocate - Spring 1998
The following information is provided to you as a service of the National
Environmental Education Advancement Project (NEEAP). We encourage you to use it and
please credit the National Environmental Education
Advancement Project where appropriate.
On January 15-17, thirty committed state and local-level environmental educators gathered at Treehaven Conference Center near Tomahawk, Wisconsin to develop and practice their media skills. This prototype workshop is the first of a series of EE promotional workshops that will be held throughout the U.S. this year. With support from the Tides Foundation, the National EE Training Foundation and the EE and Training Partnership, workshop participants were led by media consultants and professionals who enhanced the workshop with their experience and knowledge. All of the presenters have extensive backgrounds in press activities, media trainings, and media consulting. There was also a complimentary session on meeting facilitation skills.
Participants in the workshop came from a variety of backgrounds
including: classroom teachers, resource personnel, students, environmental education
program coordinators, nature center directors, and educational personnel in private
industry. All were linked by their commitment to quality environmental education and
the realization that creating positive articles about environmental education in the media
is an important skill. Our presenters spent two days helping us develop these
skills. We learned who the media is and details about the best time and place to
contact and work with the media. Sound bites were created and we learned how to use
them effectively. We learned how to respond to media questions to make sure we get our
primary messages about EE in the press. Bill Berry, Managing Editor from the Stevens
Point Journal, helped us understand his job, and what other editors are looking for in
stories. With his help, we learned how to pitch our stories to a reporter in one
minute, thirty seconds, and how that reporter has to pitch it to an editor.
One technique we learned is the importance of writing and telling our environmental
messages in pictures and stories. Emphasis was put on creating stories that the
public will remember, and showing pictures that will give them a lasting visual image of
what our stories are about. Each participant in the media workshop developed an action
plan, including a timeline with specific goals to be reached in the next few months.
Once we’re back home, our work begins. Our plans include getting more positive stories about EE in the press by working with the media in our local areas and building upon the skills we learned at the workshop. A by-product of our efforts to promote good EE in our communities will be to help our local teachers, nature center personnel, scout leaders, etc. realize that there are many avenues of support they can access as we all work to promote environmental education and the benefits it provides for everyone in our state. “We learned how to work with the media to get our stories about EE in the news,” said Laura Felda, a Milwaukee area teacher and clinic participant. “Now I’m going to go out there and do it!”
EE Works for Wisconsin! Campaign and Media Clinic Pay-Off
by Libby McCann, WAEE Past-Chair & WI Leadership Clinic Participant
Earth Day 1998 was an ideal opportunity for participants from the January 1998 Media Clinic to put their new skills to work as they shared with local media contacts the excellent EE happening in their communities. As a result, a variety of positive news articles and radio interviews occurred statewide, illustrating the interest and strong support for quality EE throughout the region.
Another positive outcome from the EE Works for Wisconsin! Campaign has been the opportunity to share this model with other interested state EE leaders. Three participants from the January 1998 Media Clinic—Laura Felda, Libby McCann, and Nancy Piraino—shared their experiences, newly gained media skills, and media successes with representatives from 23 other states as part of a media workshop held at the 1998 NEEAP/NAAEE Spring Leadership Clinic. The three co-presenters were also able to provide hand-outs on the logistical details of planning a media clinic for interested state EE leaders and some of the steps which helped them garner positive EE media coverage in their communities. The remainder of teh workshop was a mini version of the January Wisconsin Clinic (in the adjoining article). For more information, contact: the WAEE office at 715-346-2796 or Libby McCann at lmccann@uwsp.edu or 715-346-3366.
Return to: General Newsletter Page