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Elizabeth Farwell, Grade 1 Teacher |
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Elizabeth was born in Madison, Wisconsin, in a family passionate about the environment and spending time out of doors. She spent a great deal of her childhood enjoying the outdoors in Wisconsin, Illinois, and on the shores of Lake Superior. She spent five summers working with children in Northern Michigan and continued to seek out child-centered employment throughout her life. From an early age, Elizabeth spent many hours a day engrossed in a book or sequestered in the library or beside her family’s bookshelf, and became known as the family bookworm for whom reading at the dinner table was banned. Her grandmother served as a child photographer in the Chicago suburbs for more than forty years, and passed on this passion, as Elizabeth studied photography through high school and into college, focusing particularly on children and nature. She also enjoys playing the cello which she inherited from her great-grandfather, and played in the orchestra from age 13 to 22.
Bryn Mawr College drew Elizabeth to the Philadelphia area, where she volunteered with various tutoring programs as well as Best Buddies International, and spent a semester as an exchange student at Barnard College’s Institute for Urban Education. There, she worked as a student teacher in a Harlem First Grade classroom, and ran a science program with sixth grade students that involved several hiking field trips to Black Rock Forest. After a year spent as a Literacy Intern with the School District of Philadelphia, she reentered the student life and received her Master’s Degree in Elementary Education from the University of Pennsylvania. |
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| WHAT IT'S LIKE
TO TEACH AT GREEN WOODS |
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When exploring other charter school options in the Philadelphia area, Green Woods immediately caught my eye. I had always included environmental advocacy in my teaching, but found this difficult in locations such as New York, Philadelphia, and Chester, PA, due to the lack of green space in the urban environments. The fact that such a school existed in Philadelphia astounded me, and I was even more impressed when I first visited the school. Driving through the woods on a dirt road reminded me of the property my family visits every year in the woods of Northern Michigan, and I immediately knew that I would love every minute of working in such a setting. Seeing my classroom for the first time only added to my excitement, as I need only open the side door to take my class out to visit the woods. The possibilities for teaching real world ideas is amazing, as the students can see, smell, hear, and touch the natural world that exists in fewer and fewer places. Advocating for the environment is no longer met with confusion, but with genuine appreciation and awe. Green Woods is truly an amazing place for an education. |
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Jean Wallace, Academic Director
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As the Academic Director and CEO, Jean is responsible for guiding the design and implementation of our award-winning curriculum and for supporting the direction of all areas of school life. Jean works in collaboration with our staff, Board, community and educational partners to build on our successful past toward an even greater future.
Charter schools are public schools. As such Jean is accountable to the Department of Education for ensuring that our students are receiving a standards-based learning experience from qualified teachers within the guidelines and mandates of Federal, State, and Charter School Law. In addition to the many responsibilities associated with curriculum and instruction, Jean supports Green Woods through successful grant writing, ongoing website communication, mentoring our Jr. School Leadership Team mediation team, and by networking with key partners from within and outside the Green Woods community.
As a member of the Governor's Council for Environmental Education, Jean works with many of the State's environmental experts and agencies. "By working collaboratively with the Department of Education and the outstanding environmental agencies throughout our state, Green Woods is able to gain both valuable resources along with well-deserved local, state and national recognition for the exceptional work being done by our teachers and students," Jean said.
In addition to the daily interactions with Green Woods dedicated staff and parents, Jean enjoys those rare and special times when she gets to trail along on hikes with our budding naturalists. "Hiking with even our youngest students and seeing how they interact with the natural world always presents a wonderful learning opportunity for me. While many young children enjoy walking in the woods, Green Woods students are skilled observers, able to take in the big picture of the field ecosystem while at the same time patiently exploring the leaf litter in search of the smallest signs of life."
Jean currently holds four Pennsylvania education certifications: Principal K-12, Supervisor of Curriculum and Instruction, K-12 Environmental Education, and Elementary Education. She earned her post-graduate certifications and her MAEd in Environmental Education from Arcadia University, a BA in Elementary Education from Beaver College, and an Associate Degree in Health Science from Gwynedd Mercy College.
Jean lives with her husband Frank, her mom Mary, her daughter Mary who is a senior at the Schreyer Honors College at Penn State University, and their lovable black lab, Murphy. |
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| WHAT IT'S
LIKE TO TEACH AT GREEN WOODS |
Each day is a new day of exploration and discovery as we challenge each other to provide the best possible learning environment for our students.
In less than four years time our amazing teaching staff has taken teaching and learning to a whole new level. Working in collaboration with the Pennsylvania Department of Education, our teachers, themselves, developed our K-8 award-winning EIC Curriculum which engages our students in integrated learning experiences that span all disciplines. Utilizing our 350-acre learning laboratory as an outdoor classroom, our partnership with the Schuylkill Center continues to grow and thrive as the Center’s expert educators spend many hours working with our classroom teachers to enhance the teaching of environment and ecology concepts.
Green Woods is the only public/charter school in the entire country to be housed directly within a nature center. Years ago I earned my graduate degree by utilizing this same setting as a laboratory for learning. It is so rewarding to now spend time observing our students as they explore and discover new things while hiking in the same woods where I learned so much about the natural world.
The Department of Education challenges Charter Schools to be innovative and to serve as models for traditional public schools. Through the development and implementation of an innovative, standards-based curriculum, and by using sound instructional practices, our teachers have not only met that challenge but far exceeded the expectations of both the School District of Philadelphia and the State Department of Education. It is extremely rewarding to be part of such a successful student-centered learning environment. We are constantly re-examining what we do and how we do it in order to best meet the needs of our students. |
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Her Now! |
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