To say that the environment is her passion doesn’t even cover the half of it. Environmental Science teach Michelle Bogue is the epitome of a friend to the environment. She recently won the 2015 Conservation Educator of the Year.
“I was very surprised when I won the award. It’s quite an honor because people who received the award before me are outstanding, and so it is very complimentary to me that they would choose me to win this award,” Mrs. Bogue said.
She has been teaching science for 21 years, and it has not been limited to environmental science. She teaches two sections of AP environmental, two sections of regular environmental, and one section of regular biology.
In her environmental classes students start learning about soil and water quality and the students run lots of tests on the water. Then they move into human health and the population of organisms in Ohio, and also global warming, greenhouse gasses, energy, fossil fuels, biodiversity, and invasive species.
But her services to the environment don’t just stop in the classroom. Mrs. Bogue started the paper recycling with the paper dumpster, the bottle recycling bins, and wrote a grant to keep paper box bins in the building and collect them from the property. She loves getting her students involved in this too.
Outside of Northview, Mrs. Bogue is involved in the Green Ribbon Initiative which is an organization that looks for teachers to help with the elementary school curriculum and to be aware of Oak Openings as a region. She sits on this committee. She is also involved in the Land Lake Ecology Collab, which is a $2 million grant from the national science foundation that involves eight high school teachers working with students to better their understanding of the ecosystem and do research projects at the Lake Erie Center over the summer.
“People won’t protect what they don’t understand, people don’t understand what they haven’t been taught, so it’s our job to teach them so they’ll understand and protect,” Mrs. Bogue said.Mich
Riley Runnells, Staffer
