The next day, I find myself talking to some parents, about how much their child loved herpetology week; how eager their child was to find salamanders in the wild. Their parents explained to me how their child wanted to teach and instruct them on how to hold salamander properly, explaining to them how salamanders breathe through their skin, and how important it is to have your hands covered in dirt before touching them, to ensure the salamander’s safety. The parents laughed and said that they never knew there were salamanders in the region, nevertheless the courage to hold one in their hands.

Here's another story:

At the end of afterschool program year, the Lawrence Public Schools host an event called the Showcase. Each afterschool group presents various projects that students worked on, showcasing their knowledge in creative avenues. After finishing up a display on the cafeteria table, a parent walks over and picks up the tote bag. He looks up from the tote bag, with a slight smile and remarks how their child had brought one home the other day, and now it hangs off a doorknob at home. Although, he doesn’t know what animal it was supposed to resemble, it now proudly hangs in their child’s room. His hands begin to smoothly place down the tote bag on the table and proceeds to find his child in the crowd of afterschool children, he finds her, and sits down next to his child.

Why am I sharing these fleeting moments, ones that last only a couple of minutes but play in my head for hours? What makes them important, and what do they all have in common?

My background in anthropology helps me understand how crucial these series of in-between moments, thoughts and actions matter and are so important to me, to the Lawrence community, and the refuge.

As an Urban Community Engagement Fellow, my focus is on building meaningful lasting relationships with underserved communities, to provide outreach services that connect these groups to nature and environmental resources, and to foster greater engagement and access to sustainability initiatives. I talk about it more depth in this article: Hispanic Access Foundation fellows support climate, culture and community. A big component of creating sustainable change is within the framework of meeting people where they are at, especially families.

From a conservation standpoint, having kids create connections to the outdoors helps cultivate a sense stewardship in environment they are in. Maybe along the way in the future, it can create a ripple effect of grassroots efforts in environmental conservation.

As wonderful as this vison may be, it falls short in envisioning the current generational outlook and circumstances of these families. With what I learned in my position, step 1 in creating a community of care is to create spaces where kids and parents can both meet and connect at a fundamental level. Somewhere both parties can benefit from learning from each other in smaller but significant ways.

Maybe some parents aren’t really interested in nature, but having their child teach them about salamanders, showing them how much it matters to them that they learned how to hold one properly and to have your hands covered in dirt will plant some seeds of curiosity.

Maybe the tote bag parent, even if he can’t tell what animal is on the bag, will begin to look for new ways to connect with his child and channel their art passion. Perhaps the child isn't into nature as much—that's okay. At least the memories and feelings will stay, and the next time they stumble across another environment conservation program or effort; they’ll remember the tote bag that hung on the doorknob that they made in that one environmental education afterschool program in the third grade.

In the wise words of Maya Angelou, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” I see this statement to be proven true with the stories that have been shared with me over the last six months. I look forward to creating wonderful and memorable moments with future families.