Class Presentations-- May 8, 2024

"TedTALK-esque" presentations

YOU and your classmates

1. If you are presenting next Wednesday, make sure to practice your timing. We will need to be firm with our ten-minute limit. Contact one of your pod guides or Nancy to set up a ZOOM rehearsal prior to class time. Share your slide deck with Lisa by May 7.

2. If you are recording your presentation or creating a brochure, please share your video link or file with Lisa by May 7.

3. If you are creating an education outreach trunk, contact Lisa by May 7 to coordinate delivery to the outreach storage facility.

4. RSVP for graduation HERE. You are welcome to bring a guest (or guests.) We'll provide pizza, so we need to know how many to expect. 

5. If you have not attended three field trips, there are TWO chances left: Saturday, May 4 at LLELA and Saturday, May 11 at Parkhill Prairie. Sign up now!

Anything you plan to share during your presentation

Certification Requirements

Make sure all your classes and field trips are logged. You need to have at least 13 classes and 3 field trips logged AND APPROVED in order to graduate. 

If you have any classes that need to be made up, make arrangements now!

Make sure all your Volunteer Service Hours and Advanced Training hours are logged. You need to have 40 hours of Volunteer Service and 8 hours of Advanced Training logged AND APPROVED in order to receive your initial certification pin. You have until December 31, 2024 to accrue those approved hours.

Logging Hours

Make sure that you have recorded last week's attendance in VMS.

(If you missed class, contact your pod guides to schedule a make-up.)   

Opportunity: Init Training - Class 13

Date: May 1, 2024

Hours: 3.0

Description: Aquatic Systems with LuAnne Ray

If you attended the field trip to LLELA, log your hours in VMS.
    Opportunity: Initial Training: Field Trip A, B, or C
    Date: May 4, 2024
    Hours: 2.5
    Description:  Field Trip to LLELA

IF YOU HAVE ALREADY COMPLETED YOUR THREE FIELD TRIPS, Log as Advanced Training

Opportunity: AT: BPTMN Other Pre-approved training  

Date: Actual Date

Hours: 2.5 (or actual time you spent there)     

Description: ADDITIONAL Field trip to (location)

Advanced Training (AT) Opportunities

See event listings and detailed info on chapter calendar

Volunteer Service (VH) Opportunities

See event listings and detailed info on chapter calendar

WEEK FOURTEEN CLASS UPDATE

Happy Thursday, Class of 2024!

May 2, 2024

We have just one more class (your presentations,) plus our graduation and then you guys will be fully trained Master Naturalists! We had our last “regular” class last night, and it was so much fun! You guys set a new record in the number of different species observed at Bullfrog Pond. Add this to the list of accomplishments for this record-setting class, including:

• Over 13,000 observations in iNaturalist so far. For reference, last year’s class had 5,397 at this point. (But they have over 25, 000 now, so you’ve still got a ways to go to catch up with them!) We started having a class iNaturalist project in 2019, and each class has done better than the one before. Boy, the pressure will be on for the Class of 2025!

• Over 1,800 hours of Volunteer Service reported so far.

• Over 2000 hours of Initial Training (classes and field trips) logged so far. We have only seven absences between all 45 of you. (Classes that have been made up don’t count as absences.) Since I trained in 2018, I’ve never seen a class so few absences, and I haven’t seen one that had not even one person drop out!

Give yourselves a pat on the back! (And try not to look TOO smug when you tell people that you were in the Class of 2024!)

We have two more field trip opportunities. LLELA this Saturday and Parkhill Prairie next Saturday. Once again we have a chance of rain this week-end, so check your email for possible cancellations. We would only cancel if conditions are dangerous (thunderstorms, flooding, tornados, etc.) We are Master Naturalists, so we don’t mind getting wet!

Don’t forget to email me before next Wednesday if you are interested in being the 2024 Class Representative.  Candidates will have a few minutes to introduce themselves during next week’s class, with voting to follow. If you have any questions, you can contact me, or email last year’s representative, Katie Potter katiep@bptmn.org 

You can still RSVP for graduation HERE.

Here are the links that Vicki promised to share:

• Texas Stream Team - https://www.meadowscenter.txst.edu/leadership/texasstreamteam.html

• Texas Water Specialist - https://tpwd.texas.gov/education/water-education/texaswatersprogram/texaswatersspecialist

Contact Vicki with any questions about Texas Stream Team and/or Texas Water Specialist.  If you are interested in training, please let Vick know to let me know what day of the week is best for you.

 Vicki’s email: vickis@bptmn.org 

Have a great week,

Lisa

Lisa Travis, Training Director

Texas Master Naturalist, Blackland Prairie Chapter
education@bptmn.org
(817)832-3912

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”

  -- Margaret Mead