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| navigate: home: magazine: fall 2001: article | |
| Inside Outreach | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center celebrates 25th anniversary By Deborah A. Benedetti During the summer of 1976, Gerald “Corky” Potter and Dr. Jim Hamilton began delivering interpretive natural history programs to cabin campers at Stone Valley Recreation Area, with help from Penn State students. Potter carried what they needed — frogs, toads, salamanders, snakes, turtles and other animals — in the back of his old yellow Chevy Blazer. After capturing the reptiles and animals for the programs, he would release them, knowing he could recapture them for the next program. Potter and Hamilton, assistant professor of speech communication at Penn State Mont Alto and program director for the Conservation Leadership School, were not the first University staff members to introduce Penn State students and the public to the wonders of the natural environment. In the 1960s and 1970s, Dr. Jerold Elliott of the College of Health and Physical Education presented interpretive environmental programs at the Mineral Industries picnic pavilion at Stone Valley Recreation Area. Many others — Penn State faculty and staff, graduate and undergraduate students and volunteers — have played a role in promoting the natural environment. Among them are Cynthia Potter, who was one of the first Shaver’s Creek teacher-naturalists, and Dale Roth, director of recreation and club sports, who supervises Stone Valley Recreation Area. Twenty-five years later, Corky Potter and the staff members of Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center are still delivering environmental programs to children and adults, but now they have a permanent site. The center and surrounding grounds house educational displays, a Raptor Center for injured birds of prey, an amphitheater, hiking and cross-country skiing trails and other facilities for educating and training groups of all ages. 2001 marks the 25th anniversary of the University’s first public outreach programming on environmental topics. “Shaver’s Creek was created to be a place where, in the field, we could practice what we taught in the classroom,” Potter, director of Shaver’s Creek, said. “We wouldn’t be here, presenting thousands of birds of prey, owl and endangered species shows, guided walks, summer day camps, the Outdoor School and teambuilding programs, without the support of Continuing Education and the contributions of our program assistants and staff, student interns, volunteers and members. “We train the trainers of tomorrow. Shaver’s Creek is a training center, and training is one of our core values,” he said. When Potter arrived at Penn State in 1974 to join the faculty of the Recreation and Parks Department in the College of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, the current site of Shaver’s Creek had been in existence since the late 1930s. The University’s involvement with the site, located in Huntingdon County, began with the development of the 7,000-acre Standing Stone Experimental Forest, managed by the College of Agricultural Sciences’ School of Forest Resources. The Civilian Conservation Corps built the lodges and cabins used for summer camps by faculty, students and staff in Civil Engineering, Mineral Industries and Forestry during the 1940s and 1950s, Potter explained. In the late 1950s, the University set aside 720 acres of the experimental forest as a recreation area for faculty, students and staff. A dam was built, and the 72-acre lake was opened for recreation in the early 1960s. The Stone Valley Recreation Area was home to the Outdoor School, now in its 43rd year, the Conservation Leadership School and other University environmental programs. “There is a long history of educational programming here,” he said. With the establishment of Shaver’s Creek Nature Center in 1976, Penn State had a laboratory to accommodate the needs of an increasing number of students interested in interpretation and visitor services. The center complimented the University’s already strong Outdoor School and environmental education thrust. “We provided students with hands-on field experiences, and faculty had opportunities to conduct research,” he said. Students built exhibits, worked with animals, created trails through the area and presented programs to children. These experiences gave the students additional marketable skills, he added. The center’s first home was the Mineral Industries Lodge, which it soon outgrew. On Jan. 1, 1979, Shaver’s Creek moved to its current location. The Outdoor School and the nature center were combined into one unit and named the Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center. Soon after, a local Pennsylvania Game Commission officer gave Potter an injured red-tailed hawk, and the Raptor Center was born. The Raptor Center now houses about 30 injured birds of prey. Today, Shaver’s Creek has six full-time faculty members and a staff of program directors and assistants. The center also offers internships to undergraduate and graduate students majoring in a variety of disciplines. Students from other universities and other countries, including Australia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Latvia and South Africa, also serve internships at the center. Shaver’s Creek is a nonprofit organization with nearly 700 members. Each year, it conducts thousands of public programs on-site and at schools, fairs and festivals. More than 100,000 people of all ages annually participate in programs. In 25 years, the center’s programs have touched the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. The center is part of Penn State Continuing Education, a division of Outreach and Cooperative Extension. Its mission is “to be an exemplary environmental education and training center known for quality experiential programs that enable people to learn how to live and interact harmoniously with each other and the natural world.” “Our link to a university makes Shaver’s Creek unique among environmental centers nationwide,” Potter said. “Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center is a critical component of the Division of Continuing Education’s public outreach programming,” Dr. Patricia A. Book, associate vice president for outreach and executive director, Division of Continuing Education, said. “The educational and training programs the center’s staff members deliver truly make a difference in individuals’ lives by encouraging them to think about the interconnectedness of human beings with the natural world and the impact humans have on the environment.” Potter added, “The most important aspect of Shaver’s Creek is the lives that have been affected in some way because of our programs.” Shaver’s Creek outreach programming includes live animal programs, school programs (conducted in class and at the center), workshops and hikes, summer camps, teacher training workshops, and teambuilding and leadership development programs. There also are special activities, such as annual maple sugaring and children’s Halloween festivals, as well as customized programs for Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts. Staff members also take their shows on the road to the Pennsylvania Farm Show, Penn State’s Ag Progress Days, the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts in State College and county fairs. Throughout 2001, Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center is celebrating its anniversary with a variety of special programs and events. For more information, call 814-863-2000, send e-mail to ShaversCreek@outreach.psu.edu or visit the Web site at www.outreach.psu.edu/ShaversCreek/. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Director of development appointed
Dr. Sophie W. Penney, director of corporate and foundation relations at Bucknell University, has been appointed director of development for Outreach and Cooperative Extension (O&CE).
Penney is providing leadership for developing and directing fund-raising activities in support of Outreach and Cooperative Extension programs. O&CE is comprised of Penn State Cooperative Extension, Continuing Education, Distance Education/World Campus and Public Broadcasting, which includes the University’s public television and radio stations. She also will be instrumental in providing leadership for Penn State Public Broadcasting’s campaign to support conversion from analog to digital television.
Since August 1999, she has served as director of corporate and foundation relations at Bucknell University. From 1997 to 1999, she was regional manager of major gifts at Bucknell. She also has held positions as director of major gifts at Shippensburg University Foundation and director of corporate and foundation relations at Hanover College.
Previously, Penney enjoyed a 13-year career in student affairs, including service as coordinator of campus residential life at Penn State Beaver. Prior to entering the higher education Ph.D. program at Bowling Green State University, she was associate dean of students at the College of Wooster.
She has made numerous presentations at regional and national conferences and has served as a consultant to several institutions. In 2000, she taught a continuing education course about proposal writing at Susquehanna University. She also co-authored the book Dollars for Dreams: Student Affairs Staff at Fundraisers, released by the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators in April.
Penney is a member of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education and helped plan the Foundation Track for the council’s recent Corporate and Foundation Relations Conference. She also is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and has served on several community organizations, including Every Woman’s House, the United Way and the Union County Chamber of Commerce and Industrial Development Corporation.
She earned a bachelor of science degree in music education in 1979 and a master of arts in student personnel services in 1980 from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a doctoral degree in higher education administration in 1998 from Bowling Green State University. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Crowe named director of planning and administration for Outreach and Cooperative Extension
Dr. Mary Beth Crowe, administrative fellow in Outreach and Cooperative Extension (O&CE), has been appointed director of planning and administration for O&CE.
In this position, she is responsible for providing leadership and oversight for strategic planning throughout O&CE and for accountability and diversity initiatives and quality enhancements. She also is providing leadership and coordination for administrative functions and special projects in the Office of the Vice President for Outreach and Cooperative Extension.
Crowe recently completed a one-year term as administrative fellow. Prior to entering the Administrative Fellows Program, she was director of special projects for the Office of the President, where she had served since 1985. She joined the University staff in 1980 as a project assistant with Planning Studies in Continuing Education.
She is the co-author of a number of articles and book chapters on higher education and continuing professional education topics. She earned her A.B. degree in psychology and education from Washington University in St. Louis and her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in educational psychology from Northwestern University. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Continuing Education Award Presented to Sara Parks
Dr. Sara Parks, director of the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Recreation Management in the College of Health and Human Development, is the recipient of the first Shirley Hendrick Continuing Education Award for Outstanding Academic Leadership from the Penn State Division of Continuing Education.
The award recognizes an academic administrator whose visionary accomplishments have contributed significantly to the success of Penn State’s Continuing Education efforts.
Dr. Patricia A. Book, associate vice president for outreach and executive director, Division of Continuing Education, said, “Sara Parks exemplifies the spirit of outreach leadership that is an inspiration to all who have worked with her. Under her leadership, the college developed an outreach agenda that was unprecedented at Penn State.”
Parks served as associate dean for outreach, cooperative extension and international programs in the College of Health and Human Development from 1988 to 2000, when she was appointed director of the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Recreation Management.
“Throughout her tenure as associate dean, Dr. Parks’ vision for academic outreach served as a model for the University,” Book added. “She enthusiastically adopted new educational formats and delivery mechanisms, and she conceptualized and built an extensive outreach portfolio that incorporated distance education, continuing professional education, research conferences and Web-based programs.”
Book also praised Parks for her focus on interdisciplinary outreach projects, such as the Rural Women’s Health Initiative, which is a partnership of three Penn State colleges: Health and Human Development, Medicine and Agricultural Sciences. Outreach initiatives sponsored by the College of Health and Human Development link Penn State’s expertise with the public to make life better for individuals, organizations and communities. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Developing leadership skills is focus of conference
The Penns Woods Leadership conference brought together Penn State Cooperative Extension staff, camp directors and youth program leaders from the University and other organizations for workshops designed to help them develop new ideas for their youth programs. Penn State Cooperative Extension, Penn State Outreach and Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center developed the conference, held at the Hartman Center in Milroy, Pa. Among the workshop leaders was Ermyn King (left), a program designer, administrator and presenter in drama/theater, puppetry, storytelling and integrated arts, who showed participants how to make and operate a marionette.
An outreach program of Penn State Outreach and Cooperative Extension, Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center and Conferences and Institutes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Continuing Education executive director receives Alumni Award
Dr. Patricia A. Book, associate vice president for outreach and executive director, Division of Continuing Education, has been recognized as a distinguished alumna of Oakland University. She has been awarded the 2001 Oakland University Odyssey Award. The award recognizes alumni whose lives exemplify Oakland University’s motto to “seek virtue and knowledge.” She was honored at the Alumni Awards Banquet in September.
Book’s nominators describe her as a renaissance person who has distinguished herself as a scholar, administrator and contributor to the community. Oakland University’s Dr. Judith K. Brown, professor of sociology and anthropology, said Book is one of the most distinguished graduates of the department.
After graduating from Oakland University with a B.A. in anthropology, with departmental honors, she went on to earn an M.A. in cultural anthropology and a Ph.D. in medical anthropology from the University of Connecticut. Her doctoral work included pediatric research at Nicosia General Hospital in Cyprus and Yale University Hospital in New Haven. Several publications based on this research appeared in major refereed medical anthropology journals. She has continued to publish on various subjects through journal articles, conference papers and technical reports, in addition to making presentations and chairing and organizing local, regional, national and international symposia. She has also served in leadership positions in several professional associations.
During her career, she has served as dean of the School of Career and Continuing Education at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, director of a regional government socioeconomic research agency and director of a community health planning organization. A lifelong learner herself, she earned her professional pilot’s license while working in Alaska.
Her long list of community contributions won her the Governor’s Award for Volunteer Service in Alaska. She serves as president of the board of directors of the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts, which annually attracts 1,000 visual and performing artists and more than 100,000 attendees. She was president of the board of directors of the Alaska Lung Association and has served on the United Way board, Social Services Commission, Chamber of Commerce board and the board of directors of the Community Alcoholism Advisory Committee of the Fairbanks Native American Association. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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