Nina Daye, an Earth Environmental science teacher at OHS, traveled to Germany this past summer. She spent two weeks from July 7 through July 22 in parts of Southern Germany, including but not limited to Munich. She traveled to Germany as part of the Rural Trust's Global Teacher Fellowship program to learn about the environment around the world and to revisit her childhood home.
As part of fellowship program, Daye was able to travel to see the geographic features of Germany and learn about the ecosystems. Daye compared the environment, biomes, and ecosystems of Germany to those of North Carolina. This program helps teachers in the United States develop their curriculum to educate students about the natural world from a local and national perspective.
This trip to Germany was a great learning experience for Daye. She got to visit a number of tourist sites, which helped her see a larger perspective on the world's environment. She got to see deciduous trees being replanted in the Black Forest. Although Daye learned many things to educate her students, she also came to know the culture as well. She learned that, although some things like language are different in Germany, there are always similarities. She said,“Some stuff is universal.”
Besides visiting Southern Germany on a mission to further her knowledge, Daye traveled to Germany to revisit a place that she used to live. Her father was stationed in Germany when she was five years old and she lived there for the following three years. During those three years, she didn't get to experience everything that Germany had to offer due to her young age, so she traveled back and got to see a number of different places. Daye visited Bayreuth Palace and had the opportunity to see the historic palace and even its famous opera house lined with gold. In another adventure, Daye embarked on a river cruise down the famous Rhine River. As part of her class curriculum, students learned about the Rhine River Basin and Daye now can educate her students about what she experienced. She also got to see the Alps while in Germany. “The Alps were amazing,” she said.
Daye truly enjoyed this experience. She tried all sorts of different specialty foods and interacted with people describing them as very
“gracious.” When asked if she would visit again, she said that she would definitely like to visit again. The only thing that she would do differently next visit would be to stay along the Rhine River. Daye's travel to Germany not only inspired her, but are sure to inspire her Earth Environmental students as well.
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