Staff Tales
Alejandro Gillespie, Environmental Educator
Hello, my name is Alejandro Gillespie, and I have been working as a Seasonal Environmental Educator at the Tenafly Nature Center for the last 7 months and 3 weeks, and I finish on November 18. The best way I can describe my experience is in the speed at which it has passed. Just the other day I walked through the doors for the first time greeted by smiling, unfamiliar faces; it was cold then and there were no leaves on the papier-mâché tree of the Visitors’ Center.
Over the next few months I taught a variety of natural topics, each one pushing me further out of my comfort zone and expanding my repertoire as an Environmental Educator. I had come to TNC as an educator with a specialization in raptors. Now I found myself teaching about habitats, plants, bones, and whatever else appeared on my schedule. With each new limit broken and boundary breached, TNC built up my confidence and adaptability as a naturalist. Although still chilly in the mornings, the weather began to turn; rain had become more and more consistent. Little flowers and leaves appeared on the once barren papier-mâché tree.
As the weather grew warmer, I worked as a counselor at the TNC Nature Day Camp. It was a welcome change of pace from the hustle and bustle of educational programs and felt like a vacation. I have worked at several different camps, but this was the first time I was just given a leadership role, and freedom to pick our kids’ activities and lessons. The days were hot and colorful with tie-dye memories, and the tree in the Visitors’ Center had sprouted green leaves.
Entering the last leg of my TNC journey, summer camp is over and I have returned to educational programming feeling refreshed and energized. I have continued to teach new content and have become very experienced in teaching Apple Cider Making and operating a cider press. The leaves changed on the tree again; this time it was me and a coworker whom I now could call a friend adding orange, red and yellow leaves. My time at TNC was short and wonderful; it was a dynamic work environment constantly changing and challenging me to be the best I could be. It excites me in a vicarious nature to think of others going down the same path to further enrich lives through nature.
Over the next few months I taught a variety of natural topics, each one pushing me further out of my comfort zone and expanding my repertoire as an Environmental Educator. I had come to TNC as an educator with a specialization in raptors. Now I found myself teaching about habitats, plants, bones, and whatever else appeared on my schedule. With each new limit broken and boundary breached, TNC built up my confidence and adaptability as a naturalist. Although still chilly in the mornings, the weather began to turn; rain had become more and more consistent. Little flowers and leaves appeared on the once barren papier-mâché tree.
As the weather grew warmer, I worked as a counselor at the TNC Nature Day Camp. It was a welcome change of pace from the hustle and bustle of educational programs and felt like a vacation. I have worked at several different camps, but this was the first time I was just given a leadership role, and freedom to pick our kids’ activities and lessons. The days were hot and colorful with tie-dye memories, and the tree in the Visitors’ Center had sprouted green leaves.
Entering the last leg of my TNC journey, summer camp is over and I have returned to educational programming feeling refreshed and energized. I have continued to teach new content and have become very experienced in teaching Apple Cider Making and operating a cider press. The leaves changed on the tree again; this time it was me and a coworker whom I now could call a friend adding orange, red and yellow leaves. My time at TNC was short and wonderful; it was a dynamic work environment constantly changing and challenging me to be the best I could be. It excites me in a vicarious nature to think of others going down the same path to further enrich lives through nature.
Recent Post
Recently, TNC acquired a few new additions to its family of Animal Ambassadors. Olamani, our newest Corn Snake, represents a NJ Endangered Species and will be...
For over 60 years, Tenafly Nature Center’s bucolic woods have offered a quiet respite from the everyday bustle, along with opportunities to learn, grow, and just be ...