Adult Learning

The Winkler Center for Adult Learning will be hosting its 5th Annual Power of Imagination Conference. This spring, the driving topic is entitled “Children and Nature: Making Connections.”

The conference seeks to open a dialogue among educators, students, parents, caregivers, and the greater community, as to how caring adults can nurture and support children’s experiences of, developing connection to, and eventual stewardship of, the natural world.

The conference is also the title and topic of a recently published book of essays edited by George Russell, a faculty member of the Winkler Center and Adelphi University. The book highlights the “nature deficit” modern children face, and advocates for their right to experience the natural world fist hand, through their own fingers and toes . The book is currently in its second printing, with commentary by Jane Goodall.

The conference keynote speaker is Antioch University faculty David Sobel, author of Place-based Education: Connecting Classrooms & Communities and Childhood and Nature: Design Principles for Educators.

The day-long conference includes a full lunch sponsored by Whole Foods of Long Island, workshops, and time to exchange ideas with others. It should prove to be a dynamic networking event.

For more information about the day, registration for the event, and the Foundations Studies program at the Winkler Center, please visit the Winkler Center’s website: http://www.winklercenter.org/events.html