Who is The Nature Teacher?

Christy Schultz

• Environmental Educator with a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education
• Florida Master Naturalist
• Homeschooling Mom of a Curious Child
• Bonified Nature Geek and Entreprenuer

The Nature Teacher began in order to fill a need in the homeschooling community for Nature Education.  My son and I had been attending wonderful homeschool nature classes at the local county park;  due to budget changes, the classes were discontinued.  As a teacher with many years of experience in Environmental Education, and because I have a personal obsession with nature and how it works, I decided to fill in the void that was left and began organizing nature classes for our homeschooling community.

At the time, I was attending the fabulous Florida Master Naturalist Program offered through University of Florida.  The classes helped me reconnect with nature in Florida, and allowed me to fall in love with the state all over again. 

I had been living in California for the previous 13 years and was put-off when I returned here by the heat and lack of mountains and hills.  For my own sanity and personal well-being, I NEEDED to be outside, touching trees and plants and immersing myself in the natural history of the area. 

It was logical  for me to want to share that passion, to instill it not only in my son, but also in the greater community.  Teaching comes naturally to me, as does learning the names of plants or rocks or animals.  I thrive on studying those subjects and am fascinated with the ancient history of how our land came about.  Learning from the ground up about my community enables me to love it more...I want to pass that love on. 

As an explorer, I'm always on the hunt for places to hike (or at least walk or stroll) here in South Florida.  Due to the immense suburban growth and the lack of wild land, not to mention the large amount of water everywhere, there are not a lot of places where you can walk more than a couple of miles.  Those couple of miles are better than nothing and I have made it my goal to find those places and share them with my community.  What I have found is that Florida is beautiful and unique and that the people who live here are desperate to find those places too.  They are often struck with awe knowing that a little piece of paradise might be just down the street or hidden behind a housing development. 

 So, get outside, with me as your guide, and let Nature be your Teacher.