HanoverCaroline Soil and Water Conservation District named Robin Didlake the District Environment Teacher of the Year. She has been named as one of the two Environmental Education Teachers of the year for Virginia by the agency.
Didlake has been teaching in Virginia for 32 year. Caroline High School has been Didlake’s home for 26 of those years. Didlake, an earth sciences teacher, took over as the lead of the environmental studies program for ninth graders in Caroline County Schools in 2018. She created the new curriculum using the Virginia Department of Education’s environmental science guidelines and many resources from her own pocket.
All educators found 202021 a challenging school year due to the coronavirus. Caroline’s teachers and students adapted to hybrid instruction and virtual instruction. Didlake was determined to help young environmental stewards despite these difficulties.
Her plans included studying native Virginia plants and animals, as well the negative impacts of human activities on the environment and the importance native tree species. She organized a program to provide native tree saplings to all grade levels of Caroline students in summer 2020. Caroline High School students and staff also planted 25 native trees in a treescape that serves as an outdoor classroom for citizen science and fieldwork. Students monitor biodiversity, tree growth, and budburst.
Didlake has also taken advantage of HanoverCaroline Soil and Water Conservation District’s educational resources to expand her impact. Friends of the Rappahannock and the Virginia Department of Transportation, the Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve and the Virginia Department of Forestry are some of the organizations she has partnered with to enhance the watershed education experience of her students. These include paddles on the Rappahannock River as well as water quality testing and tree planting projects. They also provide professional development opportunities for her fellow teachers. Didlake also started an after-school ecology club that competes in the Dominion Energy Envirothon.
Didlake is a compassionate and adaptable educator. She has spent many hours exploring the woods, streams and other natural areas surrounding the high-school for outdoor learning opportunities. She creates engaging lessons and hands on experiences that are inclusive and engaging. This helps to broaden the scope of environmental literacy and guide historically underrepresented populations to fall in LOVE with their watershed and become stewards.
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