LINKSLINKS is an interdistrict environmental education program that currently involves 82 fourth grade classes and 34 fifth grade classes from seventeen schools in six lower Fairfield County, CT school districts. Students from urban and suburban schools partner together for five face-to face environmental programs. Through classes focusing on natural communities and endangered species, LINKS aims to reduce racial, ethnic and economic isolation and to promote multi-cultural understanding. LINKS is coordinated and presented by the New Canaan Nature Center. Our teaching staff is composed of professional educators dedicated to providing quality, hands-on instruction about the natural world in a comfortable learning atmosphere. Our educators come from diverse backgrounds; many hold Master's degrees and all have extensive experience in environmental education utilizing engaging, interactive and inquiry-based teaching methods. On the Nature Center's 40-acre site with its diverse habitats including ponds, wetlands, woodlands and meadows, all of which host a variety of wildlife, students can explore a range of topics relevant to the New England environment. In its 13th year LINKS is the New Canaan Nature Center's largest school program serving thousands of students over the course of the academic year. This award-winning program's longevity speaks to our success in working to bridge understanding between communities as well to convey core concepts such as the importance of interconnections in healthy human communities and natural ecosystems. LINKS is funded largely through the Connecticut State Department
of Education's Interdistrict Cooperative Grant Program. In addition,
current and past LINKS funders include the Fairfield County Community
Foundation, Inc., the Barnes Foundation, the United Way of New Canaan,
the Daphne Seybolt Culpeper Foundation and the Elizabeth Carse Foundation.
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