Dallas Trout Lily sightings are now being reported!  The delicate and small flowers are among the first harbingers of spring. The species in the metroplex have exquisite nodding one-inch white flowers tinged with lavender.  The delicate petals re-curve upward towards the light.  The pointy lily-like leaf is only about 3-4 inches tall.

The lilies poke-up through the thick carpet of leaves on the forest floor and give surprising delight to the casual passerby.  Trout Lilies dwell in woodland habitats and appear before the trees bud so that they have optimal sunlight.  They thrive on slopes.

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The Perot Museum’s Junior Master Naturalist outdoor education program is a unique well rounded curriculum.  It is also one of the first of its kind in the United States.  Perot Museum staff educator Jessica Crowley, said “From day one, students participating in our kick-off season of the Junior Master Naturalist program have been super excited and engaged in the content.”  The program is a joint activity of Perot and highly trained North Texas Master Naturalists volunteers.

Nineteen students grades 4-6 gather one Thursday night a month in the Perot learning lab to study Texas geologic history, aquatic science, plant biology, and the biology and identification of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and invertebrates. They then follow-up each lab with a field trip on  specified Saturdays to local Dallas area nature parks to explore what they have learned in the labs.  Everything from collecting fossils, setting up game cameras, scat identification, planting seed balls to restore a Blackland Prairie and learning how to track animals in the field.  Both the labs and the field trips are extraordinarily well organized with expert educators who are adept a making learning fascinating.  The pilot program began September 2015 and will conclude June 2016, sign-up will begin July 2016 for the 2016/2017 year.

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Beautiful view from the top of West Rim Trail of Joe Pool Lake

Educating Dallas kids in nature has never been easier!  Dogwood Canyon Audubon Center is an amazing place to easily give yourself a break and let kids of all ages be free to explore and have adventures.  Dogwood Canyon is unique in that it is the only true canyon in the Dallas area and is a mere 15 minutes south of downtown Dallas off 67 in Cedar Hill.

Toddlers thru Pre-schoolers safety while exploring

For younger children, Dogwood Canyon offers a specially designed natural play and picnic area.  It is enclosed so you can relax and watch your child do what is so inherent to their being – play in nature.  Called “Nature Play” the space has stump jumping, a climbing wall, a crawling tube and a sandbox.  The Dog Wood Canyon educators feature story time in Nature Play.  Currently a story is told featuring a turtle’s adventure while the staff shows a live turtle.  By March 2016 Dogwood Canyon will expand Nature Play to include a sensory garden and a small trail, where small children can feel like they are hiking.

Nature Play area with climbing wall, crawling tube and multi tiered sand box

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Cedar Ridge Preserves Nature and Minds

Imagine educating your kids in Dallas’ most beautiful nature preserves. Well you can. It may be just a few miles away but it’s hundreds of miles from the madness of carpools, appointments and over scheduled kids.

Cedar Ridge Preserve Sign

While there are many nature options available, Cedar Ridge Nature Preserve is a Dallas treasure. Perched on the edge of the Edwards Plateau off Highway 67, it’s the ideal place where both parents and kids can truly take a breath, relax and revel in Dallas’ own slice of the hill country. Besides the views at an elevation of 775 feet, it’s where the Blackland Prairie meets the limestone escarpment of the plateau. It’s one of the few places in Dallas kids get to see native grassland, wildflowers, and spectacular hills all in one place. Not to mention, those incomparable Texas sunsets and coyotes serenading at dusk and morning!

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Utilizing Social Media in Higher Education

Long gone are the days where high school students looked through pamphlets of regional colleges and universities to decide which school they wanted to attend. College recruitment has gone from a part-time job of a college counselor to a multi-million dollar component of university budgets. Tactics ranging from in-person visits to direct mailers are deployed in order to secure a freshman class, however; both are incredibly expensive. With collegiate state and federal funding drastically decreasing, new recruitment methods that are more cost effective are being used. The largest of which, is utilizing social media in higher education.

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Night Nature Hike Educates Dallas Children

For hundreds of years during a full moon Comanche Indian children have been guided to The Story Telling Place.  Teaching while on a nature hike – through story telling – is a great tool to educate kids.  About life and nature!  The mystery of walking through a forest at night is both exhilarating and frightening.

Full moon over bowl-shaped indention of white limestone chalk

Even Dallas children can become great explorers and adventurers when challenge, mystery and opportunity are provided.  During the full Christmas moon, a group of kids were taken for special story telling evening.  After winding through a moon dappled footpath – with branches reaching out and the quiet rustling among the leaves – the explorers came upon an opening in the woods. A natural limestone shaped amphitheater called The Story Telling Place. The Comanche people have deemed this site sacred. The past magic of the full moon reflection still bounces off the chalk rocks.

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How to grow your brand on Instagram and get noticed.

The power of Instagram is enormous – more than 16 billion photos have been shared to date, with an average of 55 million uploaded each day. Social media users interact with brands on Instagram 58 times more than they do on Facebook, and a whopping 120 times more than on Twitter. With so many users, it’s hard to get noticed. Increasing brand visibility and building a community on Instagram is one of the most challenging things to do, but follow these 5 steps and you will reach your goal in no time.

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Do you want to develop your nonprofit while raising awareness in your community? Would you like to maintain your clients and grow that number? You need a “Community non-profit engagement strategy”. A committee meeting is a great place to collaborate ideas and information needed to present your current and new members of your non-profit. Having a nonprofit updated checklist is vital to your success.

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Social responsibility is a top trend in 2015. Digital and social media platforms have allowed business and professionals seeking enhanced brand identity to leverage social responsibility benefits and opportunities.

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