Two Lawton MacArthur High School seniors received the Oklahoma Association for Environmental Education (OKAEE) 2005-2006 Excellence in Media Award. Cameron Goss and Patrick Turner were presented with the prestigious award at the Annual OKAEE Expo.
Cameron Goss and Patrick Turner created a DVD for distribution by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Comanche County Conservation District. The DVD showcases the Natural Resources Journey held at Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge the week of ; April 18th 2005; .
Their creation was a documentary of the Natural Resources Journey, an environmental education program held in an outdoor classroom setting. The DVD captures real experiences of students in their own words, and showcases over 800 fourth grade students from ; Comanche County; participating in the four day outdoor learning classroom. They approached the subject from the students perspective and through a difficult creative process produced a DVD that encourages students and teachers to participate in the annual event.
The mission of OKAEE is to support ; Oklahoma; educators and promote, in formal and non-formal settings, environmental literacy through communication, resource sharing, skill building, and recognition of excellence. The Excellence in Media Award is presented to individuals who excel in supporting environmental education in ; Oklahoma; through accurate and objective media coverage.
According to Turner, they "wanted to educate students and teachers that the ; Wichita Mountains; were not just a collection of rocks but an important biological resource." They also wanted to "show kids having fun learning about environmental science."
Turner and Goss were among a group of high school science students to receive the 2003 Toyota Tapestry Grant. The grant was used to purchase the equipment necessary to film and produce a digital DVD anthology of innovative science projects. ; These two students took the skills that they learned and the equipment they acquired through their work with the Fire on the Prairie Toyota Tapestry Grant and volunteered to design and produce the Natural Resources Journey DVD.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Comanche County Conservation District are using the DVD as a tool to encourage other districts to host similar educational activities. The Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge is using the production to promote environmental education and to document the learning potentials associated with it.; "The Natural Resources Journey DVD experience determined what I would do for the rest of my life," said Turner. The Goss & Turner production will be used to support environmental literacy about Oklahoma s natural resources for years to come.
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