Developing an environmental ethic among our students could be one of the greatest contributions that twentieth-century educators pass on to future generations," says Patricia Neidhardt, a teacher of environmental science and marine biology at Broadneck Senior High School in Annapolis. Ms. Neidhardt is a fourth-generation teacher, and her own decision to become a science teacher was shaped by her realization that she could "help students analyze the impact of their activities on the environment, and introduce them to their rights and responsibilities as citizens to protect the natural world." The world is her classroom, and she values the many occasions she has had to witness her students' eager discovery of this world. "Each year, when my students accompany me to places like Fox Island in the Chesapeake, I delight in watching them become aware of the beauty and wonder of the natural world," she says. In her work, Ms. Neidhardt guides the way for young people to discover, or rediscover, their natural surroundings, and once this discovery is effected, she impresses on them that they are the stewards and custodians of this world.
University of Richmond, B.A.
