New Mexico. We felt our programs at Montcalm Community College went very well and we enjoyed the opportunity to share some thoughts with students and the public. The luncheon program was for Student Recognition Day and focused on the importance of diversity in our society. We are all unique individuals with different skills and talents which provides the diversity required for our complex society to properly function. The discussion also pointed out the importance of finding one's purpose or mission and the responsibility each of us have to contribute to the improvement of our human environment. Finding one's purpose or mission is similar to what our Native American brothers and sisters call a "Vision Quest" where one searches internally for the role they will fill in adulthood.
The evening program was to celebrate Earth Day, and emphasized the need for change in the way we manage our remaining forested lands if we hope to prolong human life on this planet. Our main objective was to convey the thought of how connected and dependent we are on our natural surroundings for the sustenance of life and the importance of living in balance with the limitations of Mother Earth. We must all remember that 70% to 80% of all living organisms could not survive without forests.
The most exciting part of the day for us was our meeting with several staff members from the college to finalize our efforts to begin the development of a new approach to environmental education for the public schools. Dean Hauck is going to reach out to Administrators of K through 12 public schools in the area to help identify their thoughts and suggestions, Professor DeLong and I will work together on a script for our first sample video and we will do the filming in June. We did manage to do some preliminary filming in New Mexico this past winter which we hope can be used in future presentations. Iris and I are really looking forward to this project. The goal is to link the element of human requirements to the science technology to create an appreciation for how connected to and dependent upon our natural surroundings we are!