Dr. Purnell brings an extensive background in education and environmental studies to her work with the Westmoreland Land Trust. A longtime resident of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, she earned her undergraduate and master's degrees from Seton Hill University and her doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. As co-founder of Sense of Place Learning, LLC, Dr. Purnell spent years developing educational curricula that celebrate local communities and landscapes, including helping lead a 2017 Bug Camp summer program in China.

Since 2019, she has worked for the Westmoreland Land Trust. In her role, she brings nature-based workshops into elementary classrooms throughout Westmoreland County during the school year and leads interactive community programs during the summer. She is also a Pennsylvania Master Naturalist, a certified Pollinator Steward, and a Wild Wonder Foundation-certified Nature Journal Educator.

Dr. Purnell was especially enthusiastic about the opportunity to work with Valley School educators and explore the possibilities offered by the school's expansive campus. "It was inspiring to work with a group of teachers who were so eager to step outside and embrace this approach," shared Dr. Purnell. "Having access to a beautiful 400+ acre campus provides an extraordinary opportunity for this community of educators. By safely exploring the living classroom right in their backyard, students and teachers have the chance to observe, explore, and build a lasting connection with the natural world."

The two-hour workshop combined practical instruction with opportunities for faculty collaboration. During the first hour, Dr. Purnell introduced the fundamentals of nature journaling, exploring what it is, what it is not, and how it can encourage individuals to become more attentive observers of their surroundings. Using educational resources from the Wild Wonder Foundation, participants practiced techniques for recording their observations through words, illustrations, and numbers.

Faculty explored several strategies for building meaningful journal entries, including three simple prompts:

Additional activities challenged participants to examine the natural world from different perspectives. Teachers practiced zooming in on small details, zooming out to consider the larger landscape, comparing similar natural objects such as leaves and acorns, and mapping the sounds of their surroundings. They also explored how diagrams, measurements, graphs, and even poetry can become part of a nature journal.

The second hour shifted from individual practice to collaborative planning. Faculty members brainstormed ways to incorporate nature journaling into their respective disciplines and discussed how a shared approach could connect learning across grade levels and subject areas.

One of the most exciting outcomes of the workshop is the opportunity for faculty to collaborate across academic departments, demonstrating how a single learning experience can inspire creativity and discovery in many different forms.

Nature journaling naturally lends itself to scientific observation and inquiry, but its possibilities extend far beyond the sciences. Students can use descriptive language to capture the details of a landscape, translate their observations into poetry, illustrate the intricate patterns of leaves and flowers, or collect and analyze data about the natural environment.

Since attending the workshop, these connections are already inspiring new classroom experiences. Faculty members are taking students outdoors to observe, record, and create in their nature journals, while collaborating across disciplines to explore additional applications. Ideas range from using nature observations as inspiration for poetry to offering a songwriting course rooted in nature journaling, where students can transform their experiences and observations of the natural world into original lyrics and music.

These connections illustrate the value of interdisciplinary learning: students discover that science, mathematics, language arts, and the creative arts are not isolated subjects, but complementary ways of understanding and expressing the world around them.

To help make nature journaling accessible throughout the school, every student will have access to their own nature journaling kit. Whether a lesson involves writing, drawing, counting, measuring, analyzing, or simply asking questions, the journals will provide students with the tools to document their discoveries.

Each kit will include:

The workshop reflects the shared commitment of Valley School and the Westmoreland Land Trust to environmental education and a deeper appreciation for the natural resources that enrich our local communities.

The Westmoreland Land Trust works to conserve and steward land of ecological, cultural, and recreational value for public benefit. Through conservation education, research-informed planning, and community partnerships, the organization supports a vision of a flourishing Westmoreland County where open spaces, protected wildlife habitats, and healthy water resources contribute to an exceptional quality of life.

By connecting students with the natural world through direct observation and creative exploration, this innovative nature journaling initiative helps bring those values into everyday learning. The experience also provides meaningful opportunities to live out Valley's Core Values. Our learners will Cultivate Wellness by spending time outdoors. Both students and teachers will Seek Wisdom through curiosity and inquiry, Embrace Integrity by developing an appreciation for responsible stewardship, and Build Community through shared discoveries and collaborative learning.

A sincere thank-you to Dr. Paula Purnell for sharing her knowledge and enthusiasm, the Westmoreland Land Trust for supporting opportunities that connect education and conservation, and our dedicated faculty and staff for embracing new ways to inspire students.