Class Presentations-- May 7, 2025

"TedTALK-esque" presentations

YOU and your classmates

1. If you are presenting next Wednesday, make sure to practice your timing. We will need to be firm with our ten-minute limit. Contact one of your pod guides or Nancy to set up a ZOOM rehearsal prior to class time. Share your slide deck with Nancy by May 4.

2. If you are recording your presentation or creating a project, please share your video link or file with Nancy by May 4.

3. RSVP for graduation HERE. You are welcome to bring a guest (or guests). We'll provide pizza, so we need to know how many to expect. 

4. If you have not attended three field trips, there are TWO chances left: Sunday, May 4 at Clymer and Saturday, May 10 at Parkhill Prairie. Sign up now!

Anything you plan to share during your presentation

Certification Requirements

Make sure all your classes and field trips are logged. You need to have at least 12 classes and 3 field trips logged AND APPROVED in order to graduate. 

If you have any classes that need to be made up, make arrangements now!

Make sure all your Volunteer Service Hours and Advanced Training hours are logged. You need to have 40 hours of Volunteer Service and 8 hours of Advanced Training logged AND APPROVED in order to receive your initial certification pin. You have until December 31, 2025 to accrue those approved hours.

Logging Hours

Make sure that you have recorded last week's attendance in VMS.

(If you missed class, contact your pod guides to schedule a make-up.)   

Opportunity: Init Training - Class 13

Date: April 30, 2025

Hours: 3.0

Description: Forest Ecology with Rick Travis

If you attended the field trip to Clymer, log your hours in VMS.
    Opportunity: Initial Training: Field Trip A, B, or C
    Date: May 1, 2025 OR May 4, 2025
    Hours: 2.5
    Description:  Field Trip to Clymer Meadow Preserve

IF YOU HAVE ALREADY COMPLETED YOUR THREE FIELD TRIPS, Log as Advanced Training

Opportunity: AT: BPTMN Other Pre-approved training  

Date: Actual Date

Hours: 2.5 (or actual time you spent there)     

Description: ADDITIONAL Field trip to (location)

Advanced Training (AT) Opportunities

See event listings and detailed info on chapter calendar

Volunteer Service (VH) Opportunities

See event listings and detailed info on chapter calendar

Brian Sanders' Info That Works - the Power of Shared Knowledge

Mary Boyd's Landscape with Native Plants

Hannah Luke's Natural Dye Plants of Texas

Mary Riley's Bobcat & Coyote Detection in Collin & Hunt Counties

Dennis Burke's Rather Be the Hunter than the Prey

Dixie Westbrook's Greenhouse Gases - More than CO2

Rina Provost-Smith's Woman Gone Wild!

Nick Scott's Walkthrough of EPA's HowsMyWaterway application

Jane Watson's Interpretive Walk to Identify Trees for Children and coloring pages

Gobriel Rusthoven's Rare, Threatened and Endangered Plant Species in North Texas and Scavenger Hunt

David Hall's Venomous Snakes of Texas

Genna Hiltz's recording Preserving the Wonder of Childhood Through Nature

WEEK FOURTEEN CLASS UPDATE

Luckily, the weather cooperated last night and we were able to see some trees. 🙂 I added my notes for Rick's videos and some additional links on the Resources page of the class website. Just scroll down to "Week Thirteen extras". 

Week Fourteen (May 1-7):

No pre-work this week! Use this time to add to your VHAT hours in VMS. See ideas below...

New Class Representative Nominations:

What does a Class Rep do?

• Member of the BPTMN Board (one zoom meeting per month, counts as VH)

• Assists other Board officers and committee directors as needed, providing the perspective of a new Chapter member

• Serves a one year term, June through May

• Assists new class members as needed

• Invited to be a member of the Training Committee (time spent counts as VH)

Use this form to nominate a classmate or yourself by Sunday, the 4th. I will send an email to all of those who receive nominations so watch your inbox on Monday. If nominated, you can accept or decline. Only those who accept will be listed on the ballot next week.

Have questions? Ask last year's New Class Rep, Patty Morales at pattymorales412@gmail.com.

EOC Presentations & Projects:

Presentation slide decks, recordings, and project files need to be sent to me by Sunday, May 4th. For presentations, PPT is preferred, followed by Google Slides.

Graduation Celebration on May 14th:

Don't forget to RSVP on the SUG. You are welcome to bring 1 guest with you. If you would like to bring more guests, we'll have the donation envelope available next week.

The Climb to 40VH & 8AT:

Looking at your logged hours in VMS, many of you are close to meeting the 40/8 VHAT requirement for initial certification. (A couple of you are close to the 80/16 double-certification mark) Here are some ideas to accrue hours during the 2 weeks leading to graduation:

Advanced Training (AT)

• If you already have your 3 field trips, attend another one to earn 2.5 hours.

• Watch TMN Tuesday recordings from 2025. See how to log hours here.

• Attend one of these events found on the chapter calendar:

  • NTX Native Plants and Prairies Day in Dallas, May 3rd. Multiple speakers spread over 5 hours.

  • NPSOT NTX Pollinators presentation in McKinney or Zoom, May 6th. 1 hour AT

  • McKinney Library's Planting for Monarchs & other Pollinators, May 6th. 1 hour AT

  • Hagerman NWR Nature Festival on May 10th, over 5 hours AT

  • Heard Bird Walk on May 10th, 1.5 hours AT

• If you have logged classes 1, 2, and 4-13 (no missed classes), you can earn 2.5 hours for Week 14's presentations.

Volunteer Hours (VH)

• Choose a location and do some iNatting. See how to log hours here. (scroll to bottom of webpage)

• Identify unknown observations in iNaturalist. "Unknown" observations will not be seen for identification. You can add a broad ID like "plant" or "mammal" to help get it identified. See how here.

• Attend one of these workdays found on the chapter calendar (Make sure to ping the contact person to let them know to expect you):

  • Connemara Meadow - May 2nd, 4th-9th, 11th-13th

  • Blackland Prairie Raptor Center Gardening - May 2nd, 7th, 9th

  • Plano Baha'i Center Native Plant Project - May 2nd, 3rd, 7th, 9th, 10th

  • Privet Clearing at LLELA - May 3rd

  • Erwin Park - May 5th, 12th

  • LLELA Trail Maintenance - May 5th, 7th, 12th

  • Hagerman Work Crew - May 6th

  • McKinney Green Gardens - May 8th, May 10th

  • Plano Hoblitzelle Park - May 9th

  • Heritage Farmstead Museum - May 10th

Two Field Trips left:

Clymer Meadow Preserve - Sunday, May 4th, 9-11:30am

Parkhill Prairie - Saturday, May 10th, 9-11:30am

Texas Stream Team volunteer training:

If interested, contact Brittany at shioko@gmail.com and she'll get you connected.

Thursday, May 29th 8:30am-12:30pm

Warren Sports Complex in Frisco

Helpful links:

Graduation Celebration SUG

Field Trips SUG

Snack Sign-up SUG

VHAT calendar

Class of 2025 calendar

TMN ListServ email signup

See you next week,

Nancy

Nancy Casillas, Training Director

Texas Master Naturalist, Blackland Prairie Chapter

nancyc@bptmn.org

214-725-2309