Creating Compassionate Leaders: A Humane Education Graduate Course at Stephen F. Austin State University

By: Dr. Sarah Straub

Associate Professor, Stephen F. Austin State University

At Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, TX, Dr. Sarah M. Straub, the Montgomery Professor for Humane Education, is leading an innovative graduate course designed to foster a new generation of compassionate and socially responsible educators. This course is unique in its comprehensive approach, integrating various certifications, immersive field experiences, and thought-provoking literature, with all course materials funded by the generous GW Willingham Scholarship.

A Comprehensive Curriculum for Humane Education

Dr. Straub's course equips students with several key certifications: ProjectWILD, RedRover Readers, and hands-on practice with the Teach HEART curriculum titled "Justice for All: Educating Youth for Social Responsibility: Grades K-5." These certifications empower future educators to incorporate humane education principles into their teaching, focusing on fostering empathy, respect, and social responsibility among young learners.

The course also features an engaging book club centered on The World Becomes What We Teach: Educating a Generation of Solutionaries by Zoe Weil. This transformative text inspires educators to envision and cultivate a future where students are not only knowledgeable but also passionate about creating solutions to the world's pressing issues.

Field-Based Experiences: Learning Beyond the Classroom

A cornerstone of this course is the field-based experiences, each aligned with a branch of humane education: Human Rights & Social Justice Issues, Animal Protection Issues, and Environmental Issues. These experiences are more than just service-learning opportunities; they are pivotal moments that shape the perspectives and professional practices of the graduate students.

These graduate students volunteered at animal shelters, participated in school board meetings, and contributed to community-enhancing activities such as planting trees and maintaining community gardens. These experiences not only enriched the students' understanding, but also allowed them to bring these lessons back to their classrooms.

            

Impactful Experiences: Stories from Graduate Students

The impact of these field experiences is best illustrated by the reflections of the graduate students. Maria Almendarez shared her profound experience with environmental stewardship during a local creek clean-up organized by Keep Nacogdoches Beautiful. She noted the hope she felt seeing children participate, stating, "The participation of some children volunteers at the creek clean-up had a profound impact on me. I felt hopeful for the future of our natural world.  These children will one day grow up and teach their children to respect and honor the environment." This experience reinforced her belief in the importance of instilling environmental values in the younger generation.

Shelly Pugh reflected on how these experiences transformed her students. Her student council, who visited an animal shelter, now advocates for making community service a regular part of their program. Meanwhile, her classroom students who engaged in environmental stewardship activities, continue to pick up trash and educate others about the importance of proper waste disposal. Shelly highlighted the lasting impact, saying, "To see them grasp the concepts of humane education and apply them daily is amazing. It is evident that they cared about what they learned and want to continue making a difference."

A Vision for the Future

Dr. Straub's course exemplifies the power of humane education in shaping not only compassionate educators but also socially responsible citizens. By integrating certifications, literature, and hands-on experiences, this course provides a holistic approach to teaching that prepares educators to make a lasting impact on their students and communities. The GW Willingham Scholarship, funded by the Montgomery Professorship, ensures that these transformative experiences are accessible, fostering a future where education is a force for positive change.

As these graduate students carry forward the lessons learned, they are not just teaching curriculum—they are nurturing a generation of solutionaries who are equipped to tackle the challenges of tomorrow with empathy, integrity, and a commitment to justice.

Any questions about this article or the Humane Education graduate course can be directed to Dr. Sarah Straub at straubsm@sfasu.edu

Camp Reboot: Strategies to Get Through the Mid-Summer Slump

By: Ashley Stanley

Director of Community Education and Outreach, Wayside Waifs

Picture this. 

It’s July. Everyone is hot and sweaty. Campers and counselors alike are cranky. You might scream if you hear one more camper announce that it smells like poop. You are in… the mid-summer slump.

We’ve all been there. The excitement of the new camp season is over, and the end of camp is still far enough away that you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. While you and your team may be starting off your Monday dragging your feet, ready to begin yet another week of the same ol’ routine, you have an excited bunch of campers, fresh faced and eager to experience all your camp has to offer! So how do you beat this slump to make sure you and your team are able to show up for your campers and create lifelong memories?! Here’s a list of suggestions!

• SELF CARE (easy to say right?!)! Okay okay, we see your eyes rolling. Tell us something we don’t know, right? Still. We all need reminders from time to time, and now is one of those times. Make sure you are encouraging your team to get enough sleep at night. Hydrate during the day (our camp has a code word that the campers choose at the beginning of the week and anytime ANYONE says the code word, everyone has to drink from their water bottles). Make sure your team is getting breaks throughout the day to disconnect and re-charge. You know that saying, “put on your own air mask before you help the person next to you”? It’s true! 

• SWITCH IT UP! Try something completely new and different. Do you always eat lunch in the same spot each day with your campers? Go outside and have a picnic! Let the campers decide where you eat. Do you have a game outside that your camp loves to play? Add a new rule. Turn it into a water game by setting up a hose. Find ways to rearrange the schedule so you aren’t always doing the same things at the same times. Want to REALLY switch it up? Do you have counselors that primarily work with one age group? Have them work with one of the other ages! 

• THEME DAYS! Who WOULDN’T want to come to camp in their pajamas? Crazy hair day? Yes please. Let the campers choose the theme for the next day and then go wild!

• TREAT YO’SELF! Make a mid-day run to pick up drinks for everyone. Do a little sleuthing and find out what your counselors favorite snacks are and bring them to camp one day for a treat. 

• LISTEN TO YOUR TEAM! Ask your team if there is an activity or an idea for something new that they would like to try. Empowering your counselors is a great way to pump some energy into your team while also encouraging them to take ownership.

These are just a few ideas. We know there are more out there! Share what tips and tricks you and your camp have for beating the mid-summer slump!

Book Review: A Home for Goddesses and Dogs by Leslie Connor

Review By: Debbie Duel

Director of Humane Education, Humane Rescue Alliance

A Home for Goddesses and Dogs is filled with humor, heartbreak, hope, and healing. Lydia, the 13-year-old protagonist shares the limelight with a big, goofy dog who grabs the reader’s heart early on and gives it a good tight squeeze near the end of the story. A Home for Goddesses and Dogs, by Leslie Connor, brings animal cruelty to the forefront and asks readers to think about the physical and emotional scars caused by animal abuse and the penalties that perpetrators may face for inflicting harm.

The book begins with Lydia’s mom dying, her dad is AWOL, and her mom’s sister, Aunt Brat (whom Lydia only knows through her mother’s stories), is there to take her from her tiny home in New York to a sprawling farm in Connecticut. There, Lydia is greeted by Soonie, a passive, retired greyhound, and Aunt Brat’s quirky wife, Eileen. The last member of the welcoming committee is Elloroy, the 90-something-year-old owner of Pinnacle Hill Farm who routinely reminds anyone who will listen that he is “not dead yet.”

Just days after Lydia’s arrival, Aunt Brat and Eileen adopt a second dog from a local animal adoption extravaganza. The dog they chose, prone to carpet-soiling, leash-pulling, and collar-slipping, comes with an inadequate name, Bullet, and no known history. Choosing a name for the large yellow dog proves easier than training. Thanks to Eileen’s unique method of dog psychology, the dog is dubbed Guffer, and eventually learns that the yard is for peeing and that leashes and collars are necessary safety devices. 

The two dogs are outnumbered by lots of goddesses! There are the art objects; goddesses created lovingly by Lydia and her mom as a way of recording their short life together, and there are the real-life goddesses – Lydia, Aunt Brat, Eileen, and a host of others – who reign supremely on every page. They are strong women who are quick to take matters into their own hands.

A shocking act of animal cruelty occurs early in the book; two baby pygmy goats are mutilated and left at the feed store where Eileen works. The description of their lobbed-off ears and hooves is gut-wrenching. When Lydia gets proof that Guffer was abused as a pup, the revelation hits like a double gut punch. 

Author Leslie Connor has shared her life with several dogs, all strays or transplants. Each dog had to settle in, with some taking longer than others. “It was important to put in the time and effort to figure out who each dog was,” she said. Her own family’s patience, research, observations, and behavior modification expertise allowed the dogs and people to learn to love one another just like Guffer and Lydia learn to do within their newly acquired family. Connor emphasized the importance of learning about any animal’s care before committing. Baby goats are cute, but understanding their needs makes the experience of having an animal much more positive from the start. A Home for Goddesses and Dogs is a story that celebrates families in all their configurations; it emphasizes the power of love, strength, and resilience – a very timely and needed book for middle readers and adults.

Positive Youth Development in Humane Education Programs

By: Heather Franco

Humane Education Manager, East Bay SPCA

Humane educators come from different career paths and often wear many hats in their organizations. You may be a humane educator who is coming into the role with more animal care or community engagement experience than youth development and it can be overwhelming knowing where to start your professional growth. Read on to learn about the basics of youth development and how to incorporate them into your humane education programming to have the greatest outcomes for your participants. 

What is Positive Youth Development?

Youth development is an umbrella term that covers how youth and adolescents grow and interact with the world around them. It is linked to the intersection of Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Model Theory, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and Garbarino’s work explaining “social toxicity” and their effects on youth and adolescents, among other social and psychological theories. Positive youth development is the committed and concerted effort of those who work with youth and adolescents to partner with participants to navigate the world and develop to their full potential. 

An excellent resource that will be referenced several times here is Positive Youth Development 101 by Jutta Dotterweich (Cornell University, and several collaborators). It is a curriculum used to train youth work professionals and is full of theory, references, history, and actual training exercises to bring to your team. 

From the curriculum, positive youth development focuses on five research-based principles:

• Focus on positive outcomes: We shift from preventing or fixing problems to creating positive outcomes such as competencies, connections and caring relationships, positive values and expectations, and meaningful participation. This also means we use a strengths-based approach. 

• Youth voice/engagement: We work with young people, not for them. We engage young people as partners, create youth-adult partnerships, and listen to their expertise and perspective. This usually requires that we as adults become aware of and control the negative assumptions and stereotypes we might have of young people (“adultism”).

• Long-term, developmentally appropriate involvement: As a community we seek to support young people throughout their development- about 20 years -while adjusting to their changing developmental needs. A 12-year-old needs different support and opportunities than a 16-year-old. We also know that young people need extended exposure to programs and supportive adults to thrive; short-term programs and opportunities are not as effective. 

• Universal/inclusive: As a community we need to provide support and opportunities to all young people, not just to the “high risk,” targeted groups or the high achieving groups. This does not mean, however, that we cannot provide additional support to young people who face extra challenges. In addition, research tells us that universal strategies are often very effective for high need youth. 

• Community-based/collaborative: Young people interact with a variety of social environments. For a positive youth development approach to succeed, non-traditional community sectors such as businesses, faith communities, or civic organizations need to be involved. And this implies that we have to work together collaboratively. 

Dotterweich also challenges those who work with youth and adolescents to make a paradigm shift. 

From	To
Fixing problems	Building on strengths
Reactive	Proactive
Troubled youth	All youth
Youth as recipients of services	Youth as participants/resources
Programs	Relationships
Professional work	Everyone’s work

This table is adapted from Search Institute’s Developmental Relationships Framework and 40 Developmental Assets; both excellent resources when learning about positive youth development.  

How Does this Relate to Humane Education Programming?

Humane Education means different things to different practitioners, so naturally positive youth development will vary across settings. It’s likely only some of these principles and techniques will directly apply to the work you’re doing, and that’s okay! With limited resources (especially time), it’s important to hone in on what will benefit your organization and community most. 

Begin by evaluating your current situation and then identify areas for growth that make sense for your organization, department, team, and programmatic goals and values. Start with an evaluation specifically designed for youth development programs, like The Forum for Youth Investment’s David P. Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality. They offer free Program Quality Assessments (PQAs) that measure programs serving youth in grades K-6, grades 4-12, and programs focusing on Social & Emotional Learning (SEL). While these tools were created with school-year long afterschool programs in mind, they have also created a Summer Camp PQA and can be adapted to suit your program’s specific needs. All you have to do is utilize the pieces that make sense and exclude the pieces that don’t. 

After evaluating the current situation, work with your team to identify areas of growth you’d like to focus on. You can use strategic plans, mission statements, values, etc. that are in place and already guide the work you do to narrow this focus. For example, it may not be feasible for your Humane Education team to provide a long-term program by facilitating a school-year-long afterschool program, so you may choose instead to focus on growing the youth voice in your existing programs. There is professional development to build skills or resources such as Afterschool Alliance’s Youth Voice Toolkit to study and discuss with your colleagues. 

Ultimately, continuous improvement shouldn’t be so daunting, as that mindset prevents you from doing what you can to grow and evolve your programming. Seek out support from your peers (have you connected with APHE’s Groupsite yet?) and have fun developing your skills along with the positive development of your participants!

President’s Pen: May 2024

By: Melissa Logan

Director of Education, Alberta SPCA

Hello APHE!

Welcome to our new feature! We are replacing our Humane Education Quarterly newsletter (HEQ) with a blog - EmpowerEd by APHE. This blog will still feature some familiar content including featured lessons, book reviews, and research in the field, however we are increasing the frequency and expanding the scope of our content. As always, we encourage members to submit articles to share knowledge and perspective.

I’m thrilled to share with you some of the work your APHE Board of Directors has been doing over the past year and what’s coming up on the horizon.

APHE is dedicated to empowering YOU - to promote empathy through education. Here’s a brief look at what we’ve done this past year to support you and our community of humane educators towards this mission. 

We’ve launched a partner page! Featuring members’ and supporters’ organizations, we are highlighting groups that are innovating, inspiring and providing humane education. Is your organization featured? If not, fill out this form to join the many organizations who support our mission, vision and work.  

We also had our greatest engagement with our Educator’s Choice awards this year! These awards help to highlight the incredible work people are doing to make a positive difference in their communities for animals, people and the environment. We will be launching these awards again in February 2025, so watch for the nominations!  

We also recently hosted our annual national conference in Buffalo, NY to provide our members with valuable in-person networking and professional development. The theme of this conference was Unleashing Compassion: Exploring Empathy in Erie County and I’m heartened at how fully this conference embodied the theme. It is all thanks to the presenters, attendees, sponsors (with great appreciation to our Visionary Level sponsor, Maddie's Fund), exhibitors, and the incredibly friendly and welcoming people in Buffalo that we worked with to host our conference. 

Attendees at the 2024 APHE National Conference #ThanksToMaddie

Here’s just one example of the kindness and empathy that was showcased at our awards dinner. Every year at the awards dinner (previously the Auction), we play a game called Heads or Tails. I’ve heard from long-time APHE members that this game can be quite competitive. For this game, folks buy beads in advance with funds raised supporting our Nathania Gartman Memorial Scholarship Fund. Predictions are made, coins are flipped, and wrong guesses means you lose beads. When we were down to two competitors, instead of the nails coming out, we all witnessed kindness and generosity with both competitors sharing beads back and forth until it was a tie at the end. Instead of a tie breaker, the audience demanded that both of the finalists be winners, and how could we argue? (My heart also grew three sizes that evening). We hope both of these incredibly kind and compassionate educators join us next year in Kansas City (as they both won a free conference registration!). We will soon be putting out a call for speakers for the 2025 conference, so stay tuned! 

Final heads and tails competitors cheering for one another (APHE awards dinner) 

Finally, the board invested time into surveying our membership and developing a three year strategic plan to expand our reach, improve the quality and access to resources and professional development, and foster an inclusive and diverse community. I’d love to hear what you think! Let me know if you have any questions, comments or just reach out and say hi. My email is president@aphe.org. 

I hope to see you all on Groupsite or at the next Coffee & Connect. Have a great summer and best of luck for those hosting camp over the next few months!

Best, 

Melissa