Two Jersey City teachers win environmental teaching award

Mea culpa, Johnny comes from a family of teachers. Remember that scene in My Cousin Vinny where Marisa Tomei describes her character's expertise in car knowledge, "Well my father was a mechanic. His father was a mechanic. My mother's father was a mechanic. My three brothers are mechanics...." Johnny's grandmother was a teacher, his mother was a teacher, one of his aunts was a teacher, one of his sisters was a teacher... So stories like this are easy to like.

"Olatayo Wusu and John Flora – a science teacher and music teacher, respectively – were able to blend the two studies together to create an interest in environmental issues like urban ecosystems and school sustainability measures thus winning the annual Patricia Kane Environmental Education Award for their work in connecting middle school students with nature."

First, it's fabulous environmental education is being rewarded. It's about time the environment, especially after two hurricanes out this way, is shown how vital it is to our everyday fabric of life. Secondly, a true measure of smart people is to be able to meld good ideas together, in this case science and music. 

"This unconventional team of teachers embraced STEAM education, meshing scientific and ecological study with song writing, composing and creating musical pieces, and the results have been extraordinary," said Eric Stiles, president and CEO of New Jersey Audubon, the environmental education and conservation advocacy organization that presented the award.

Students participating in the program created their own songs and produced a video of their experiences, titled "Our City and Nature: Songs of Biodiversity."

Great job to the students and especially Wusu and Flora.