Journalism & Environmental Studies
With a passion for writing, Kaylynn combines her environmental concerns with her desire to educate and inform. The natural world has always inspired Kaylynn with an unconventional perspective as her personal lens allows her to see beauty in all forms and situations. Kaylynn is creatively driven within the arts, like ceramics at the University of Oregon as well as with music and broadcast journalism the student radio station, KWVA. After her time at the UO, Kaylynn's career in journalism will allow her travel, covering topics that prioritize social and environmental justice.
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Teaching Philosophy
As a fellow student of the earth, I find successful education to happen most organically past the nontraditional school walls, alternative to standardized requirements, and amongst the fascination that lies within the fields. I believe that hands on learning and outdoor experiences stimulate cognitive growth and personal development in invaluable ways that create intelligent individuals with strong senses of empathy and compassion. These experiences are crucial to character development and create well-rounded individuals with greater senses of place. As a leader, rather than a ruler, my goal is to show students the potential they may not see within themselves. Doing this entails encouraging cooperation towards finding their edge and then even asking for a few more steps forward. Showing the relationship between trust with mild discomfort depicts how growth happens outside of the comfort zone, even if it’s done lightly or with a little push. As an educator, I separate myself from a power position and prefer to serve as a role model: an equal student myself, as I too have a multitude of questions for the natural world. It’s up to us to develop problem-solving and team collaboration skills in order to find our answers, achieve our highest goals and influence the future world towards which we wish to see.
In the Environmental Leadership Program, we taught ourselves alongside youthful minds to promote our philosophy of living as flexible, ever-growing beings, much like the trees in the old growth forest we sought to teach in. We favored climate change topics in order to inspire activism within our students' local spaces. However, due to the change of events that is COVID-19, we as a team quickly brainstormed ways to continue our passion for environmental education and bring valuable educational lessons to our local youth. With agility, we spread our roots amongst the changing world, and strive to reach at least one student’s curiosity. At the end of the day, as long as I’ve impacted at least one mind or inspired at least one child, then I have done my job.