---

From the Editor

Summer time and the living is easy! Hope you have some great plans for the summer to be in the outdoors. My grandson and I are planning to fly to the Oceanic Institute in Bermuda in mid-August to study coral reefs in an intergenerational program. We will share information and photos with you in the next newsletter. I am so excited. As a former scuba diver and snorkeler I want my teen-age grandson to better understand the fragility of our oceans and to see first hand the beauty of protected coral reefs. This is our second snorkeling trip.

Our design team has just completed their fourth Institute on Creating Sustainable Environments for Young Children and we want to share with you some of our highlights. We have been training designers and early childhood colleagues for over 14 years on how to creating high quality environments. We decided as a team to refocus our training on how to create not just high quality environments but how to do create healthier environments. Several of our design team members have experienced serious health challenges related to environmental toxins so we are committed to educating others about these complex issues. One of the goals of the Institute is to provide attendees with accessible and inexpensive training materials for staff and parents on how to better understand these issues on how to protect children’s health.

A big hit this year was the performance of Eco Elvis who has taken all of the traditional Elvis songs and turned them into songs about sustainability and healthy environments. Attendees were able to purchase his CD as an inexpensive resource. Here is a photo of our team channeling that great Elvis energy. Check out his recycled clothing. Eco Elvis helped us to understand how to present some very serious information in a fun and entertaining way.

Vicki L. Stoecklin
Editor

---