Alumni Mars Patterson’s work featured

Read the full article here or at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel here. An excerpt:

Patterson, who teaches environmental education for Nearby Nature in area schools, also brings students to the property to learn. Like most adults who walk by, many of the students don't realize the little park exists beyond the sidewalk.

“They're really surprised when they turn the corner,” she said. “Because they didn't know (this was here). And they are very inquisitive, which I appreciate.”

That’s what Nearby Nature is all about — not only restoring natural spaces in areas of the city that have been historically overlooked, but also providing education about those spaces.

"The goal of Nearby Nature is to connect and expose and reintroduce Black children to nature,” Patterson said. "And beyond that, when we're done with our lesson plan, or if we don't come back to that school the following year, I still want to be connected, so at some point if in the future they remember that lady that came and talked about butterflies, now they might want to study lepidoptera. I hope to inspire on that level where they think about me later.”