Letter of Support #1
March 3, 2011
To Whom It May Concern:
This letter serves as support for Darcee O’Hearn in her application for arts funding towards the publishing of her Legends of the Forest children’s books.
As the Forest Educator for the Council of Forest Industries, Southern Operations office in Kelowna, B.C. for the past nine years, I met Darcee four years ago, when she was first employed as a forest educator for the West Kootenay Forest Education Program from February 2007 to June 2008.
Since that time, I have found Darcee to be an enthusiastic supporter of educating youth about our forests and about the importance of BC’s forest industry. With her love of nature and her ability to create fun, interactive learning activities using her natural resource technology training, students have benefited from a positive experience in the schools she has visited and at the environmental events in which she has participated throughout the West Kootenay.
Darcee’s eagerness to share her environmental knowledge has found an additional channel through her creation of the Legends of the Forest series. As a mother who loves to share stories with her own children, as well as with the youth she has interacted with in her forest education role, crafting these legends was a logical outlet for Darcee’s creative skills. In my opinion, publishing her stories would be a wonderful opportunity to bring these educational tales to young audiences and would enhance their knowledge and understanding about the forest in an enjoyable and experiential way.
I would like to offer support for Darcee as she pursues her dream of creating, publishing and incorporating her stories into forest education experiences for young people and would encourage the Arts Council to consider her application for funding.
Sincerely,
Debbie Bazett
COFI South Forest Education
Letter of Support #2
February 28, 2011
To Whom It May Concern at Columbia Basin Trust,
My name is Terri Berno and I am a teacher and Science Fair coordinator at St. Michael’s School in Trail, BC. During my years of teaching, Darcee O’Hearn has stood out as a very talented educator and presenter with respect to forest education. My students thoroughly enjoyed Mrs. O’Hearn. She is a very enthusiastic and passionate individual, especially during her story telling sessions. Mrs. O’Hearn challenged the students to identify different species of trees that are found in BC forests and educated us about pine and other beetles. Mrs. O’Hearn helped us to create a stronger relationship to our natural world and increased our awareness of the surrounding Kootenay- Columbia Basin. I felt extremely supported with respect to my Grade Five Science Curriculum. Mrs. Darcee O’Hearn also provided me with many resources and forestry posters. The children received much knowledge and would love to see her return to our school.
Sincerely,
Terri Berno
