Nevada Elementary School Educator Receives 2022 National Award for Outstanding Environmental Stewardship
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 8, 2022
Washington, D.C. (June 8, 2022) – National Park Trust is pleased to announce that Leslie Strahl, a learning strategist at Hollingsworth Elementary in Las Vegas, Nevada, is the recipient of the 2022 National Educator Award for Outstanding Environmental Stewardship. The annual award – also known as “The Buddy,” in honor of the Park Trust’s woolly mascot Buddy Bison – recognizes an educator who has made a significant impact on their students’ understanding of the natural world and the importance of protecting our nation’s treasured parks, public lands, and waters.
Leslie Strahl has worked with National Park Trust as a Buddy Bison School Program educator for six years through sponsorship support from the Caesars Foundation. Even before the Park Trust formed a relationship with her and welcomed her school into the Buddy Bison Program, she was seeking ways to get her students out of the traditional classroom and inside our nation’s parks, public lands, and waters. Working as a learning strategist has also allowed Leslie to excel in implementing distance learning programs and hands-on activities for two grade levels this academic year. She has also been instrumental in leading and organizing numerous outdoor field trips, including trips to Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area and Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Her position at the school connects her with a wide array of students and allows her to introduce them to environmental lessons and activities.
“We are delighted to honor and recognize Leslie Strahl with this year’s National Educator Award for Outstanding Environmental Stewardship. Leslie is exemplary in her dedication and commitment to connecting students from Hollingsworth Elementary to the great outdoors. She understands that we will be counting on them to be our future caretakers of these important resources,”
Grace Lee, executive director, National Park Trust
“I am honored to receive this award from the National Park Trust. Nurturing children’s wonder and understanding of nature has been my life’s passion. Through National Park Trust’s Buddy Bison Program and the Caesars Foundation, Hollingsworth Elementary students have visited and connected with national parks, marine sanctuaries, and local wild spaces that they never knew existed. I am excited to continue planting the seeds of environmentalism in our students and watching them grow into the future stewards of our beautiful national parks and marine sanctuaries.”
Leslie Strahl
ABOUT NATIONAL PARK TRUST
National Park Trust’s mission is to preserve parks today and create park stewards for tomorrow. Since 1983, the Park Trust has acquired many of the missing pieces of our national parks, benefiting 51 national park sites. Our national youth education and family initiatives, including our Buddy Bison Programs and Kids to Parks Day, serve more than 300 Title I schools annually and cultivate future park stewards. We believe that our public parks, lands, and waters should be cared for, enjoyed by, and preserved by all for current and future generations. Find out more at parktrust.org.
Media Contact: Ivan Levin at 540.818.5818 or ivan@parktrust.org.
