Volunteer of the Month: Rebecca Rolnick
by Mel Rubenstein
I was extra motivated to find someone special to feature in this column, because this would be my 100th Volunteer of the Month column. From the very beginning, the Eagle Bulletin allowed me to do this as a contributing writer on a volunteer basis. As luck would have it, Leah Kraus, librarian of the Fayetteville Free Library, recommended that Rebecca Rolnick be featured in this special column. As you read her story you will see why.
Rolnick was born in Atlanta, Georgia, moved to East Syracuse at age 6, and has lived in Fayetteville since 2006. After she graduated from FM High School in 2015 Rolnick earned her bachelor of science in conservation biology from SUNY College of Science and Forestry in 2019. Through the years she has worked at the Fayetteville Free Library, was a field technician at the Albany Pine Bush Preserve, did research as an intern at Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island programs.
Rolnick’s involvement in volunteering began with Young Naturalists (YN).
Young Naturalists was started by members of the CNY Chapter of the Izaak Walton League of America, a national conservation organization with the goal of getting young people engaged in conservation and outdoor activities.
“Young Naturalists is geared to kids in elementary school,” Kraus said. “Each Tuesday, Rebecca leads a live nature session via Zoom on an interesting topic, and offers prompts for kids to write about in their nature journals and activities for them to try outdoors in nature between meetings. She offers these programs to the libraries, and in turn, to local families, for free, providing a super valuable learning opportunity and service to our community. She has led interesting and informative sessions about topics ranging from food crops to bird watching to environmental justice – all geared in a way that’s approachable and interesting to kids.”
Kraus went on to say; “Rebecca is extremely dedicated in her efforts to inspire kids to develop a love and passion for our natural world. Area families are loving her programs, and we at the library are so grateful to her for working with us to offer them.”
“I started as an educator with the Young Naturalists in the fall of 2019 and transitioned to become the program coordinator, a leadership position,” Rolnick said.
Rolnick is the owner and founder of Forest School-to-You, which provides in-person nature programs for families and homeschool groups K-12 to help students build environmental literacy and nature awareness. For more information go to: facebook.com/ForestSchooltoyou.
When the COVID-19 pandemic began last March, Rolnick shifted to virtual programming, which she said was a challenge.
“At first I thought I would have to keep the online programs short, to 20 minutes or so,” she said. “I thought that’s all the kids would have the attention span for over Zoom. But I have been pleasantly surprised to find that even the younger kids stay engaged for a full hour. Even though it’s online, I do whatever I can to make it interactive.”
This past summer part of the program included a Nature Journal Club.
“Since we can’t go outside together, they would go explore on their own using one of the suggested prompts, and then come back and share their findings online,” Rolnick said. “We will continue to have nature journal prompts time to share nature journals during the program in the fall, although it won’t be quite as structured as it was in the summer. I loved seeing the creativity and enthusiasm these kids displayed with their nature journals. As scientists we need to think critically and avoid jumping to conclusions. We won’t always find the answers to our questions, but the important thing is to build our sense of curiosity.”
During the last week of the summer session Rolnick had the kids observe a leaf or other small objects. They made observations and asked questions about it. T
hen, she told them; “Even though we’ve only been looking at this leaf for a few minutes, you have paid more attention to it than anyone else in the whole world. You are the expert on this leaf. You are naturalists and you are scientists, and you have knowledge about the natural world that is unique and important, and you can share this knowledge with others.”
Naturalists learn about the natural world, the species that live there, and how they all interact.
“The more we know, the better we can apply that knowledge,” Rolnick said. “Everyone can be a naturalist; everyone can make a difference. We all have to learn from each other. It’s so exciting to see the community come together to help kids develop a love of nature. We are part of nature. A healthy environment with clean air and water, diverse food sources, a stable climate, places to play outside, along with a world full of millions of fascinating creatures that exist alongside. These are not just luxury add-ons. They are absolutely vital to our survival as humans and our emotional well-being.”
Something Rolnick hopes that everyone learns from Young Naturalists is that nature is not just in wilderness areas or national parks.
“Nature is everywhere,” she said. “In our backyards, a crack in the sidewalk, and even our food plants that we eat originally came from the wild. When you focus on what’s right in front of you, you realize just how much there is to see, and that you are surrounded by fascinating wonders if you pay attention.”
In her personal time Rolnick likes birding, gardening, reading, writing and music. She played trumpet at FM and SU, and is now taking singing lessons. Her parents, Alan and Laurie, siblings Jacob, and Sky, and her maternal grandparents all live in Fayetteville.
To recommend someone with a stellar record of volunteering to be featured in this column contact Mel Rubenstein: [email protected] or call 315-682-7162.
Rebecca Rolnick
