Education
Education has been the cornerstone of the Friends of Madera Canyon mission since 1988, developed to include Youth and Adult programs and projects in nature, ecological conservation, canyon preservation to encourage everyone to explore, study, and connect with this biologically rich and diverse Arizona canyon and surrounding Sky Island region.
When able to explore nature, we become fascinated, curious, and motivated to learn about healthy connections to the natural world. Connections lead to caring about nature, which can become concern and action toward conservation and preservation. At all trail heads cards for visitor feedback are collected and responses tabulated for the U.S. Forest Service, as well there are boxes with bird lists & trail guides, all provided by Friends of Madera Canyon.
FoMC Virtual Learning Program →
Our Virtual Learning Program (VLP) objective is the delivery of online science-based content about the nature and natural history of Madera Canyon, Santa Rita Mountains and southeast Arizona Sky Island region. History and cultural content will explore local native people and recent history of the area. Designed as supplemental education for FoMC Madera Canyon Nature Walks while participating 4th grade students and teachers are unable to take part in canyon field trips due to Covid-19, the long-term goal of the project is to make this content accessible to all 4th grade students, their teachers and parents anywhere and to further develop and provide content for other grade levels in public, private, charter or home school classrooms. Additional content will be added to the page as it is created.
The FoMC supports and promotes “conservation through education.” Within this philosophy, the VLP content provides education, not advocacy. But the FoMC does advocate for a well-informed and educated citizenry, including our children, that is able to live and act responsibly. The FoMC approach to learning is to provide unbiased, fact-based information coupled with personal learning experience, allowing students to form their own opinions and ultimately guide their personal actions.
