Monica is a Head Teacher of the Acorn class at Little Leaf, a Nature Preschool in Westchester, NY. Monica began teaching ten years ago for the NYC Department of Education. Brooklyn Nature Days opened her eyes to the amazing value and importance of outdoor nature education in early childhood when she had the wonderful opportunity to teach there and her daughter joyfully attended until her family moved north of Brooklyn.  Monica continues to maintain a close relationship with Brooklyn Nature Days, bringing her assistant teachers to Professional Development in Prospect Park so they can see where she gained her knowledge and passion in supporting every child to discover their strengths and individuality through nature, as Brooklyn Nature Days does so well. The work of building a child's foundation in learning is more valuable than I can express in this short paragraph. I would like nothing more than to support Brooklyn Nature Days in continuing to provide play-based outdoor education for as many children as possible, so that every little human has the opportunity to build strong, empathetic, and curious minds as they grow.