Going into the field work class I did not know what to expect. All I knew was that there would be trips to local schools and partnerships with the teachers there. What I did not know was what it took to create a lesson plan. In the academic sense, this learning experience has given me a newfound respect for teaching modules. As a group at the Eco-Council, we were able to create a purpose driven lesson that we believe would be able to drive students towards environmental stewardship. This one lesson plan was the culmination of a semester’s process in which trips to the school and discussions with the teachers lead to our final project. On one hand our groups initial challenge at Maury River was made more difficult in that our students already had a topic lined up, but on the hand our group was fortunate in that it was such an important topic. In a broader sense, I was better able to appreciate our students much more as learners and members of the community. I remember the first day my group and I went to meet them and were amazed at their desire to better their communities and desire to learn. We assumed that they must have been the brightest at the school only to find out each one of them struggled with reading. They had been put in remedial classes to no affect until they created the Eagle Academy where they began to flourish. This showed us that even though we all may struggle with something that everyone around us is not, that there is still a place for us in the community.  What this showed to me as a learner and an instructor is that we get so caught up in what we think certain metrics of success are that we forget to look at the individual and what they can bring to the table. After my time at the Eagle Academy I was left struck by what students who were driving and passionate about an issue could achieve, from defying the school’s expectations of them the NEST Fest, it amazed me.