Anita Scott and Mike Nardolilli

WETA Hometown Heroes September 2007. Anita Scott and Mike Nardolilli are board members for the Arlington Outdoor Education Association, which educates Arlington students about the environment at the AOEA Outdoor Lab.

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Two board members of the Arlington Outdoor Education Association are the focus of a month-long WETA Hometown Heroes profile airing in September 2007 on WETA TV 26.

WETA selected Anita Scott, whose mother founded the Arlington Outdoor Education Association, and Mike Nardolilli, president of the board and president of the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust, for their dedication to providing environmental education to Arlington Public School students.

Dr. Phoebe Hall Knipling founded the non-profit Arlington Outdoor Education Association (AOEA) in 1967. Then a science supervisor for Arlington County Schools, Knipling’s idea for the organization grew from field trips she took with high school science students. The trips inspired her to form the AOEA, which later purchased land in Fauquier County that later became the 210-acre home of the Outdoor Lab.

Today, Scott continues her mother’s legacy as a leader and integral team member of the Arlington Outdoor Education Association. The organization now provides integrated environmental education to 9,000 children in the Arlington Public Schools each year. This allows Arlington County Public School system staff to incorporate high quality and hands-on learning experiences into their total academic curriculum.

In addition to Scott, Mike Nardolilli will also be honored in September on WETA Hometown Heroes. As president of the AOEA board, Nardolilli has lead many substantial initiatives within the organization. In particular, he developed a new master plan for the Outdoor Lab, including the planning and construction of a new animal lab building on the property, and secured a Memorandum of Understanding with the Arlington County Public Schools that strengthened the ties between both organizations.

Nardolilli’s environmental work extends beyond his role at Arlington Outdoor Education Association. He is the president of the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust (NVCT), a land trust dedicated to preserving Northern Virginia’s open space. His work at NVCT has helped conserve more than 1,800 acres of land. Nardolilli also brought his experience in land acquisition to Arlington Outdoor Education Association, where he helped the organization purchase land adjacent to the Outdoor Lab.

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