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2007 Green Heroes
Jordan Jaco
Elementary School Student
Bob Solger
Business Owner
Matt Diller
Classroom Teacher
Sam Simmons
Saint Louis Zoo
Buildings and Grounds Supervisor
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Matt Diller prepares to lead a student hike on a
Missouri state park trail.
Matt Diller
This St. Louis Green Hero has been actively cultivating future generations of environmental guardians for nearly twenty years, including a dozen years teaching third grade at The College School. Matt Diller brings his own curiosity about the natural world into his classroom - and his students catch this lifelong learning bug!
Matt teaches in an elementary school where outdoor learning is the cornerstone of its nationally respected curriculum. Adventures start with kindergarten children exploring their school yard. Upper grades travel, hike, camp, and study first-hand the ecology of many parts of their home continent. As students inquire about their world, environmental understanding is integrated into every level of learning.
Whether he is encouraging kids to understand water flow patterns in The River, a sculptural ecological model he helped build on The College School campus, or supervising young cooks making hot dogs in his portable solar oven, Matt’s teaching remains true to academic basics while also sparking endlessly curious connections in student minds and hearts.
Matt lives his care for the environment, in a way that kids enjoy and admire. He often rides his scooter to school, taking time to talk with students about his personal decisions to conserve fuel and other natural resources.
Matt integrates the environment into all areas of learning. His teaching fosters in students a deep connection to the natural world. They realize the environment is not something separate from other parts of their lives, that it’s really the foundation for all life processes, health, variety, and much beauty. Matt also guides his students to connect with their community, and he brings community resources into his classroom. His teaching instills in students a sense of responsibility to care for their environment, which they discover is the place they live.
Matt coordinated the first big St. Louis Earth Day Festival, in 1989. He continues to support public awareness of environmental issues each year, as a dedicated and seasoned Earth Day festival volunteer.
He’s also a longtime member of the St. Louis Rainforest Advocates, working to educate the public about preserving rainforest ecosystems, including the cultures of indigenous peoples who live in endangered tropical regions of the world. Matt has traveled in Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Spain, studying and speaking Spanish throughout his adult life. He integrates his Spanish language and cultural knowledge into his classroom, further enriching children’s learning.
Matt is a role model for fellow teachers, in his school and others, sharing his resources for teaching about the environment across all academic disciplines. Julia Feder, a former teaching colleague, praises the qualities that make him a Green Hero. She says: “Matt wears his passion for the Earth on his sleeve. Everyone he works with – students, parents, fellow teachers – is drawn in to want to share in this passion, because they see his commitment is genuine.
“You can see Matt’s love for engaging with the environment in the faces and outlooks of his students, in their bravery to try new things, explore, and engage with people and places that may have seemed foreign and intimidating before they were in his class. These children will always carry this sense of adventure and connection with the world around them.”
The St. Louis Green Hero Award is sponsored by:
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