Cathy Wilkins

Greening Greenfield is pleased to recognize Cathy Wilkins as a Green Hero and inspiration to us all.

As she prepared to retire at the end of a 39-year teaching career, the last 27 of which were at Greenfield High School, members of Greening Greenfield visited her classroom. It was full and alive: with tanks of fish and rows of plants, piles of student-made reusable bags, poster board presentations of student research projects, and most of all the curiosity, energy, commitment, and scholarship of her students.

Wilkins comes from a long line of green heroes. She learned her love of nature from her mother, who was a Girl Scout leader and took her on camping trips where she learned to fish, forage, and survive in the woods. “She loved nature, and she taught us how to appreciate the natural world,” Wilkins recalls. Her grandmother canned, preserved, composted, reused, and recycled as a matter of course. “Everything she did was from scratch,” Wilkins told us.

She began her teaching career in biology, taking her students to Florida to learn coral reef ecology. She credits her biology students with getting her to start the environment club. We visited again last semester in the GHS library, where the environment club she has advised for decades was meeting after school to brainstorm ideas for public service videos. After the group dispersed, she shared with us some of what she considers to be the highlights of her teaching career:

• Hosting students at her house where they went for walks to learn about the trees and helped put up hoop houses to extend the sustainability of local gardens;
• Bringing students to see how a Christmas tree farm was sustainably managed;
• Hosting overnights at her house when she taught at Charlemont Academy where students could stargaze far from light pollution;
• Getting a recycling and composting program going in the GHS lunchroom that continues to run well.

You may have seen her and her students, too, helping with the annual Green River clean ups, gathering and sorting recyclables and compostables at the Pumpkin Festival, the Franklin County Fair, and other public events.

When we asked what she would like to leave her students with, she didn’t hesitate. “The most important thing is that they can make a difference. When they come in, in all of my classes, early on, I hear, ‘There’s no hope, there’s no hope.’  So I say, ‘Oh, no, that is not at all how I feel.’ And so I hope they know they can make a difference and that there are ways they can do that. So then they can be role models and carry it on.”

From what we heard from the students, her hopes will be realized.

Ella McDaniel tells us, “Her enthusiasm for the sciences, coming from a deep love and concern for the Earth, radiates through her lessons. Her passion for her students, too, comes through with every caring word, hug, or circle she shares. In every activity we do, Mrs. Wilkins makes sure the kids are interested and always makes it fun and meaningful.”

Jacob Frank characterizes her as, “Ruthlessly dedicated to the cause of educating young people, not only about biology but environmental preservation and the saving of the climate. And I have never met someone who is so inspired by what she does and someone that inspires everybody else. She has inspired me to talk to as many people as I can about why climate change is a big problem and how we can solve it.

Izaak Vigil-Sagan, a graduating senior, told us, “She’s been an extremely generous, big-hearted person who always gave us opportunities to go out and learn about our natural world. I’m going to miss her so much. I’m thinking of going to college for environmental science or earth systems. I’m going to take inspiration from her mentorship and carry that with me through my studies.”

GHS Principal Karin Patenaude summed it up in her January remarks celebrating Cathy Wilkins’ GHS career: “Her spirited energy and presence will certainly be missed at Greenfield High School but we wish her all the best on her next journey called retirement!”

Greening Greenfield will honor Wilkins by planting a tree on GHS grounds this coming fall. With characteristic modesty, Wilkins asked that we focus instead on first responders, nurses, doctors and food service workers, who, she notes, “are certainly the heroes of today.  Please plant a tree or two or three… for the health of our people and our environment.”

–reprinted from The Recorder My Turn, Jan Maher, April 16, 2020