As Berks County’s leading local non-profit for the conservation of the environment, Berks Nature believes that nature is essential to our quality of life and should be accessible and welcoming to all.
To live that mission to the fullest, Berks Nature welcomed Melissa Acosta to the team in 2022: our first bilingual community educator. Even in her short tenue at Berks Nature, Melissa’s mastery of both English and Spanish and her natural gift for environmental education have made an incredible impact on our educational programming and outreach.
Melissa has been busy translating Berks Nature’s educational materials and flyers into Spanish, building new bridges with Berks Nature’s neighbors in the 18th Ward, and leading a series of bilingual English-Spanish nature programs (which will continue throughout 2023)!
On this journey, we are eager to greet new neighbors and find new ways to provide value to the greater Reading community. We also acknowledge that change won’t come without its mistakes and stumbles. But with Melissa at the helm, we are confident in the new path we are now walking.
In her own words, Melissa reflects, “This process never ends, and we have a lot of room to grow.”
So come join us at The Nature Place: Reading’s own nature center! Take a stroll through the dog-friendly wetland trails; attend one of our immersive and interactive nature programs; and let the kiddos run free with their imagination in the Nature Play Zone!
You can learn more about Berks Nature and register for programs at berksnature.org.