MANSFIELD – Kate Peresie, 64, keeps a busy schedule. But she doesn’t get paid for her hours of hard work.

She simply loves to volunteer. Ever since she retired in 2012, Peresie can be found leading hikes for Just Walk Richland or teaching students about plants and animals for the Malabar Nature Program when school is in session.

She’s passionate about the outdoors, so it doesn’t feel like work to her.

“I have so much fun. I’m doing what I love,” Peresie said.

She started volunteering by attending a meeting about Just Walk Richland. She was quickly trained as a walk leader and began sharing the whereabouts of her hiking adventures via Meet Up, so others could join.

And they did. Peresie began leading a mix of walks, some for fitness and others at a conversational pace, which was appropriate for a larger segment of people.

“Hiking in the woods was always what I preferred to do for exercise, so being able to do it with like-minded people was great,” she said.

On the slower walks, Peresie often shared a few facts that she knew about the trees and plants they spotted along the trails. While she had no formal training, she’d grown up on a farm and her father was a biologist.

This continued until someone asked, “How do you know so much about nature?”

Peresie recalled that day, “I thought, I don’t really know much about nature at all. And then, I thought, I think there’s a course for that.”  

The former North Central State College professor decided to further her education. Peresie completed the Ohio certified naturalist course at the Ohio State University and found a desire to further share her expanded knowledge.

Upon retirement, she was determined to do something with art – another of her passions – but hadn’t moved forward with anything.

“Even though I was doing all these walks (through Just Walk Richland)… I really wanted to do art and I really wanted to get kids outdoors,” Peresie said. “I think kids don’t have enough opportunities to get outside and be in nature, and I think that’s so important to their development and their happiness.”

Further, she wanted to encourage young people to value and preserve natural resources.

So, she met with a representative of the Richland County Park District and Janet Ellsworth, a retired Mansfield City Schools outdoor educator. Peresie shared her idea, and between the three of them the Malabar Nature Program was born.

“The Richland County Park District backed my idea, and we did a pilot of nature journaling with fourth graders at Malabar Intermediate School in the spring of 2017,” Peresie said.

The assistant principal, she remembers, was impressed enough that he asked the group to return to teach the fifth graders.

The volunteers worked with about half of the fifth-grade class in fall 2017 and again with half the fourth-grade class in spring 2018. They spent five weeks teaching about 10 small groups per week and ended the program with a field trip, specifically to Hemlock Falls for the fifth graders.

Malabar Intermediate students spend much of their time “nature journaling,” which involves writing and drawing. The latter is what gives Peresie her fill of art and what’s most important for the students, in her opinion.

“When you have to draw something, you are really observing it. That’s our emphasis,” she said. “They don’t have to be an artist, but they have to be willing to go with it and have fun.”

On the last day, they assemble the journal and can take it home.

“This is rewarding for us and for them,” Peresie said.

Ellsworth, who has worked with Peresie to run the program, has encouraged the collaboration.

“Her enthusiasm and passion for learning more about the amazing natural history of our area is rejuvenating and restorative,” Ellsworth said.

She explained how Peresie puts hours into planning the program.

“If these sound like huge projects, they have been, and Kate has been at the helm – recruiting and coordinating the 30 plus volunteers, scheduling and mapping locations for hands-on classes, in-servicing others so that they are comfortable teaching outdoors and sharing her passion for learning outdoors with children and adults,” Ellsworth said.

“She has networked and collaborated with our area’s community of artists, church congregations, scout groups, retired teachers, walking groups, cycling club and the Clearfork Valley Scenic Trail. And, I’ve forgotten some of the others that she’s involved.”  

This upcoming school year, Peresie intends to expand the program to the entire fifth grade class in the fall and the entire fourth grade class in the spring.

She’s spending the off-season recruiting more volunteers, which will be needed to run the program. She’s looking for people who like to be outdoors, enjoy working with children and can hike a short trail. She asks anyone interested to email gormannaturecenter@gmail.com.

She is also requested donations to buy additional supplies. Those can be made at gormannaturecenter.org.

Peresie grew up in Ashland County and now resides in Mansfield near the Ohio Bird Sanctuary, where she’ll often visit during a short walk.

Outside of hiking and volunteering, she also enjoys traveling, gardening and spending time with family. She attends and sings at First Congregational Church, which Peresie noted gave $1,500 towards the Malabar Nature Program.