PLATTSBURGH -- Jan Daniels wasn't a fan of running in circles.

Using the track never seemed interesting when she was a Beekmantown High School cross-country runner.

Instead, she chose to run through places like scenic Point au Roche State Park.

She grew up in Cumberland Head and often watched deer walk through her backyard cornfields.

She found that running through these nature-rich environments provided a much deeper experience.

"It felt like it was always an adventure. It was so much more of an outdoor experience."

Those outdoor experiences have come to define her career and life.

WRITING GUIDE

Now 30 years old and named Jan Wellik, she is the director of Eco Expressions, a nature-writing program for youths that she founded in 2004 with funding support from Wild Gift, a non-profit environmental leadership organization based in Sun Valley, Idaho.

Wellik self-published her "Nature Writing Field Guide for Teachers" in October 2007. The guide is described as a "unique curriculum to combine two major academic subjects, English and science, into one scholastic adventure to revive the enthusiasm to learn."

It is being utilized by Kindergarten-to-12th-grade teachers in several states, including New York, Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan.

An expanded version of the guide is being considered for publication by a writing curriculum publisher. The revised edition will have additional activities for grades six to 12 and be organized by environmental issues so teachers can choose activities that match the classroom lesson.

Her father, Terry Daniels, who owns a sign business, will provide illustrations for the book.

Her mother, Marion, said she and Terry are proud of their daughter's accomplishments.

"She takes an interest in her work," Marion said. "She likes it to mean something."