By Christie Hazen

Being the advisor to our school’s Green Team has shown me all the things students can accomplish when they’re given leadership opportunities and a voice.

Our “Green Rivers” club started as a grassroots thing, the idea of just two students. Now it involves the whole Two Rivers school community, and many different projects. From the beginning, PLT’s GreenSchools! program has helped our students grow in skills, leadership, and environmental awareness.

A great example is the recent meeting of the National Science Teachers Association in Hartford. PLT GreenSchools! program manager James McGirt called me a little over a week before the meeting to ask if some of our students could join him in his presentation to the science teachers.

Rather than being daunted by the challenge of presenting at a meeting where almost all the other presenters are adults, our students jumped right in. They were really excited, and spent every lunch hour before the meeting developing and rehearsing their PowerPoint presentation. They took complete ownership. The kids really did drive this. I was there to give them support and help them with resources, but they really took charge of everything.

During the NSTA meeting, James McGirt asked our students and the teachers in the audience to stand where they felt they could make a change—with a “1” being a belief that they would be able to make a change in our environment by conserving energy. All our Green Rivers “ambassadors” stood by the “1” and articulated why the future could change if everyone did their part. I was very proud of them!

All the projects our Green Rivers club has undertaken have grown from a Project Learning Tree GreenSchools! training that I, two science teachers, and two of our seventh-graders attended back in the fall of 2009. The students came back to school and got other interested 7th graders to meet once a week at lunch. They used their energy monitoring equipment to see where areas of the school were too hot (or too cold  with our AC), and soon the club expanded to include an 8th grade group and a 6th grade group.

Since those early days, the number of projects they have done and are working on as middle school students is very impressive. We had the Alliance for Climate Education come out to our school to give a presentation on climate change, and as a result more students got involved. Our Green Day around Earth Day involved the whole school. Recently we received a $6,000 grant from PLT for a Wind-spire, which we plan to mount on our school’s roof to save on our electric bill.

Our Green Rivers students have created a web page to showcase their work, and have gone out to elementary schools to teach about recycling and composting. Our other big outreach is to educate people about the threat to our trees posed by the Asian longhorned beetle, and to teach people how to spot clues to tree damage and where to report a sighting.

I am amazed at what these students can do. They are so passionate about their mission to make our school, homes, community and world a “greener” place. They are an inspiration and a joy to work with. 

Photo: A student-created website is just one of the many projects that the GreenSchools! "Green Rivers" team has undertaken at Two Rivers Magnet Middle School in Connecticut. Among the featured projects: an energy-saving "Wind-spire," funded in part by a $6,000 PLT Green Works grant.

Christie Hazen is an Enrichment Coordinator at Two Rivers Magnet Middle School in East Hartford, CT

Five individuals who use environmental education to spur students’ enthusiasm to learn were named the 2011 National Outstanding Educators by AFF’s Project Learning Tree (PLT) program.

Since 1994, PLT’s Outstanding Educators have been selected for their commitment to environmental education, their exemplary use of PLT and for integrating exceptional teaching skills into their daily work.

PLT will recognize the 2011 awardees as well as the 10 National Outstanding Educator nominees at the 25th International Coordinators’ Conference in Montgomery, Texas. To learn more about the 10 honorees, visit www.plt.org.

Congratulations from the National PLT office to these five exceptional educators!

The 2011 National Project Learning Tree® Outstanding Educators are:

• Joy Barney, Conservation Education Program Specialist with the U.S. Forest Service’s Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, South Lake Tahoe, CA: Barney coordinates and implements programs that connect children and adults to nature in five counties around Lake Tahoe. She has spent her career working in California’s parks and forests. When she came to Lake Tahoe in 2007, she found many children were surrounded by the forest but not connected to it. In response, she developed innovative programs for Kindergarten through high school students. She created Generation Green of Lake Tahoe, through which high school students learn job skills, teamwork, and an understanding of natural resource management. With a grant from PLT’s GreenWorks! service-learning program, she developed the Angora Burn Tree Education and Planting project, which involved students and the community in learning about and contributing to forest restoration after the devastating 2007 Angora Fire. She also helped establish the South Tahoe Environmental Education Coalition, made up of government agencies, schools, and nonprofit groups.

• Cindy Kilpatrick, Environmental Science Facilitator at Oil City Magnet School, Oil City, LA: Kilpatrick works with teachers in grades K-7 to coordinate environmental education field studies, enrichment lessons, and science programs at Oil City Magnet School. Oil City has received national recognition for incorporating environmental education throughout the curriculum to improve student learning. With PLT as a catalyst, Kilpatrick has helped students create a nature trail, gardens, bird feeding and watching stations, and other projects. A teacher for more than 34 years, she led the initiative to make Oil City a PLT-certified school. Enrollment and test scores continue to rise, and staff, students, and parents are energized. As a result, the district school board voted last year to add 7th and 8th grades to the school.

• Robert Taylor, District Gifted and Talented Coordinator and Science Teacher, Jay Middle and High Schools, Jay, ME:Taylor looks for leadership opportunities to challenge his students. As the Jay High School Envirothon Advisor for the past 17 years, he uses PLT activities to prepare students to win regional and state competitions. He also involves students in outdoor learning and community service projects, such as improving the Jay Recreation Area. The students have helped develop a plan for a well-managed timber harvest on the property that will provide funding to support recreational opportunities in the community. Taylor has also helped students build a solar-powered greenhouse, and they are learning about sustainability by researching and developing a school wind turbine and a composting program.

• Sandy Gresham, recently retired Science Teacher and Environmental Education School Coordinator at Low Country Preparatory School, Pawleys Island, SC (now living in McCormack, SC): A long-time advocate of environmental education, Gresham was first introduced to Project Learning Tree in 2008 and used it to transform Lowcountry Preparatory School. She trained the entire faculty in the use of PLT curriculum, helping teachers in all subjects incorporate environmental themes into their classes. Gresham helped the school’s board of directors develop a strategic plan for the school that emphasizes environmental education as a core value. Through her efforts, Lowcountry became a PLT certified school and is now also a model example of how students are using their knowledge and skills from science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) courses to reduce their school’s environmental footprint using PLT’s GreenSchools! Investigations – and save their school money! Now retired and living in the western part of South Carolina, Gresham has continued to work with schools in McCormick County in support of environmental education and PLT.

• Susan Campbell, Education Coordinator for the City of San Antonio Parks and Recreation Natural Areas, San Antonio, TX: Campbell was recognized for her enthusiasm and creativity in educating Texans of all ages about the environment. Among her many initiatives, she developed URock! Get Outdoors, a one-week camp for middle school students from the southside of San Antonio. She also leads field tours along the Medina River for thousands of students and adults each year. She has created programs for home-schooled students, senior adults, and students at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) who are studying to become classroom teachers. Campbell serves on the advisory board of the SAVE (Strengthening Awareness and Valuing the Environment) Program, which provides environmental education training to more than 500 teachers every year. She is currently South Texas representative on the board of the Texas Association for Environmental Education and is a member of the Pre-Service Teacher Advisory Board at UTSA.

Congratulations to the five 2011 National Project Learning Tree® Outstanding Educators:

A decline in the numbers and health of pollinators such as bees, birds, and butterflies poses a threat to biodiversity, global food webs and human health.

To help stem the decline, Project Learning Tree® (PLT) and the U.S. Forest Service have engaged students across the country with 28 grants for projects in 20 states.

As part of the PollinatorLIVE program, supported by the U.S. Forest Service and the Prince William Network, PLT’s GreenWorks! PollinatorLIVE garden grants enable students to develop gardens where pollinators can thrive.

This spring, as students take the lead in growing these gardens, they learn about the value and importance of pollinators, help beautify their communities and get to spend more time outdoors.

Announced today, the grants were awarded through a competitive process the involved students from the very beginning. Read the national press release here.

The awardees include the following projects:

• In Reno, Nevada, students are creating a pollinator garden with native plants at Urban Roots Farm, a nonprofit that fosters a sense of place in Reno’s young people. The students will use the garden to study Nevada’s ecology and the challenges that climate change poses to plant and animal life. Teachers will use PLT curriculum materials to support and enhance “citizen-scientist” projects back at their own schools.

• In Nacogdoches, Texas, the Friends of the National Forests and Grasslands in Texas, Latino Legacy, and other partners sponsor Niños del Jardin (Children of the Garden). Fourth and fifth grade English-language learners and their families will create two gardens. In addition to the educational and environmental benefits, “the gardens will bring the community together, create connections, get children outside, and create more avenues for face-to-face interaction,” said project coordinator Lyndi Long.

• In Manassas, Virginia, middle-school students at New Dominion Alternative Education Center will create a pollinator garden in the shape of a butterfly, as well as two raised beds to grow vegetables. The school serves a diverse population of at-risk students from throughout the region. According to project organizers Joy Greene and Cynthia Zorn-Pettigrew, the garden will serve as a focal area for the school and allow the students to investigate the positive changes they can make in the environment.

• In Madison, Wisconsin, high school students at Goodman Community Center will plant and maintain a garden, butterfly house, and beehive. In addition to these students, who are in a grounds and maintenance job-training program, the garden will be used by preschool, elementary, and middle school youth involved in other Goodman Center programs. A beekeeper has agreed to bring in a new queen for the hive, and the honey collected will be served in the center’s student-run café!

GreenWorks! is PLT’s service-learning program that engages PLT educators, students, and their communities in “learning-by-doing” neighborhood improvement projects. In this round of grants, funded by the U.S. Forest Service, PLT has partnered with PollinatorLIVE, a distance learning initiative that focuses on pollinators, gardening, and conservation.

Since 1992, Project Learning Tree has distributed nearly $1 million to fund almost 1,000 grant projects in communities across the country.

A photo gallery of the Forest Exchange Boxes, created by PLT's State Coordinator network, is now available online. 
http://www.forestfoundation.org/forest_exchange_boxes_gallery.html

Six Forest Exchange Boxes are now on display in the lobby of the US Mission to the United Nations in New York City to help celebrate the launch of 2011 International Year of Forests.

Project Learning Tree®, a program of the American Forest Foundation, takes kids outdoors and into the woods to experience nature and learn about the importance of forests. This nationwide network of environmental educators and students has compiled and decorated a “Forest Exchange Box” from each state to showcase the unique characteristics of America’s woodlands. These boxes will be displayed at a variety of events across the United States throughout 2011 to celebrate International Year of Forests.

The decision to select just six initially for the display at the US Mission to the UN was especially tough, but Forest Exchange Boxes from Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Montana, New Hampshire, and New Mexico were chosen as great, representative samples. The display will run for two weeks, through February 4th, in conjunction with the UN Forum on Forests meeting and an International Year of Forests reception for UN Delegates and U.S. Administration officials.

The boxes have been compiled by students, of various grade levels, their teachers, and others passionate about forests. Through these boxes we learn who owns and manages forests; the benefits we get from forests – like clean air, water, and recreation; examples of tree and wood products we use every day; and how individuals and communities use, enjoy, and depend on forests.

In March, all 50 state Forest Exchange Boxes, plus one from the District of Columbia, will be displayed on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC in conjunction with a Congressional briefing hosted by AFF on the state of America’s forests, and the role of environmental education in helping inform the next generation about the value of America’s forests.

Check out a photo gallery of the Forest Exchange Boxes

The United Nations designated 2011 as International Year of Forests to promote broader understanding of the importance of forests, and to bolster global efforts to promote sustainable forest management and conservation.

The American Forest Foundation is playing a lead role in developing and facilitating a variety of U.S. celebrations throughout the year. Kicking it off, AFF’s nationwide network of Project Learning Tree environmental educators has compiled and decorated a “Forest Box” from each state to showcase the unique characteristics of America’s woodlands. These boxes will be displayed at a variety of events across the country throughout 2011 – the first being in New York City at the end of this month in conjunction with the UN Forum on Forests meeting and launch of 2011 International Year of Forests.



Forests are an important teaching tool, and these boxes help us experience America’s forests. The boxes have been compiled by students, of various grade levels, and others passionate about their state’s forests. They include natural objects (leaves, nuts, cones, etc.) from different tree species, and examples of tree and wood products we use every day. Drawings, photographs, sound and video recordings, and student written descriptions show the components of forest ecosystems – in urban, suburban, and rural areas. Through these boxes we learn who owns and manages forests; the benefits we get from forests – like clean air, water, and recreation; how individuals and communities use, enjoy, and depend on forests; and what the threats are to forests.

2011 International Year of Forests will be dedicated to raising awareness about the challenges facing the world’s forests today, promoting dialogue about forests and people, and calling to action much needed forest conservation. The global campaign will aim to give people more motivation to help sustain and manage forests for the future. The American Forest Foundation will focus on the state of America’s family forests, and the role of environmental education in helping inform the next generation about the value of America’s forests.

The Fall issue of our Branch e-newsletter will be coming out in just a few weeks! Please visit our website to register to receive it.

Sign up to receive the Branch

The Branch is an award winning, online newsletter that is published quarterly (fall, winter, spring and summer). Each issue features PLT updates, environmental education news, educator tips, environmental education resources, and feature articles.

It could be the “science” news event of the year – and is surely a teachable moment that is being used in classrooms around the world. The environmental and social effects of the Gulf Oil Spill will continue to draw the attention of educators for years to come as we discover more of both the short and long term effects of the spill.

To help educators teach their students about this event using PLT materials, we have put together a list of activities from the PreK-8 Environmental Education Activity Guide, Energy and Society, Forests of the World, and Focus on Risk. In addition to the activities listed, we have also provided links to websites with information on the Gulf Oil Spill. These correlations will be a nice resource to share with your workshop participants – especially those that are in the Gulf area or that are interested in using current events to enhance their lesson planning.

This resource is also posted online at:

http://plt.org/PLT_Activity_Connections_Gulf_Oil_Spill.doc

Scientists will continue to learn more about The Deepwater Horizon blowout and its impacts over time. As we learn of additional resources we will add them to the document.

Wondering what's new with the Project Learning Tree website? Here is a guide to help you find your way through.

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The United Nations General Assembly has designated 2011 as International Year of Forests.

UN observances are used to promote awareness of and action for important political, social, cultural, or human rights issues. 2011’s “Year of Forests” is intended to promote broader understanding of the importance of forests and bolster global efforts to promote sustainable forest management and conservation, for the benefit of current and future generations.

“Year of Forests” is a great opportunity to raise awareness of environmental issues related to forests! While it may seem far away, Project Learning Tree (in conjunction with a variety of partners at the United Nations, the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Forest Service, and the National Association of Conservation Districts) is already planning a series of events and activities that educators can conduct with their students.

The first of these is a specially adapted PLT Environmental Exchange Box Activity, available under "Lesson Plans". Look out for more information on our blog regarding events and activities as information becomes available.

Check out the PLT Environmental Exchange Box Activity that is now posted under "Lesson Plans". This activity has been specially adapted for the the 2011 edition of PLT’s PreK-8 Environmental Education Activity Guide to celebrate the UN 2011 International Year of Forests. Find out more about the UN 2011 International Year of Forests. The activity involves your students in the planning and conducting of a “forest exchange” with another group of students in a different part of the country. Students are encouraged to collect items, samples, data, facts, and reports that will teach your exchange partners about the forests and trees of your region.

Before doing this activity, you’ll need to find another group to exchange with—and we can help! Just fill out the form available in the activity and send it to the National Office of Project Learning Tree, 1111 19th Street, N.W., Suite 780, Washington, DC 20036, or fax it to 202-463-2461, or email it to information@plt.org. We’ll match you with another educator. Please allow at least four weeks for a match.

Once you get your exchange partner, tell your students they are going to exchange “forests” with students in another region. Tell your students that it’s their responsibility to prepare items for the box that will teach your exchange partners about your local forest, or forests and trees in your state. For example, students could include information such as tree species and size, topography, soil type, plant and animal life, endangered or threatened species, shrub density, ground cover, tree products, forest use and management, and local forest issues. You might consider seeking help from local Tree Farmers, county or state foresters, conservation district foresters, or U.S. Forest Service personnel.

Safety note!
Many states have laws regulating the types of plant and animal materials that can cross their borders. Be sure to check with the state or county department of agriculture, or a local office of the agricultural extension service, to find out about restrictions in your exchange partner’s state before you send any plant or animal materials.

When the box arrives from your exchange group, open it with your students and examine its contents!

For more detailed information about conducting this activity, including technology connections, reading connections, and ideas for enrichment, check out the activity online.

“Finding out all of the oxygen and carbon dioxide levels was really cool,” said 8th-grader Ethan Wicker from Oklahoma’s Clyde Boyd Middle School. “Our group is going to explain what we investigated here to our classes so they can understand it, too.”

Ethan is one of about 70 participants from 12 Tulsa-area schools who took part in a two-day Project Learning Tree GreenSchools! training where, alongside educators, students were taught how to investigate and monitor energy, water, and waste so they could, in turn, develop action projects at their campuses.

Articles published in the Sand Springs Leader and Tulsa World newspapers, and stories on local broadcast television, cable, and news talk radio shows, reported on this training and PLT’s growing nationwide initiative to help students improve the environmental quality of their schools.

“This program is designed to let students analyze data and design a student-led project that will impact their school,” said Christina Stallings Roberson, Oklahoma Project Learning Tree Coordinator.

Students learn how monitoring energy can provide immediate savings. These citizen scientists are the ones who are making recommendations to their school boards.

“We are flipping education,” around said Christina. “Through this program, students are really taking charge of their own learning. They are active participants in what is happening in their schools.”

“Our school board and administration is seeing what can be accomplished by a class of middle school students with big hearts from a small town in rural America,” said Carol Holland, 8th-grade science teacher at Inola Middle School. “The students take their challenge seriously as though they are taking on the world. What they are learning is surely impacting their lives. What they share will impact our school and community for years to come.”

Project Learning Tree's Environmental Experiences for Early Childhood has been selected a Learning ^® Magazine 2011 Teachers’ Choice^SM Award winner!

For 17 years, the Learning® magazine Teachers' Choice Awards have heralded the very best in classroom-tested, teacher-recommended products. Each year a nationwide panel of teacher-judges names the standouts in books, classroom supplies, educational games, software, Web sites, and supplemental materials that teachers need for their classroom. After receiving top ratings in rounds of rigorous judging, PLT’s Early Childhood Guide and CD won a 17^th annual Teachers’ Choice Award for supplemental materials.

Here’s some more information about the Teachers’ Choice awards from Learning magazine:

What is the history of the Teachers’ Choice Awards?

In 1994, Learning magazine introduced the first Teachers’ Choice Awards program. Over the years, the program has grown to become one of the most recognized and prestigious awards in the educational market. For the 17th annual program, 60 winners were chosen based on their scores from the evaluations done by a panel of teachers across the country.

How are the products evaluated?

A team of teachers evaluates each product in the classroom. The products are evaluated on quality, instructional value, ease of use, and innovation.

How are the winners selected?

Each product is evaluated on its own merit. Only those products that meet Learning Magazine’s teachers’ stringent standards are chosen to receive a Teachers’ Choice Award.

Educators interested in receiving the PLT Environmental Experiences for Early Childhood can contact their state coordinator to find out about upcoming workshops.

About 70 students and teachers from 10 middle and high schools from the greater Tulsa area are attending a two-day professional development training workshop in Owasso, OK learning how to conduct school-wide investigations in five areas: energy use, waste and recycling, water, school site, and environmental quality (such as indoor air quality, school transportation, and use of chemicals). As one of the facilitators of this workshop, I’m teaching teams of middle- and high-school students, alongside their teachers – and this is what makes Project Learning Tree’s GreenSchools! program so unique.

The usual target of professional development workshops are teachers. However, the Green Teams from PLT’s GreenSchools! are dominated by students – and also feature community members. This creates a high-energy atmosphere for the workshop and provides a new opportunity for the students to take a leadership role.

Yesterday, day one of the training, teams shared their perspective of their schools’ current environmental performance. This provides a starting point for each team.

“We rated ourselves a 1 but we believe we have endless possibilities for improvement,” said Sarah Ghazi-Moradi, a student at 8th Grade Center, Owasso, OK.

Today, day two of the training, I’ll help lead the teams more deeply into each GreenSchool! investigation.

Service-learning is the foundation of PLT’s GreenSchools! program. When the Green Teams return to their schools, the students will start a process to investigate their schools’ environmental footprint in the five areas and, based on their findings, design and implement an action project designed to improve the health and environmental quality of their own school — and measure its impact.

Thanks to Learn and Serve America and the US Forest Service for helping to make this program possible.

This article by Olivia Griset, 2009 PLT National Outstanding Educator, was published in the February 2010 “Going Green” issue of The Science Teacher, the peer-reviewed high school journal of the National Science Teachers Association (http://www.nsta.org/highschool/). The article includes the adapted activity “Cast of Thousands” from PLT’s secondary module The Changing Forest: Forest Ecology. For more information, contact iaoun@forestfoundation.org.

An experiential environmental education course primarily using the school grounds as a field site was designed as an elective at Lisbon High School in Lisbon Falls, Maine, in 2005. Since then, the class has attracted diverse learners and regularly has a waiting list. While the school’s setting does facilitate the logistics of outdoor learning, it is this teacher’s belief that field-based experience benefits students no matter the size and ecology of the available site. Community experts, including a forester and woodlot owner, have helped make the learning relevant, and have also served as real-world role models for “green” careers. At-risk students normally disengaged in traditional classroom and lab settings have excelled in the course, many going on to take three or four science electives. Discussions about current environmental controversies in the state and service learning opportunities have also emerged as students conduct field investigations.