2005 Outstanding Educators

Mary Cutler
Naturalist, Tippecanoe County Parks & Recreation

Indiana PLT Coordinator Donna Rogler (left) with Mary Cutler.

Mary Cutler is the Naturalist at Tippecanoe County Parks and Recreation in West Lafayette, Indiana. Her involvement with Project Learning Tree began almost 20 years ago when she became a PLT facilitator. After graduating with a B.S. in Nature interpretation from Purdue University in 1980, Mary began her career with the Tippecanoe County Parks and Recreation Department. She immediately began looking for ways to incorporate EE programs within the department. From that quest, a series of natural history programs evolved. Then, Mary, along with other staff members, worked toward the opening of the community’s nature center. Today, Mary oversees the county’s two nature centers, supervises a volunteer staff of 75 docents, and designs the centers’ exhibits. Mary is an exemplary environmental educator. She gives her time freely where EE is concerned. She works one-on-one with teachers in Indiana to develop well-balanced and appropriate supplemental EE programs. She creates specific curriculum-based programs that connect her with grade levels K - 8th. Mary also works with superintendents, principals, and curriculum coordinators to help them understand the benefits of EE and its place within the curriculum. Mary has continuously promoted PLT since becoming a facilitator. She tirelessly conducts workshops for teachers, preservice teachers, scout and 4-H leaders, and camp counselors. As a testament to her dedication to PLT, in 2003 Indiana PLT named her the PLT Facilitator of the Year!

Linda Desai
Education Director & Co-Founder, Placer Nature Center

California PLT Coordinator Kay Antunez (left) and Linda Desai

Linda Desai is the Education Director and co-founder of the Placer Nature Center (PNC). In this capacity, she develops all types of environmental education programs for preschool through high school students. She also seeks donations and grants to develop exhibits and special programs for the nature center. Her passion for Project Learning Tree and environmental education is evident in her drive and ability to turn her big ideas into action. Linda’s commitment to EE grew out of a love for the land that she developed at a very early age. That young appreciation for nature followed her through graduation from Michigan State University, with a Bachelors in Conservation Education. She then went on to earn her Master of Science degree in the same major and her teaching credential. With a vested interest in EE - that is, with her three boys in school - Linda took her first PLT workshop in 1990 and became a facilitator in 1992. She wanted to see more EE components in her sons’ classroom curriculum. From there, Linda turned her personal passion into a full-fledged nature center! In 1991, Linda co-founded the PNC and became its education director. In this role, she utilizes PLT activities, develops programs that use the AKCA phases, and sprinkles PLT activities into many of her on and off-site programs.

Peggy Herbert
Fourth Grade Teacher, Henniker Community School

Peggy Herbert (center) with New Hampshire PLT Coordinators Esther Cowles (left) and Beth Lesure (right)

Peggy Herbert is a fourth grade teacher at Henniker Community School in Henniker, New Hampshire. She has been involved in environmental education throughout her teaching career. Putting her knowledge of PLT to good use in the classroom to benefit her students is an essential element of her teaching style. Environmental activities and concepts are woven throughout all topics in Peggy’s curriculum. She also finds ways to incorporate her commitment to studying the local environment. In fact, she incorporates a yearlong unit on New Hampshire history and a study of forestry in the state, using PLT’s AKCA learning process each year. Her passion for environmental education and PLT doesn’t stop at the classroom door. In fact, though she plans to retire at the end of the school year, she already plans to spend her retirement as a volunteer for New Hampshire PLT! In 2003, she encouraged four other Henniker Community School teachers to attend a New Hampshire PLT summer institute for teachers - making the Henniker team one of the largest and most enthusiastic! These are just short glimpses into the environmentally aware world that Peggy is creating around her - one lesson and person at a time.

Larry Kowalski
Science Specialist, Midway Elementary School

South Carolina PLT Coordinator Jerry Shrum (left) and Larry Kowalski

Larry Kowalski is a science specialist teaching third, fourth and fifth grade students at Midway Elementary School in Anderson, South Carolina. He retired from teaching in 2000 but was asked to stay as a science specialist when his old school closed and the new school, Midway Elementary, was just opening its doors. When they asked, he accepted. Larry’s commitment to his students is extraordinary. In his current position he has the opportunity to teach many PLT activities through both classroom activities and extracurricular events. He takes students on overnight field studies, has created an environmental club and a Saturday science club; and leads students on school improvement projects, planting activities, and recycling programs to name just a few. In all these activities, he uses PLT as the context for learning. He hasn’t been shy about promoting and sustaining PLT in his area either. Trained as a PLT facilitator in 2000, Larry used his strong belief and position in PLT to springboard him to training over 100 fellow educators in five PLT workshops. He also serves on the South Carolina PLT Steering Committee as an educational representative. Through Larry’s leadership, PLT has become one of the most used supplementary curricula in the upstate that easily meets the needs of the district.

Leon Mays
High School Teacher, A. D. Harris High School

Florida PLT Coordinator Jenny Seitz (left) and Leon Mays

Leon Mays is a classroom educator at A.D. Harris High School in Panama City, Florida. This particular school is a dropout prevention school. So, Leon had to find alternative ways to reach his students. PLT served as a perfect tool. First, Leon had his students take an active role in beautifying their school grounds. They reseeded the grass and planted native plants donated by a local nursery. Students could see the “fruits of their labors” by spring. He then earned a grant for the materials to put together a “meditation” garden. The students completed this garden with a fish pond and three pagodas. After receiving the school district award for ground beautification, Leon and his students were asked to meet with a local company to look into developing an outdoor classroom. During this meeting, PLT was brought up as a resource for further expanding environmental knowledge. From there, Leon led A.D. Harris High to become a full-fledged PLT school. Since 1997, he has held PLT educator workshops to train the entire staff of teachers. Besides training his entire staff in PLT, Leon has also helped create and maintain their annual Woods Week. In this capacity, teachers have used almost every activity in the PLT PreK-8 Activity Guide over the last seven years! During the week, teachers focus on activities that increase awareness and build students’ knowledge-base around environmental concepts or themes.

During the Outstanding Educator Luncheon

Susan Castillo, Superintendent, Oregon Department of Education, delivers the keynote address during the luncheon.

Michelle Martin from Mead4Teachers (co-sponsor, along with MeadWestvaco, of the 2005 PLT Outstanding Educator Awards Program) speaking during the Outstanding Educator Luncheon

Leon Mays, Peggy Herbert, and Linda Desai await congratulations from Jim Stark (Vice Chair of National PLT Education Operating Committee) (left) and Richard Roper (Trustee, American Forest Foundation (right).

From Left to Right: Kathy McGlauflin (Director of PLT), Leslie Lehmann (Executive Director of Oregon Forest Resource Institute), Mary Cutler (Indiana), Peggy Herbert (New Hampshire), Leon Mays (Florida), Linda Desai (California), Larry Kowalski (South Carolina), Norie Dimeo-Ediger (Oregon PLT), Susan Sahnow (Oregon PLT Coordinator)

From left to right: Kathy McGlauflin (Director of PLT) Mary Cutler (Indiana), Peggy Herbert (New Hampshire), Leon Mays (Florida), Linda Desai (California), Larry Kowalski (South Carolina), and Michelle Martin (Mead4Teachers)