FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  

 May 10, 2004        

PROJECT LEARNING TREE^Ò TO HOLD
INTERNATIONAL EDUCATORS CONFERENCE IN BISMARK, N. D.

Washington, D.C. – Project Learning Tree (PLT), the leading environmental education program of the American Forest Foundation, is holding its 18th International Project Learning Tree Coordinators’ Conference in Bismark, N.D., June 2-June 6, 2004. 

The conference, hosted by the North Dakota Forest Service and the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction, will feature five days of educational seminars, general sessions, and tours with local, state, and national officials and volunteers.  PLT partners with more than 120 state volunteer coordinators to implement their program in communities across the country, in U.S. Territories, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Sweden, Slovakia, China, Finland, Brazil, Jordan, and the Philippines.

On Thursday, June 3, PLT will honor five outstanding educators at its award luncheon.  This annual award honors PLT trained educators who demonstrate a strong commitment to environmental education, exceptional teaching skills, exemplary use of PLT in classroom projects, and sustained use of PLT.  Keynote speaker at the ceremony is Dr. Wayne Sanstead, Superintendent, North Dakota Department of Public Instruction.

For more than 28 years, PLT remains one of the most highly regarded PreK-12 environmental education programs in the U.S. and abroad.  The program’s multi-disciplinary approach uses readily available resources from the natural and built environment to help students gain awareness and knowledge of the work around them.

In 2003, more than 18,500 educators participated in approximately 1,100 PLT professional development workshops.  Currently more than 500,000 educators use PLT’s supplemental curriculum materials that meet state and national education standards.

Project Learning Tree (PLT) uses the forest as a “window on the world” to increase student’s understanding of our complex environment and to help students learn the skills they need to make sound choices about the environment.  The American Forest Foundation, a nonprofit organization, works for healthy forests, quality environmental education, and to help people make informed decisions about our communities and our world.