Washington, D.C. — Project Learning Tree^® (PLT), the environmental education program of the American Forest Foundation, trained 42 teachers from the award-winning Centennial Place Elementary School in Atlanta, Ga, during the first week of November, as part of the PLT in the City initiative. PLT in the City is a targeted initiative that provides urban educators and their students with quality environmental education and involves them in environmental community action projects.

This professional development experience led educators through PLT lessons in integrating and infusing environmental education with their state education standards-teaching students how to think, not what to think about the environment. The 42 educators from Centennial joined over 80 additional trained teachers from M. Agnes Jones Elementary School and pre-service teachers from Spelman and Morehouse Colleges-part of the total PLT in the City initiative. Together, these teachers will educate more than 600 students in the coming year alone. Now PLT trained, the educators and their students will have the opportunity to address an environmental issue in the community with assistance from PLT's GreenWorks! Service-Learning program-linking students with their communities.

The workshop was co-facilitated by Caroline Alston, Associate Director of Community Programs for Project Learning Tree, and Courtney Smith and Malisha Brown of the Interdenominational Theological Center of Atlanta. Georgia-Pacific Corporation funded the PLT in the City initiative in Atlanta.

"This is a great opportunity to bring environmental education to students in urban areas," Alston said. "Very often, when students gain environmental perspective, they quickly become a part of the solution-this is the essence of PLT in the City."

Centennial Place Elementary School teachers already have ideas for a recycling program and additional improvements to their outdoor classroom.

For more information please contact Amanda Rudy, Communications Coordinator, 202.463.2442, Email arudy@forestfoundation.org or visit PLT at www.plt.org.

Project Learning Tree^® (PLT) is the environmental education program of the American Forest Foundation. 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. Developed in 1976, PLT has an international network of more than 300,000 trained educators using six curricula covering the total environment. The American Forest Foundation, a nonprofit organization, works for healthy forests, quality environmental education, and informed decision-making about our communities and our world.