Washington, D.C. – Project Learning Tree (PLT), the environmental education program of the American Forest Foundation, has recently awarded 37 community grants for its GreenWorks! service learning projects across the country.  For the past 12 years, Project Learning Tree has complemented its service learning initiative, GreenWorks!, with this substantial grant award program.  The grants are awarded in the preceding year, 2004, and are set for completion during 2005.

GreenWorks! projects partner PLT educators, students, and communities with responsible environmental action to make a lasting impact.  Both service learning and community service projects provide opportunities for students to recognize and address important environmental community issues.  Such opportunities help students expand their academic and personal growth while developing an understanding of civic responsibility.  The projects help make a difference in how students think, in changing their sense of responsibility toward their communities, and in strengthening their understanding of their relationship with the environment.

Caroline Alston, PLT Director, Network Outreach & Partnerships, states, “Every year I am just amazed at the quality of grant proposals we receive.  It is so rewarding to know that with a GreenWorks! grant so many students and PLT educators can positively impact their communities now and in the future.” 

Since 1992, PLT has distributed more than $270,000 to 613 grant projects in communities across the country.

The following are some of the projects that will take place in communities across the country during 2005:

* In Oakhurst, Calif., six graders from 30 elementary schools will adopt and manage an acre of land at the Calvin Crest Outdoor School.  This project will provide students with a service-learning opportunity to help prevent the spread of wildfire, to enhance wildlife habitat, and improve the overall health of the forest.
* In Oakley, Kan., the Logan County Outdoor Classroom will continue its expansion as a environmental education site where students can increase their knowledge of wildlife habitats, study the natural balance of an ecosystem, and learn about aquatic life.
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* In Fall River, Mass., the Trustees of Reservations, a nonprofit conservation organization, will work with Dartmouth High School’s horticulture class to establish and manage a tree nursery for the purpose of propagating and restoring critical species in the Bioreserve.  Students will be introduced to silviculture and increase their awareness of the region’s trees and biodiversity.
* In Galloway, N.J., in an effort to save the diamondback terrapin in this community, 4th graders from the Galloway Community Charter School, with the help of volunteers from the Bayside Environmental Center of Ocean and the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, will care for several hatchlings during the year.  In the process, student will learn about terrapin behavior, the ecology of the estuary ecosystem, and the growing pollution problems associated with the New Jersey shoreline.
* In Randleman, N.C., campers and staff of Woodmen Youth Camp will continue with their goal to plant native hardwoods in their arboretum.
* In Poland, Maine, the Terrestrial Biology class at Poland Regional High School, in partnership with the Tripp Lake Improvement Association, the Androscoggin Soil & Water District, and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, will conduct an erosion restoration project on Tripp Lake.
* In Castle Rock, Colo., 4th and 5th graders will create an outdoor classroom environment to accommodate cross-curricular student learning and support native wild life.
* In Columbus, Ohio, students at the Columbus School for Girls will identify and mark 20 significant trees on the property to encourage continued learning about native tree species.
* In Simpsonville, S.C., the Oakview Youth Garden Club will develop a service-learning project to attract bluebirds to the community by building bluebird houses and placing them on a local school campus and in the surrounding community.

All grantees receive the 64-page guide, GreenWorks! Connecting Community Action and Service Learning, that provides critical service learning information from assessment to evaluation.

For more information about GreenWorks! and Project Learning Tree visit www.plt.org or contact Brigitte Johnson, APR, Director of Communications, 202.463.5163,  bjohnson@forestfoundation.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 a network of more than 500,000 trained educators using six curricula covering the total environment.  The American Forest Foundation, a nonprofit organization, works for healthy forests, quality environmental education, and to help people make informed decisions about our communities and our world.
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