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Washington, D.C. – Project Learning Tree® (PLT), the environmental education program of the American Forest Foundation, has recently awarded 33 community grants for its GreenWorks! service learning projects across the country. For the past 13 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, 2005, and are set for completion during 2006. 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. Since 1992, Project Learning Tree has distributed approximately $310,000 to 654 grant projects in communities across the country. The following are some of the projects that will take place in communities across the country during 2006: · Oil City Elementary Magnet School, Oil City, LAStudents will work on the development of a bird viewing station and a fruit orchard that will enhance the nature/exercise trail that is used by both students and the community. The students will develop observation, measurement, and classification skills while completing the project. · Merced County Office of Education, Merced, CASpecial Education students will plan, plant, maintain, and harvest the "Atwater Transition Center GreenWorks! Garden." The students will learn to respect and understand the environment while learning about good nutrition. They will share their produce and flowers with local hospital patients and residents of a Senior Citizens home. · Great Meadows Regional School District, Great Meadows, NJMiddle school students, Boy Scouts, and a local church will bring history to life by creating a school garden focused on "planting the past." The project connects with both their Language Arts and Social Studies curriculums. A Project Learning Tree workshop will be conducted for teachers. · Stillwater High School, Stillwater, OKHigh school students will visit elementary schools and nursing homes to educate students and residents about trees and plants. The students will assist elementary students and seniors to pot plants and plant trees on local sites including city parks. Students will be applying math, science, and general business skills during the project. · University of Houston – Clear Lake/Environmental Institute of Houston (EIH), Houston, TXElementary, high school, and university preservice teachers will combine their talents and labor to design and construct a "School Habitat Demonstration Lab." The lab area will be used for workshops that will target teachers, community leaders, government officials and others that are interested in constructing wetlands and using native plants. The area will also host environmental education workshops for preservice teachers and classroom educators. 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 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. COPYRIGHT © 2004 - PROJECT LEARNING TREE |