Washington, D.C. – Project Learning Tree (PLT), the environmental education program of the American Forest Foundation, named Anne Bohnet of Aiken, South Carolina, a 2006 National Outstanding Educator of the Year.  Bohnet is one of five environmental educators selected nationwide and will receive her award on May 9 during PLT’s 20th International Coordinators’ Conference, May 8-12, in Virginia Beach, Virginia.  The award honors educators who demonstrate a strong commitment to environmental education, exceptional teaching skills, and exemplary use of PLT.

Bohnet is director of the Science and Technology Enrichment Program for the Ruth Patrick Science Education Center at the University of South Carolina in Aiken (USCA). Bohnet has been actively involved in the environmental education community for her entire career. She uses PLT activities as a basis for teaching both her students and her peers. She develops natural resource educational programs for students in grades 3-12 and develops their interest in environmental careers by teaching science lessons outdoors in a natural environment and instructing them in the use of scientific tools. 

“Anne is a true advocate of environmental education and her infusion of Project Learning Tree materials into her lessons and program make her the epitome of what PLT’s Outstanding Educator award represents,” said Jerry Shrum, South Carolina PLT Coordinator and Environmental Education Coordinator with the S.C. Forestry Commission.

Bohnet exemplifies PLT’s “awareness to action” philosophy of environmental education.  She brings groups of students from select high schools in the Aiken area to the Savannah River Site to work side by side with experienced scientists.  Students collect data from the site and determine the best course of action for managing five acres of public forestland, for example a thinning, a prescribed burn, or a clear cut.  Empowered by increased awareness and knowledge, students explore different viewpoints, challenge ideas and values, and seek consensus on a course of responsible action.  They get hands-on experience using forestry tools and monitoring the results of a project.

Since becoming a PLT facilitator in 1994, she has trained more than 500 teachers from Georgia and South Carolina in the use of PLT and other environmental education curricula.  Bohnet introduces preservice teachers at the University of South Carolina-Aiken to PLT and writes PLT activities into the curriculum of many educational programs she works with.  She leads annual PLT wildland fire education workshops for PreK-12 teachers.

For more information please contact Brigitte Johnson, Director of Communications, 202.463.5163, email bjohnson@forestfoundation.org or visit PLT at www.plt.org.  Photos are available upon request.

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 students’ 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 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 informed decision-making about our communities and our world.
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