New Hampshire — New Hampshire's Project Learning Tree (PLT) plans to put its pilot program, Connecting Schools to People and Place, to the test at Woodsville Elementary School in Woodsville, N.H., thanks to a $35,000 grant from the Dorr Foundation of New York and an additional grant from Chocorua Forestlands LLC of New Hampshire. PLT is the environmental education program of the American Forest Foundation, based in Washington D.C.

"We really feel honored that Project Learning Tree chose Woodsville Elementary School for the pilot program," David James, principal of Woodsville Elementary School said. "Children learn best through an integrated day and Project Learning Tree creates such an environment."

Project Learning Tree's Connecting Schools to People and Place is designed as a model school improvement program, based on the environment and focused on sustained and intensive professional development. The program's development reflects the findings of the State Education and Environmental Roundtable's (SEER) 1998 research results stating that students in classrooms that use the environment as an integrating context (EIC) performed better academically than those in traditionally structured courses. The study further revealed that, as a majority, educators saw an improvement in both student enthusiasm and engagement, as well in student behavior, as a result of using EIC.

"We are very excited to get this program up and running," James said. "This innovative program generates a lot of excitement about the environment while providing an opportunity for me to work with talented educators who share the commitment of enhancing not only environmental education but the curriculum as a whole."

With the Dorr Foundation's grant, New Hampshire PLT will work with Woodsville Elementary School for three years, to place environmental education at the core of its curriculum. Through the program's implementation faculty and staff will be trained in environmental education and relationships will be established with community members eager to support their schools in an environment-focused curriculum.

The Dorr Foundation supports curriculum design and enhancement for science programs in grades 6-12. Grants range from $5,000 to $30,000 and are given to schools and schools systems. The foundation suggests that projects should be models for replication so that schools nationwide can benefit.

Chocorua Forestlands, LLC owns forestland and forest products businesses in New Hampshire, including A&B Lumber Company, H.G. Wood Industries, and Ossipee Mountain Land Company. They are committed to investing in local programs that help teachers and students better understand the many ways we benefit from abundant and healthy forests.

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 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 to help people make informed decisions about our communities and our world.