By Lola Olvera, ENC Communications Intern
It’s not only students who learn, but teachers as well. For our Teacher’s Day Out event at the ENC on April 1 from 9:00 am – 4:00 pm, we’re bringing you the wisdom of Project Learning Tree, an organization which provides educational workshops for teachers, parents and students. Its goal, which the ENC shares, is to encourage students to reconnect with nature and learn through helping the environment.
Laura Councilor, a field naturalist with over 15 years of experience working with K-12 youth, will introduce teachers to Greenworks! and demonstrate how to integrate Project learning Tree activities into their lesson plans, with a focus on grades K-5. Teachers will receive PLT’s PreK-8 Environmental Education Activity Guide, jampacked with 96 fun activities, more than half which take students outdoors.
According to the PLT website, through outdoor learning, “students learn that they can make a difference in the world and that they are part of the solution for creating a sustainable society.”
Laura will go over how to make learning activities community-oriented, green, and beneficial for local wildlife. ENC Naturalist Fiorella Gardella will share how citizen science can take students’ and teachers’ knowledge into the real world.
As supplies are limited for the Teachers Day Out event, please register only if you are sure you can attend. If your plans change, please contact us so someone else has the opportunity to experience the workshop! Additionally, if you are interested in sponsoring lunch for this event, please contact Lori Whalen.
All PLT certified teachers who attend this training will be eligible to apply to the GreenSchools grant programs. Since the last application period, 5,000 students from 16 states benefitted from Greenworks! Grants, giving them the funds to “plant trees, restore native habitats, create school gardens and outdoor classrooms, conserve rainwater and mitigate storm water.”
Grant applications will become available this spring on the PLT website. The deadline to apply is September 30.
Register for Teachers Day Out HERE.