By: Lucia Botnaru, serving with the West Virginia Division of Forestry!
When I became the Education and Outreach Aide for the West Virginia Division of Forestry, I was looking forward to teaching others about the environment. Since my arrival in West Virginia I learned about Project Learning Tree (PLT) - a program that has helped me discover engaging teaching modules. PLT is an environmental education program made for educators to work with children from preschool to grade 12. PLT has been training teachers and educating students about the environment since the mid-1970s and is used in all 50 states. According to the PLT website, the program “reached 138 million students and trained 765,000 educators!”
I serve with Linda Carnell, the PLT State Coordinator for West Virginia. Together, we deliver workshops and teach PLT activities to other educators and students. These workshops are delivered in-person, last for about six hour and offer hands-on experiences. Sometimes the PLT workshops are delivered in conjunction with other education programs, like Project WET or WILD. Project WET, or Water Education Today, is a water science education program that is hosted by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Project WILD is a conservation and environmental program that focuses on wildlife and is hosted by the Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR). If workshops are run collaboratively, we decide on the workshop’s main topic and use the PLT book to select relevant activities.
One of the recent collaborative workshops was the joint PLT/PWET Early Childhood workshop where I taught activities from the Environmental Experiences for Early Childhood book for many Girl Scout troop leaders. The Early Childhood book isn’t the only one PLT has to offer; there are many to choose from like Discover Your Urban Forest, Green Jobs: Exploring Forest Careers, Trillions of Trees, Biodiversity Blitz, Nature of Fire, Carbon & Climate, and many more!
Practice session for the Early Childhood Workshop.
Teaching PLT activities at the Early Childhood Workshop to Girl Scout troop leaders.
The best activities selected for the workshops are the ones that don’t take too long, have an accessible supply list and are representative of a general topic that is relevant to a broad range of people. The days leading up to the workshop involve practicing the activities and collecting the needed supplies. Then, during the workshop—which is usually attended by teachers, after school educators, or librarians—we will discuss the PLT, carry out some of the activities, and distribute the PLT book, so that our participants can take it to their own sites and students.
The workshops have been successful and have allowed me to practice my own teaching abilities, as well as observe what educators have to go through to create better experiences for their students. Project Learning Tree is an important program that gets kids outdoors and learning about their environment, supports STEM education, and raises awareness on issues impacting the environment. One of the goals of this program is to teach youth the necessary knowledge to create positive change to their world and community.
We currently have another workshop about Climate planned for Saturday, February 12th in Charleston, WV in conjunction with Project WET. This workshop is based on the PLT book: Southeastern Forests and Climate Change. If you’re interested in using PLT or would like to attend a workshop, please contact the West Virginia PLT State Coordinator, Linda Carnell, at her email: Linda.O.Carnell@wv.gov. For more information on the program, refer to the PLT website here.
