Tuesday, March 24, 2009

New Branches on a 33 Year Old Project Learning Tree! News for Facilitators, Friends and Educators

Welcome to my new Colorado PLT blog, where I will share tidbits, news, ideas, and events with Colorado PLT educators, facilitators and friends. I'll update it often with local, state and national PLT news. Please share your comments, reflections, experiences and ideas about Colorado PLT.
Much, but not all, of this information is also available in the Branch, PLT's national e-newsletter.

Enjoy!

PLT UPDATES

GreenWorks! Grants Applications Due April 30
Now accepting applications for the Spring 2009 funding cycle! Applications are due on April 30th and can be found under the GreenWorks! section of PLT’s website. Workshops and trainings are one of the best places to promote GreenWorks! since all of the participants will have just received training in PLT – one of the first elibility requirements for application!

GreenWorks! Winners
107 applications for the Fall 2008 GreenWorks! grants were submitted and 41 proposals were selected for funding (27 projects in the $250 - $1,000 category; 14 projects in the $1,001 - $5,000 category) in the following states: AR, AZ, CA, CO, FL, IA, IN, MI, ME, MN, MO, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, UT, VA, WI and Guam!

Colorado winners are: Denver's East High School and Indian Ridge Elementary in Centennial. Read about their winning projects

Gateway Elementary School in Woodland Park was one of 17 proposals selected to receive funding as part of MonarchLIVE GreenWorks! Butterfly Garden grant program. This program is a result of a partnership that started in October 2008 between PLT and the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Prince William Network. Forty proposals were received from schools and community organizations nationwide requesting funds of up to $1000 to create butterfly gardens. The winning proposals showed strong connections to other community partners, targeted a diverse student body, and emphasized student involvement.

Billy B Sings About Trees
The new Billy B CD is now available! Parents, grandparents, and educators can use Billy B's fun and educational CD (with 19 high energy songs) to engage kids in learning about trees, forests, and people who work the land. Lyrics for the songs are included in the CD, and correlations have been made to PLT's PreK-8 Guide activities. Download orderform here.

Every Student Learns Outside
Have you checked out this website lately? We’ve added more success stories to our collection about educators and their students who use PLT in the outdoors, and more “Connecting Kids to Nature” activity pages. These pages, based on PLT activities, are designed to engage “non-educators” (e.g. parents and families) and their children, grandchildren, neighbors’ or friends’ children in the outdoors. They can be downloaded as pdf files from our "Every Student Learns Outside" website http://www.learnoutside.org/.

PLT Ads in NSTA Journals
Did you notice the 4-color ads in the February issues of the National Science Teachers Association professional journals? An ad for PLT’s new CD Project Learning Tree Presents: Billy B Sings About Trees was in the elementary school journal Science & Children (circ. 21,000); an ad for GreenWorks! was in the middle school journal Science Scope (circ. 18,000); and an ad for GreenSchools! was in the high school journal The Science Teacher (circ. 28,500). In addition to the usual circulation, the February issues of each of these magazines was distributed to an additional 20,000 people!

ASSORTED ITEMS OF PROFESSIONAL INTEREST
2009 FEI! Sign up now, and tell your friends!
Learn about the 2009 Colorado Fire Ecology Institute for Educators at http://coloradofei.blogspot.com/

Denver area:
USGS Free GPS, Map, & Compass Classes on the second Friday of each month. The sessions are held in Building 810 on the Denver Federal Center, Lakewood; Map & Compass sessions are in the morning, 9 a.m. -11 a.m., and "Using GPS with Topo Maps" are presented in the afternoon, 12p.m.-4 p.m. You may sign up for either or both classes. Call for reservations 303-202-4689 or write to gpsworkshops@usgs.gov

Nominate a Young Environmental Activist for a $2,500 Barron PrizeApplication Deadline: April 30. The Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes honors young people ages 8 to 18 who have made a significant positive difference to people and our planet. Every year, ten national winners receive $2,500 to support their service work or higher education endeavors. Half of each year’s winners are chosen for their work to protect the environment and half are selected for their efforts to help their communities and fellow citizens.

Online Professional Development Series
The National Youth Leadership Council (NYLC) is offering an easy and cost-effective alternative to tight professional development budgets and travel restrictions: four online webinars for educators and service-learning practitioners.Each presentation will be offered twice on the day of the event and can be purchased through NYLC's online bookstore for $29. When you register online, choose the session that best fits your schedule.
Service-Learning Then and Now - April 1, 2009
Service-Learning Research - April 22, 2009
Service-Learning Curriculum in Practice - May 20, 2009

Finally.....
Remember “The Story of Stuff” from the email Shawna sent out to Colorado facilitators last spring? It generated lots of comments and feedback, most of it positive-but not all! It was also chosen by the selection committee to be shown at our Colorado Environmental Film Festival in Oct and nearly won in the best short film category! Well, this just in from the makers of that little controversial (at least in Colorado!) film!

“Dear Fan of Free Range Studios’: It's already been a year since we launched The Story of Stuff — a tour through our materials economy that became an internet viral sensation. Now we've got something new to celebrate the birthday of a short film that became a movement! The Story of Stuff is going international and multi-lingual! Four and a half million English speakers have seen The Story of Stuff, but until now, the rest of the world has been left in the dark. Well, we heard from the rest of the world with thousands of offers from volunteers to translate the movie. We took them up on their offer, and now you can share with your international friendsthe gift of knowledge and hope for a sustainable future. www.storyofstuff.com/international/ .
Happiness does not come from stuff, but from the riches of community connection and empathy for our planet and its living creatures. We hope you will get a little more happiness from sharing this message with your friends around the world: We’d love to hear what you think about this project, so please email us at storyofstuff@freerangestudios.com.”