Project Learning Tree has recently awarded 20 GreenWorks! grants to schools and organizations across the country for environmental service-learning projects. Nearly 5,000 students in 16 states will “learn by doing” through a variety of projects they help design and implement to conserve and improve the environment.
By working together with their peers and community members, young people are learning to become good environmental citizens and to lead by example. GreenWorks! projects also provide students with opportunities to apply STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) to solve real-world challenges. Students learn that they can make a difference in the world and that they are part of the solution for creating a sustainable society.
Since 1992, PLT has distributed more than $1 million to fund more than 1,000 PLT GreenWorks! action projects in communities across the country. The GreenWorks! grants awarded this year, thanks in part to some funding from the U.S. Forest Service, will enable preschool through high school students to plant trees, restore native habitats, create school gardens and outdoor classrooms, conserve rainwater and mitigate storm water.
For example, with GreenWorks! support:
- In Columbia, SC, 7th grade students will build rain gardens on Dent Middle School’s campus to mitigate storm water. They proposed the idea in response to a flood that ravaged the area in October 2015.
- In Pukalani, HI, students at King Kekaulike High School will remove invasive species and restore a dryland forest site in the mountains of Maui.
- In Asheville, NC, Glen Arden Elementary students will learn about the importance of pollinators for our food, economy, and healthy ecosystems. They will put their knowledge into practice and support pollinators by creating pollinator gardens on their school campus.
Learn about all 20 funded projects.
The deadline to apply for a GreenWorks! grant is September 30. Application forms will be made available in the spring from www.plt.org/resources/greenworks-grants.
There is historic new federal funding available for environmental education through the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The new grant program under Title IV, Part A, Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants will help states, districts, and schools provide students with a more well-rounded education. It focuses on safe and healthy students, how technology can be integrated into schools to improve teaching and learning, as well as emphasizing a variety of disciplines that provide a well-rounded education — including environmental education.
Why Environmental Education is Important
Project Learning Tree’s GreenSchools program provides teachers and students across the country with training and resources to create healthier schools (and save money!), all while improving students’ academic performance in STEM subjects. At the heart of the program, which began in 2008, is a set of GreenSchools Investigations that provide a blueprint for student Green Teams to examine their school’s energy use, waste and recycling, water consumption, school site, and environmental quality (such as indoor air quality, school transportation, and use of chemicals.)
New Adult Leader Guide
Project Learning Tree is now accepting applications for the next round of PLT GreenWorks! grants. Schools and community programs that wish to improve the environment are encouraged to apply. Grants up to $1,000 are available and funding will be distributed in January 2017. You must have attended a PLT professional development workshop either in person or online to be eligible to receive a grant.
As a teacher, you may have already seen the benefits of incorporating nature-based activities in your classroom. Perhaps you’ve seen your students work better together when they spend time outdoors, or you’ve seen the enthusiasm they have for hands-on projects about the environment. 
Project Learning Tree state programs offer educators the opportunity to tour their state’s forests and learn about forest management practices. These multi-day teachers’ tours and week-long forestry institutes immerse educators in the social, economic, and ecological aspects of sustainable forestry.
apply for a tour, although preference is sometimes given to full-time classroom teachers. In most cases, teachers can earn continuing education credits, college credits, or professional development credits from your school district.
n, there’s a lot of time spent in the woods, meeting and learning from natural resource professionals in the field and seeing first-hand the work they conduct on a daily basis.
product manufacturing facilities, view wildlife conservation efforts, and harvesting and replanting operations.
How is a stream crossing engineered and built to minimize the effects of applied forces and the transfer of momentum?
workshops I have ever attended and one of the most educational. I will use what I have learned and my students will benefit!” – Loretta Hargroder, Louisiana teacher
“I can tell that a lot of time, thought and consideration has gone into how the [California’s Forestry Institute for Teachers] program is structured. My knowledge and understanding of issues surrounding our forests has increased dramatically. I appreciated hearing from people in the field (loggers, forest service, researchers, environmentalists, park service, foresters, industry people, etc.) I feel better prepared to share what I know and to bring forestry to my students.” – California educator
daunting array of threats that will require a new generation of leaders with top science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills—and an awareness and appreciation for the natural world.
Project Learning Tree has published many more activities in its “Connecting Kids to Nature” series. These easy-to-do family activities help connect children to the outdoors and nature in ways that are both fun and educational. 
Included in the guide is a new series of “Green Your Home” checklists that can help your family decide what you might do together to improve the environment of your own home. For example, identify ways you can conserve water and lower your energy bills. Analyze how you currently dispose of items and ways you can reduce waste, reuse items, recycle, and compost. Answer these yes or no questions and then make a plan as a family to make some simple changes around your home. 
Explore what individual and collective actions you and your students can take to improve the health, safety, and environmental quality of your school or early childhood center around 5 topic areas. You’ll discover how reducing your school’s environmental footprint is not only good for your health, your children’s health, and the health of the environment, but also can save your school money. 
Spring is an amazing season for engaging students in making observations about the environmental changes happening all around them. New bird species appear, flowers begin to bloom, and trees that were once bereft of leaves are all at once covered in flowers and bright green leaves. 