2011 Outstanding Educators: Honoring Excellence Deep in the Heart of Texas
Kathy McGlauflin is the Director of Project Learning Tree and Senior Vice President of Education for the American Forest Foundation.
It was a pleasure to celebrate/eat chocolate cake with five outstanding individuals who use environmental education to spur students’ enthusiasm to learn.
On June 7, the second day of the Project Learning Tree (PLT) conference in Montgomery, Texas, our coordinators gathered for the 2011 National Outstanding Educator awards presentation. The celebratory chocolate cake was delicious. Check out some photos from the luncheon on www.facebook.com/projectlearningtree.
Since 1994, National PLT has formally recognized the efforts of outstanding educators for their commitment to environmental education, their exemplary use of PLT, and their exceptional teaching skills.
The 2011 National Project Learning Tree Outstanding Educators are (from L-R in photo):
•Cindy Kilpatrick, Environmental Science Facilitator at Oil City Magnet School, Oil City, LA;
•Joy Barney, Conservation Education Program Specialist with the U.S. Forest Service’s Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, South Lake Tahoe, CA;
•Sandy Gresham, recently retired Science Teacher and Environmental Education School Coordinator at Low Country Preparatory School, Pawleys Island, SC (now living in McCormack, SC);
•Susan Campbell, Education Coordinator for the City of San Antonio Parks and Recreation Natural Areas, San Antonio, TX;
•Robert Taylor, District Gifted and Talented Coordinator and Science Teacher, Jay Middle and High Schools, Jay, ME.
I’m having a great time here in Texas; the state’s staff and partners have treated us to an extremely warm welcome so far this week. Outstanding Educator Susan Campbell didn’t travel too far to join us in Montgomery; she works a few hours away in San Antonio. Campbell was recognized this year for her enthusiasm and creativity in educating Texans of all ages about the environment.
“I was so energized after that first PLT workshop. I went home and thought, ‘wow, how awesome’…I knew after that workshop that I was home,” Susan said during Tuesday’s awards presentation.
“Being with the kids outside, being along the river, connecting to nature” is what PLT and environmental education are all about, she said.
Susan was one of the first women in Texas certified as an arborist by the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) and was the first woman to compete in ISA’s Texas Tree Climbing Championship.
In addition to attending this week’s PLT International Coordinators’ Conference, all five Outstanding Educators are invited to attend the World Forestry Center’s International Educators’ Institute, which runs July 10–16 in Portland, Oregon.
It was a joy to award these incredible educators, and to recognize 10 outstanding honorees, alongside of Dr. Frank Gallagher, co-chair of PLT’s Operating Committee, Ron Hufford of the TX Forestry Association, and AFF President and CEO Tom Martin.
Congratulations to these five recipients, our 10 honorees and the many thousands of other educators in our PLT network.
Visit plt.org and facebook.com/projectlearningtree to learn more about PLT's 2011 International Coordinators' Conference.
Photo credit: Amanda Cooke
