On Oct 16th the Grayson County High School ECO club hiked on the AT at Grayson Highlands State Park with the Mt. Rogers Trail Club.  In the past, the club has helped with trail maintenance, but this time the hike was for Fun!  The students sang and played word games along the way as we hiked at Massey Gap north on the AT to Wilson Creek. The weather was cold and windy on the way up but once we got in the woods, it was pleasant hiking weather. Carol Broderson with the Mt. Rogers Trail club prepared an activity for the students which involved finding what type of trash took the longest to decompose. The students thought hard during this activity and learned a lot about how long certain pieces of trash stay in our environment.

Safe From Sandy

Hurricane Sandy will have major impacts on the A.T. particularly in the Mid-Atlantic and Southern New England states. If you had planned to hike this week, postpone your plans. If you are hiking now, leave the Trail and seek shelter in a sound structure. Use extreme caution during and following the storm. Impacts from flooding and tree damage from high winds are likely to be extensive. Small stream crossings will become extremely hazardous with rainfall exceeding 12-inches in some locations. Emergency response may be delayed or nonexistent due to heavily taxed resources and access issues. Cell and electronic communications may not be available for an extended period. In some areas of the Trail, users should be prepared for the potential of snow accumulation that could hinder foot travel and hasten the threat for hypothermia or frostbite. For the most up-to-date information visit http://tinyurl.com/8e32zma

Power of TTEC

By Kate Weinman Fisher, Teacher Librarian at Upward Elementary School, Flat Rock, NC, TTEC Alum ‘08

Jan Onan and Kate Fisher at Bear Mountain, Harriman State Park, NY.  Photo by Karen Lutz

I recently moved a 3600 lb. granite boulder 15 feet using a stick. Really. This is no fish story, although one of my team members tried to exaggerate. Okay, maybe I need to say that the stick is also called a rock bar.  I was working with another educator and our instructor from Tahawus Trails LLC at the most recent Trails to Every Classroom Alumni workshop on Bear Mountain in New York State. The focus of the weekend was Trail Design and Construction and included actual work on the Appalachian Trail.  We used simple machine physics – the kind I can teach my elementary students. This experience is just one of the many that has shown me the power of TTEC and released the power that I have to make things happen when I join with others.

I first heard of TTEC in 2007 when I was working with kids to map our school campus.  Our counselor said, “I have something that can help you with that.”  She had just returned from NCCAT (North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching) where the first cohort of TTEC teachers from the southern region had gathered. At that point, I thought the AT was something for elite thru- hikers, but I still felt that I wanted to be a part of the next year’s TTEC group and recruited two teachers who also enjoyed hiking.  We met with Julie Judkins, our regional ATC representative in Asheville to find out how we could make this happen.

By April 2008, we had been accepted into the program and met teachers from Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina at Len Foote Hike Inn near Springer Mountain, GA.  We returned with more energy and ideas than I have had in decades. In no time we helped to design and implement a Nature Explorers’ Camp for 8-10 year old children based on Questing[i]. The camp, held at Bullington Education Center for a week each summer, has changed slightly but is still going 4 years later. 

In July that same year, we met 40 more educators representing the 14 states linked by the AT. The week-long professional development featured nationally known experts in the fields of environmental education and service learning and was fueled by the energy and ideas of passionate colleagues. My team began work on curriculum for 3^rd grade students, a “Plant Patrol” of invasive non-native plants in our community and on the AT, less than an hour from our school.  When we implemented the curriculum later that year, students consulted local horticultural experts and focused on the most troublesome species.  They engaged in three service projects to remove Japanese Knotweed, Chinese Silvergrass and Autumn Olive at our local horticultural education center and on the AT near Hot Springs, NC.  The trip to Hot Springs and the brochure the kids designed for our school and community were made possible by a grant from the ATC.  Sixty students had their first opportunity to walk on the AT, meet a real thru-hiker, and engage in a meaningful community service project that day.  Many of them formed dreams of hiking the AT and returned to school to write letters to AT hikers which were placed in the Hot Springs diner. Hikers who read the letters at the diner wrote responses and 4 years later, this notebook is still a favorite read in my school library. One of the 3^rd grade teachers involved moved to a charter school the next year and has replicated and expanded the project to the point where her students camp at Hot Springs each year while engaging in community service on the trail.

Third grade students digging up Autumn Olive roots as part of "Plant Patrol" service project.  Photo by Jan Onan

Our fall TTEC meeting was at Elmer’s Sunnybrook Inn in Hot Springs, NC.  I suppose it was then that I fell in love with this tiny trail community and its people.  I learned about Benton MacKaye and Myron Avery, the history of the AT, and experienced the power and satisfaction of volunteering on the Trail on National Public Lands Day. I also had my first experience with Trail Magic, something that is impossible for me to explain but involved bagpipes, the symbolism of a red bridge, and the feeling that I was part of something magnificent. 

3 Kate Fisher and Julie Judkins taking out Japanese Knotweed along the AT near Hot Springs, NC.

4 Trail Magic appeared at our closing ceremony in Hot Springs, NC as we contemplated our role in the future of the AT.

To say that these TTEC experiences inspired me is an understatement.  Jen Pharr Davis had just completed her first record breaking AT supported thru-hike.  I contacted her and arranged to have her visit our school for a whole day and kick off the biggest school event I have ever organized.  That evening, over 300 family members arrived for family night.  We began in the gym where she told about her thru-hike using a slide presentation.  After that, everyone proceeded out to the foyer to pick up a Trail Diary prepared by our Parent Involvement Coordinator. This included puzzles, facts, rules of the trail, and questions about the 6 learning stations spread out along our main hallway. Between them were brown poster board cylinders marked with white blazes. Families spread out and rotated through stations that represented each of the 5 AT regions (Northern New England, Southern New England, Kid-Atlantic, The Virginias, and our own, the Southern Appalachians).  Julie Judkins, from the Asheville ATC office, supplied the AT Journey magazines used to create the display boards, a large AT license plate banner, AT tattoos, and a large Katahdin sign for the last station where students could have their photo made with Jen Pharr Davis. Our Carolina Mountain Club and local outfitter Diamond Brand provided displays of books, backpacking equipment, and volunteers, who were available to talk with students and their families.

 

5 Families learning about the 5 regions of the AT during Upward Elementary Family Event

6 AT Family Night display in foyer at Upward Elementary, Flat Rock, NC

7 Jen Pharr Davis gives students the "high 5" after a presentation about goal setting and her record-breaking hike.

In the month leading up to this event, I worked with PTO and our entire staff to plan a 21 day AT Read-a-thon where kids earned miles for minutes read.  Each class picked a trail name and we prepared spreadsheets to record individual student minutes and one to calculate their class average.  As a part of the TTEC program, I received a 3 x 15 foot map of the AT to hang in my library.  We used the map to teach geography and to show the reading/hiking progress of each class. Every day, selected students read about a point of interest during morning announcements.  In all of my K-5^th grade library classes, I taught our Reading, Information & Technology Standards using information about the AT and the Southern Appalachians.  Over 600 students learned about the trail as we integrated reading, history, science and cultural studies. 

They also learned about resources in their local community, as well as the wider community of outdoor education. Leki donated youth hiking poles as prizes for the top two readers, and we obtained other support from individual CMC members, including a visit by one of our trail maintainers. REI also funded a visit by long distance hiker, Walkin’ Jim, who gave special performances to the classes and individuals who read the most at the end of the Read-a-thon.

8 TTEC Team member Jan Onan, Julie Judkins from the ATC Asheville office, and Walkin' Jim Stolz at our AT Read-a-thon Celebration

Support came from far and wide and we believe the impact was also far reaching. Our two month focus on the AT was featured in the Henderson County Public Schools Superintendent’s newsletter that April, reaching the families of approximately 14,000 students.

Since that time, our TTEC team has been privileged to attend yearly TTEC workshops as presenters, volunteer at local ATC events, and continue exploring the AT on and off the trail.  Jan Onan attended the Youth Summit in New Hampshire last summer, and we both contributed to a resource designed for hiking with families. 

9 Kate Weinman Fisher and Jan Onan at the Hot Springs, NC Visitor Center

In this, the 5^th year of TTEC, we made new and renewed connections with educators who have been involved in the last four years.   Alumni workshops have helped us discover new ways to serve our students and communities.  Jan and I attended the spring workshop with Delia Clarke and worked with other TTEC alumni to design The Guardians of the Grayson Highlands Quest, an educational treasure hunt through which visitors learn about the natural history of the park. Then we came back and worked with Julie Judkins and Jeannette Kendall, a 4^th grade teacher in Hot Springs, NC to design a quest for that Trail Community.  This summer we worked with a Teacher/Park Ranger at the Carl Sandburg National Historic Site right here in Flat Rock to design another quest for park visitors.

Moving mountains, not quite. . . but I can move something larger and farther than I ever thought possible and it isn’t just a boulder. My hope is that I will continue to move and inspire the next generation of hikers, stewards, and supporters of the AT.  This is the power of TTEC.

---

[i] Clarke, Delia and Steven Glazer. Questing:A Guide to Creating Community Treasure Hunts. Lebanon, NH: University Press of New England, 2004.

Grant Opportunities!

The Pack Project Activation Grant

Do you have an idea that will increase participation in outdoor recreation activities?
If so, Merrell and Outdoor Nation have an opportunity for you -- The Pack Project Activation Grant Program!

Merrell and Outdoor Nation recognize that sometimes the smallest awards can make the largest differences. For this reason, The Pack Project Activation Grant Program will be awarding a total of $12,500 to a minimum of 5 projects designed to give young individuals between the ages of 18 and 28 or 501c3 non-profit organizations the resources and funding needed to bring their innovation and active ideas to life.
Grants will be awarded to the most innovative, impactful and sustainable projects focusing on increasing outdoor recreation in communities across the country.

The deadline to apply for this second cycle of the grant is November 15, 2012.

More information and application link.

The Dara Jeanne Kaufman Fund

Annual mini grant application for service-learning is available for New England states. (CT, MA, ME, NH, NY, RI and VT)

More information and application link.

PLEASE NOTE:
If you have NOT been trained in our model of service-learning, would you be willing to attend a FREE ($300 value) 2-day workshop in late November or early December? Sessions will be offered in Maine and Massachussetts. If your proposal is selected for judging, we will contact you about specific dates and locations.

DEADLINE TO APPLY is: October 18, 2012

Who May Apply: K-12 classrooms, after-school programs, or community-based programs that wish to use service-learning in order to solve a problem and improve their community. We will accept proposals from students, teachers, and community

Alumni Workshop in New York- Thanks from Jan!

Jan Onan and Kate Fisher 

I just returned from the fall ATC TTEC alumni workshop in New York’s Harriman Park.  I am quite fired up about the amount of knowledge I learned and the hands-on activities in the 2 short days about trail design. The instructors were top notch; not only accomplished in their trade (volunteer or paid) but also patient skilled teachers. I think each of the participants felt they successfully contributed to the reconstruction of the AT on Bear Mountain and can bring this new knowledge and enthusiasm home to share with those in the classroom and in our communities.  I have already started a dialogue with the Carolina Mountain Club!

Lissa McGovern, Nina Christensen and Stephanie Morris 

Thank you, ATC, for providing everything we need once we arrived. For Kate and I, this included the outdoor gear we needed which enabled us to fly from NC without the worry of having to pack the extra gear. It streamlined our transition from work to travel without the hassle of having bags to be checked or to purchase extra equipment. It is a blessing to only have to bring our personal items and know we will be taken care of during the workshop. 

Nina Christensen 

Eddie Walsh teaches slope and grade

I know a lot of planning goes into making this workshop and my hat goes off to Karen Lutz and those who participated in all parts of preparing and carrying this workshop out for us. Thank you for provided the much needed workshops that rekindles the fire that keeps us enthusiastic about sharing the wonders of the outdoors and all that can be learned from it.

Ross McGee

My team has been involved in the TTEC program since 2008 when we first went through the program.  Since then, we have been privileged to be able to present and participate in our TTEC regional workshops and feel a great sense of renewal by invaluable reconnecting with TTEC, new teachers, and learning more skills. 

 Thank You!

Jan Onan, TTEC alumni 2008

Opportunity for Teachers

Lexus and Scholastic Launch Sixth Annual Environmental Contest for Middle and High School Students

A program of automaker Lexus and children's publishing company Scholastic, the Lexus Eco Challenge is an educational program and contest designed to inspire and empower middle and high school students in the United States to learn about the environment and take action to improve it. In its sixth year, the program will award a total of $500,000 in grants and scholarships.

The competition is open to students in grades 6-12 who are either registered and home-schooled or enrolled in a public or accredited private school, and who are legal residents of the U.S. or the District of Columbia. Teams of students can enter if they are part of an afterschool science or environmental club, but the challenge is not open to clubs outside of school.

Middle and high school teams comprised of five to ten students and a teacher-advisor are invited to participate in one or both of the two initial challenges, each addressing different environmental elements — land/water and air/climate.

For each of the challenges, teams define an environmental issue that is important to them, develop an action plan to address the issue, implement the plan, and report the results. The submission deadline for Challenge 1 (land/water) is October 29, 2012; the deadline for Challenge 2 (air/climate) is December 17, 2012.

Each of the challenges will have sixteen winning entries — eight middle school and eight high school teams. The winning teams each will receive a total of $10,000 in scholarships and grants to be shared among the students, teacher, and school.

In early January, the winning teams from the first two challenges will be invited to participate in the program's final challenge. Teams will be asked to reach beyond the local community and inspire environmental action around the world through innovative ideas that are communicated to a wide audience. From the final challenge entries, eight first-place teams and two grand prize-winning teams will be selected. Each of the eight first-place teams will receive a total of $15,000 in grants and scholarships, and two grand prize-winning teams will each receive $30,000. The money will be shared by the students, their teacher-advisors, and their schools.

For complete program information and entry requirements, visit the Eco Challenge Web site.

Contact:
Link to Complete RFP

Primary Subject: Education
Geographic Funding Area: National