A Trail To Every Classroom

Friday, August 24, 2012

Youth Service America and UnitedHealthcare Offer Grants for Service-Learning Projects to Combat Childhood Obesity

This might be a great way to get funding for your TTEC project!

Youth Service America and UnitedHealthcare are inviting schools and other community-based nonprofit organizations to "step into service" by applying for UnitedHealth HEROES grants.
Grants of up to $1,000 are available for youth-led service-learning projects that aim to combat childhood obesity through walking, running, or hiking. Project proposals must include an activity element where young people can count their steps, as well as a service component that provides direct service, enables advocacy on behalf of a cause, or features youth philanthropy.
Service-learning projects are projects that engage young people in performing meaningful service to the community as they gain new knowledge about the issue they are addressing (childhood obesity), and acquire important college, career, and workforce readiness skills in the process.

Read more here.

Deadline - October 15th

Monday, August 6, 2012

Susquenita Teachers Hit the Trail!

The group on the Darlington Trail, criss-crossing Cumberland & Perry Counties.

On Wednesday, July 25^th, 27 teachers from Susquenita School took to the Appalachian Trail in Perry County! Susquenita Middle School civics teacher and Trail to Every Classroom alum Paul Marth did an awesome job coordinating three group hikes and providing outdoor education materials for an In-Service Day in Susquenita’s “backyard.” While taking breathers along the trek, readings from both Bill Bryon’s A Walk in the Woods and Richard Louv’s Last Child in the Woods added to the experience in highlighting the benefits of direct exposure to nature for children and the Appalachian Trail as a resource and outdoor classroom.

ATC staff were able to join the teachers in their hikes traversing Cove and Kittatinny Mountains. One group did 5 miles on the Darlington Trail and Appalachian Trail from the ridge of Kittatinny Mountain to PA-850 and two groups hiked 7 miles from the PA-850 parking area, up Cove Mountain, and then down into Duncannon. The path was well-blazed thanks to Susquenita efforts earlier in the year!

The group at Hawk Rock

Check out more photos and information on all of the great things A.T. Community Duncannon, PA is doing to better connect the community and the A.T.!

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Alumni Summer Workshop

Hike Leadership and Wilderness First Aid

Advisory Council on Mt Willard

We had a fantastic week with TTEC alumni and AT Club members in the beautiful White Mountains of New Hampshire. The week started with the TTEC Advisory Council meeting where we discussed the future of the program including graduate credit, alumni opportunities, and deepening club and teacher connections. Sunday evening, 53 participants arrived at AMC’s Highland Center and we had an informal social meet and greet. It was great to see alumni from the past 6 years of TTEC and representatives from all 14 states along the Trail. Monday morning started bright and early with welcoming remarks, introductions and the Advisory Council sharing what they’ve been up to. We also had a very successful Carousel Activity where alumni and club members shared ideas, resources and successes. Check out the results here!

Wilderness First Aid Training

Before lunch, we quickly shifted into Wilderness First Aid mode and by the end of the day we all had made splints and slings for various mock scenarios. Monday evening was an optional CPR training and Tuesday continued the Wilderness First Aid training; helping alumni gain confidence in taking their students outside. Tuesday evening, the AMC hosted a special Astronomy program for us! We all had an opportunity to play with various iPad apps

Greenleaf Hut

and realized how small we really are! Wednesday and Thursday were dedicated to Hike Leadership training, focusing on trip planning, incident management and decision making. Thursday afternoon the group split into two, one hiking to Lonesome Lake Hut, while the other headed up to Greenleaf Hut. During the hikes, we split into smaller groups and shared activities to do with students along the trail. From learning to count in Cherokee to nature discovery, this bunch was filled with a variety of knowledge and great ideas. The weather was perfect and several from the Lonesome Lake group enjoyed a swim, while a few Greenleafers summited Mt Lafayette. Everyone was sad to leave the huts and hike back down Friday morning, but we ended the week sharing our favorite parts and ideas for making it even better in the future. All in all it was an awesome week, and we look forward to continuing to provide alumni opportunities in the future!

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

TTEC makes USDA Blog!

http://blogs.usda.gov/2012/07/24/north-georgia-students-study-appalachian-trail-as-part-of-classroom-program/

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

More Alumni Pictures

For more pictures from the Spring Alumni Workshop, go to ATC's flikr account here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/atconservancy/sets/72157629850319928/

Thank you Jan Onan for these great pictures!

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Spring Alumni Workshop 2012

Learning about phenology at Konnarock Base Camp

We had a great first alumni workshop May 4-6, 2012. Nineteen participants from North Carolina to Virginia gathered at the Konnarock Trail Crew Basecamp in Sugar Grove, Virginia. The group included teachers from the past 5 years of the TTEC program and club members from Piedmont Appalachian Trail Hikers, Mount Rogers Appalachian Trail Club, Carolina Mountain Club and Nantahala Hiking Club. The jam-packed weekend was facilitated by Questing extraordinaire and long time TTEC instructor, Delia Clark.

Delia in our outdoor classroom

Friday evening we had some fun activities to get to know each other better and practice our story telling skills! We did a recap of Questing 101 to refresh our memories on the taxonomy of a Quest and get our creative juices flowing for the big task ahead. We also learned about phenology and how we can monitor a tree at our school or on the A.T. nearby! Luckily, most of us went to bed early because Saturday was a big day. We started the morning with a delicious 7am breakfast, packed our trail lunches and hit the road. We traveled to Grayson Highlands State Park, where we met up with several local experts. Kevin Kelly, the Chief Ranger at the state park, gave us a welcome and overview of the park and it's history. He explained the open balds and the well known wild ponies of this area. We then walked over to check out one of ATC phenology monitoring sites and learned about the protocol for observing a red spruce and red maple. From there we headed up the Rhododendron Trail, learning about various trees, berries and wildflowers on our way up. When we hit the Appalachian Trail, Anne of the Mount Rogers Appalachian Trail Club shared information about the Trail and the work the club does to keep it in such good shape! We also talked briefly about Leave No Trace.

Fred and Roald sharing stories on top of Wilburn Ridge

Next, we headed over to a great rock formation where we climbed up to take in the view of Wilburn Ridge and learned about geology of the area from Fred, a local high school teacher and geology guru. We ate our lunch on the rocks and continued to hear from Roald, the former park interpreter and local area expert, who shared some interesting stories and local legends. We could have listened to him talk forever... but had to continue back down the trail to head to the Cabin Creek!

Scott teaching about "waterbugs" and water quality

Scott, from the Blue Ridge Discovery Center had set up a station for us to examine some of the macroinvertebrates he'd found in the tributary to the Cabin Creek that flowed next to the trail. We looked under a microscope at mayflies and stoneflies before continuing along the trail with Eleanor and Carol, to learn about the beautiful wildflowers in bloom this time of year. We saw trillium, bluets, wood anemones and more! After returning to Massie Gap, we thanked our local experts for sharing all of their great knowledge and got to work on creating our Quest. We decided to call it "Guardians of Grayson Highlands State Park". We thought it would be a great way to present all of the unique and beautiful natural history of the area, and share with visitors what they can do to protect it for generations to come.

Pairs working on rhymes and clues

We created 9 stopping points along the trail and split up into teams to create rhymes that would teach the visitor something at each point and then a create a clue to get them to the next point. They will have to collect a letter at each stop, which will eventually give them the final clue, so they can find our stamp to mark their Quest complete! The rhyming and creativity among the group was amazing! We worked and worked, editing and sharing and eating pizza in the park! Then, we headed back to basecamp to share the entire Quest aloud. Everyone was blown away with how great it sounded! Several volunteers plan to "test" the Quest in the next few weeks, and then we'll finalize it and officially present it to Grayson Highlands State Park for all visitors to enjoy! We all used carving tools and erasers to create our individual Questing stamps, and spent Sunday morning sharing our TTEC successes and challenges and took some time to journal about both. It was great to see alumni reinvigorated and excited to continue their great work with students along the Appalachian Trail. Thanks to everyone who made it happen!!!