Grant Opportunities!

Posted on December 11, 2012
Deadline: April 30, 2013

ING Unsung Heroes Program Invites K-12 Educators to Apply for 2013 Class Project Awards

The ING Unsung Heroes awards program annually recognizes K-12 educators in the United States for their innovative teaching methods, creative educational projects, and ability to positively influence the children they teach.

Educators are invited to submit grant applications describing class projects they have initiated or would like to pursue.

Each year, one hundred educators are selected to receive awards of $2,000 each to help fund their innovative class projects. At least one award will be granted in each of the fifty United States, provided one or more qualified applications are received from each state. Of the one hundred finalists, three will be selected for additional financial awards. First place will receive $25,000; second place will receive $10,000; and the third-place winner will receive $5,000. All awards must be used to further the projects within the school or school system.

All K-12 education professionals are eligible to apply. Applicants must be employed by an accredited K-12 public or private school located in the U.S. and be a full-time educator, teacher, principal, paraprofessional, or classified staff member working on a project with demonstrated effectiveness in improving student learning. Previous recipients of ING Unsung Heroes awards are not eligible to apply for another award.

Complete program guidelines, the application form, and information on previously funded projects are available at the ING Web site.

Posted on December 18, 2012
Deadline: February 10, 2013

Youth Service America Accepting Applications for Disney Friends for Change Grants

Administered by Youth Service America, the Disney Friends for Change grants program is designed to help young people in the United States make lasting, positive change in the world. The program will support community-service projects that highlight the creativity and commitment of young people working to meet the needs of others.

Grants of $1,000 will be awarded for youth-led service projects that demonstrate youth leadership, creativity, and a commitment to making a positive community impact. Service projects can be in any field, including the environment, human services, the arts, and athletics.

Youth between the ages of 5 and 18 in all fifty states and the District of Columbia are eligible to apply. (Youth younger than 13 years of age must have an adult prepare and submit their application.)

For complete program guidelines, the application, and information on past Friends for Change projects, visit the YSA Web site.

Summit Charter School Does it Again!

Summit Charter School, in Cashiers, NC, continues to utilize its TTEC curricula, and this year they focused on service projects along the A.T. in the Standing Indian area.  Last fall, Summit built an informational kiosk at the Rock Gap Shelter.  This kiosk is maintained by students from all grades at the school and serves hikers with information on the flora, fauna, and resources of the area, and information about the school. 

From year to year, all classes K-8 rotate displays and help maintain the kiosk at the shelter using topics that are covered in the respective grades’ place-based curriculum.  These may include such things as identification of trees, flowers, and salamanders, as well as, examples of local cultural heritage, excerpts from student nature journals, artwork, and poetry for hikers to enjoy and learn from.  Funds from the NC license plate grant are used to purchase camping equipment such as tents and lanterns that will enhance the students’ experiences and be extremely useful to the continued development of Summit Charter School’s place-based program. 

 In September the 8^th grade visited the A.T. on a field excursion as “Citizen Scientists” to collect data on the quality of the water at various streams and springs along the trail.  This will be the sixth consecutive year that Summit Charter School has partnered with the Nantahala Hiking Club in order to assist the organization with their participation in the World Water Monitoring program. The students conduct water quality tests at six specific sites where A.T. hikers typically refill drinking water.   Other activities students experience during this field trip include a salamander diversity program.  Students discuss salamanders as indicator species and their importance to the unique temperate rainforest habitat of Western North Carolina as they collect data on species abundance and diversity in streams where water is tested.  The students visit several A.T. shelters, read and add to journal entries, learn Leave No Trace ethics, hike for several miles on the A.T., visit the Albert Mountain Fire Tower, and interact with hikers.  The data collected, information learned, and reflections on their experience will be placed in the kiosk along with information from other Summit students for the fall season. 

Hot Springs Discovery Quest

TTEC Teachers developed a Quest for Hot Springs, NC. Next time you're in town, be sure and take this fun adventure!

Hot Springs Appalachian Trail Day Hikers Discovery Quest

So just what is a quest, you say?

A treasure hunt of sorts you play.

In each rhyming verse is found

A.T. lore about this Trail Town.

Count the shapes with A.T. inside

And they will lead you as a guide.

To facts, legends, history, and more

All that the A.T. has in store.

Cartoogechaye 4th Grade Enjoys Fall Colors on the AT.

On October 19, 2012 the Nantahala Hiking Club (NHC), the Franklin, NC based Appalachian Trail (A.T.) maintaining club, provided 8 hike leaders to support Cartoogechaye’s annual hike to Siler Bald.

Over 70 students and parents participated on the hike from Wayah Crest to Siler Bald and return on the A.T.  The field trip introduced hiking as a life look health living activity.  On the hike students learned about various plants and trees and the work required to maintain the A.T . (the “Peoples Trail”) as a primitive hiking trail. 

Prior to the hike the NHC gave a presentation to the students on the history of the A.T., the preparations needed for a day hike (www.hikesafe.com) and the principles of Leave No Trace (www.lnt.org).

The outreach to our local schools provided by the NHC is part of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s Trail to Every Classroom program.  The program’s key tenants are place based education, service learning and volunteerism.  To learn more about local hiking and volunteer opportunities to care for America’s first National Scenic Trail, which is literally in our backyard, visit www.nantahalahikingclub.org or on Facebook.   

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.

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