Teachers learn value of tree knowledge

By WILL STEWART / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard

Hickory Creek teacher Jackie Smith, under the watchful eye of urban forester Nick Kuhn, takes a core sample of a tree in order to determine its age at the recent Project Learning Tree workshop held at Hickory Creek. (Will Stewart photo)

Teachers representing several county schools gathered the past two Saturdays at Hickory Creek Elementary to partake in Project Learning Tree, a workshop designed to help them teach academic skills through environmental education.

The two-day project was presented by McMinnville urban forester Nick Kuhn, who helped to coordinate the event along with school system personnel Sherrill Bull and Priscilla Wanamaker.

Kuhn said although Project Learning Tree is a program geared toward trees and environmental education, it also allows teachers of all grade levels to teach such subjects as math, science, reading and social studies. “Project Learning Tree is designed to give teachers a different way to teach the material,” he said.

For example, attending teachers learned how to take core samples from a tree and from that determine its age. Should they do this with their own classes they would, in addition to finding the age of a tree, be teaching math and reasoning skills.

While at the workshop each teacher received a set of age specific, interdisciplinary lesson plans that employ these types of activities.

After completing Project Learning Tree, the participating teachers will be putting some of the acquired knowledge to use by working on a beautification project at their respective schools.

Sherry Grandey, an English teacher at Warren County High School, said she will be putting her new-found skills to work in the school’s literary garden, which will feature plants mentioned in various works of literature.

Eastside Elementary science teacher Stephanie George said she is planning on planting flowers around her school’s portable buildings, an area which currently doesn’t have much tree or plant life.

Each school which had a Project Learning Tree participant will receive tulips from the Department of Urban Forestry as well as butterfly bushes from Flower City Nurseries to use in their projects. Warren Farmers Co-op donated seeds so teachers at Hickory Creek can seed their school’s nature trail with wild flowers.

After completion of these projects, the participating teachers will receive CEU credit from Tennessee Tech.

Kuhn said he can present Project Learning Tree free of charge to other groups like scout groups and home-schoolers. If interested, give him a call at 474-TREE.