West Kentucky Spring EE Training

A three day professional development training for educators presented by the Kentucky Association for Environmental Education (KAEE).

Join us for a three day training on four nationally recognized environmental education curricula.  Participants will receive certification in the Leopold Education Project (LEP), both as a facilitator and educator (can choose to attend only the facilitator event if already a trained LEP educator), Facing the Future, Project Learning Tree (PLT), Population Connection, Project Wet and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s aquatic education curriculum, the Biologist-in-Training (BiT) Program. 

This training will take place Friday through Sunday, May 4th – 6th, 2012 at the West Kentucky 4-H Camp in Dawson Springs, KY.  Participants will be welcome to stay overnight at the camp in cabins with other participants in a dormitory style setting.  Evenings will include networking, campfires and a chance to get to know other environmental educators in the state!  Because of the location of this workshop (western Kentucky region), we also invite educators, naturalists, park rangers, volunteers, etc from southern Illinois, eastern Missouri and western Tennessee.

Agenda:

To see a tentative agenda, please click here.

Instructor:          

Amanda Patrick
Public Affairs Specialist
KAEE Advisory Board Member
U.S. Forest Service – Shawnee National Forest

When:                  Friday, May 4, 2012- Sunday, May 6, 2012

Where:                  West Kentucky 4-H Camp
                                260 Camp Dr.
                                Dawson Springs, KY

 Cost:

Participants have the option of paying for the entire training, or choosing the workshops they wish to attend.  Lodging and meals are also available.  The full cost for KAEE members is $285 and for non-members is $315.  This includes two nights of lodging, 5 meals, and all of the materials listed below.  Please fill out the registration forms below to choose between the full training or paying for each individual workshop.

What do you get?

Participants will leave with:

  • Leopold Education Project Curriculum Guide (two curricula total for LEP)
  • Leopold Facilitator Guide
  • LEP Task Cards
  • Leopold Journal
  • “A Sand County Almanac” by Aldo Leopold
  • Facing the Future curricula resources
  • Project Learning Tree (PLT) K-8 Guide
  • Population Connection curriculum CD
  • Population Growth DVD
  • Project Wet guide
  • U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s aquatic education curriculum Biologist-in-Training (BiT) Program
  • Other freebies and goodies.

Registration Deadline is April 6th.  Space is limited.  Register now to attend:

 

 

 

 

For more information, please contact Ashley Hoffman at 270-214-0587 or director@kaee.org.

February 8, 2012 · admin · Comments Closed
Posted in: EE Events Around the State, KAEE Events

KAEE Conference Call for Proposals

As environmental educators, we take a non-advocacy stance on environmental issues because our goal is to educate others and teach them how to think, not what to think. This difficult balancing act inspired the theme for KAEE’s 36th annual conference: “Creating Balance”.  For more information, please visit: www.kaee.org/conference.  The Call for Proposals is Officially Open The Call for Proposals has officially opened and an online submission form can be found here. Please feel free to pass on this ‘Call for Proposals’ to other people if you’d like them to submit a proposal for our review. We’re always happy to hear from new people who are interested in the many sides of environmental education!

February 4, 2012 · admin · Comments Closed
Posted in: KAEE Events

Kentucky Environmental Literacy Plan approved by Kentucky Board of Education

Press Release from the Education Cabinet

Kentucky Environmental Literacy Plan approved by Kentucky Board of Education
FRANKFORT, Ky. (Dec. 7, 2011)
The Kentucky Board of Education today approved the implementation of the Kentucky Environmental Literacy Plan (KELP) by the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE). The plan’s objective is to ensure that Kentucky students are educated about the environment when they graduate from high school.
The plan was developed by the KELP Task Force, which includes a diverse group of educators and other key stakeholders appointed by Kentucky Education Commissioner Terry Holliday. Environmental literacy is defined by the KELP Task Force as “the ability to recognize the components of healthy natural and man-made systems and the actions necessary to maintain, restore or improve them.”
Kentucky First Lady Jane Beshear applauded the approval of plan. “The Kentucky Environmental Literacy Plan uniquely promotes energy efficiency, sustainability and environmental preservation through valuable classroom learning,” said Mrs. Beshear. “Providing students with a strong foundation in environmental knowledge and practices today will benefit the overall environmental quality of the Commonwealth for future generations.”
Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet Secretary Joseph U. Meyer, said, “Innovative approaches are essential to helping Kentucky meet our goals of workforce development and college preparedness. Implementing this plan will help our students develop important collaboration, teamwork and problem-solving skills in the context of real world concerns that we face in Kentucky.”
Felicia Smith, KELP Task Force co-chair and associate commissioner for KDE, said that the plan will help students reach proficiency in all subject areas, including science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). “The Kentucky Environmental Literacy Plan is ambitious, but achievable as a means for reaching core competencies in STEM education and across the curriculum,” she said.
Research demonstrates that using the environment as a framework for study across academic disciplines, including math, language arts, science and social studies promotes academic achievement. In addition, this type of instruction positively impacts cognitive development, child health, workforce development and a healthy environment, said Kentucky Environmental Education Council (KEEC) Executive
Director Elizabeth Schmitz. The agency is in the Education and Workforce Development Cabinet.
“Among other benefits, studies show that student motivation increases when environment-based education is incorporated into schools, as measured by increased attendance, decreased tardiness and fewer discipline referrals,” said Schmitz. “This occurs at the same time that standardized test scores improve, especially in language arts. The marked improvement in language arts shows the truly interdisciplinary nature of environmental education.”
Dr. Melinda Wilder, KELP Task Force co-chair and director of Natural Areas at Eastern Kentucky University, said, “Taking our students outside, for even 15 minutes, to write an essay about something that they can see and touch – for example, a tree – gives students experiences that help them include vivid, real life details in their descriptions. That same tree can be used to learn math – calculating the tree height, circumference, and board feet, for example. It can also be used to teach about scientific concepts, social studies and history.”
The KELP Task Force also was co-chaired by Billy Bennett, director of the Center for Environmental Education at EKU. Development of KELP was funded by the Kentucky Environmental Education Council using America Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) money. The next phase of the KELP is to develop an Implementation Plan as directed by the Board of Education. This effort will be led by the KELP co-chairs and an Implementation Advisory Team named by Commissioner Holliday. The Implementation Plan will be completed in spring of 2012.
The Kentucky Environmental Literacy Plan can be viewed on the KEEC website at http://www.keec.ky.gov.
Contacts:

Felicia Cumings Smith 
(502) 564-9850
Dr. Melinda Wilder
(859) 622-1476

Billy Bennett
(859) 622-2902

For updates and to show your support of this plan, join the Kentucky Environmental Literacy Alliance (KELA), a coalition of businesses, agencies, schools, citizens, and non-profits voicing their support for an environmentally literate Commonwealth.  Join for FREE at thekela.com.

January 8, 2012 · admin · Comments Closed
Posted in: EE Events Around the State

2012 Internship Opportunities at Life Adventure Center

Life Adventure Center of the Bluegrass is currently accepting applications for Spring 2012 interns.

For more information, please click here: EE Internships.

December 29, 2011 · admin · Comments Closed
Posted in: Job Board