On May 20 – 21, 2005 the Pisgah Forest Institute (PFI) is offering an in-service training workshop on decomposition for public and private school educators, home schooling instructors and camp counselors. The essential processes through which nutrients and other essential materials in forest and other ecosystems are released through decay generally do not get much attention in most ecology courses.  The students should find the material in this short course to be interesting and informative. Each participants will receive a wealth of pamphlets and other teaching aids.  This workshop will be the third new course offered by PFI in a 12 month period.  Grouped with the Institute's Summer 2005 offerings, that amounts to five newly formulated courses, two extensively revised and four more that were updated. For more information on the decomposition workshop as well as registration directions go to the PFI website, www.brevard.edu/pfi.

PFI Executive Director Robert A. Sweeney has been invited by the University of California Cooperative Extension Agency to present a paper at the 2005 Convention of the Society of American Foresters on factors contributing to the success of PFI as in-service environmental education training program for educators. Bob's presentation is part of a special session on Teacher Institutes which is being organized by the Northern California Society of American Foresters. The U of C Cooperative Extension Service is a participant in the latter organization. The conference will be held in Ft. Worth, Texas, from October 19th-25th. This invitation is another example of the national recognition that the Institute has garnered. 

The 15th Annual Conference of the Environmental Educators of North Carolina (EENC) will be held at the 4-H Environmental Education Conference Center in Columbia, NC, on November 4-7, 2005. PFI is an Organizational Member within EENC and Bob Sweeney is its 2005 President. This meeting is an excellent opportunity for teachers to earn credit towards their NC Environmental Educator Certification as well as network with other professionals. Papers will be presented on information and techniques that can be incorporated into K-12 classroom and field instructional activities. The meeting site is located on Albemarle Sound on the North Carolina coast. For more information about this gathering contact Laura Webb Smith at laura.smith@durhamnc.gov or (919) 560-4326.        

Bill Moncrief, former President of Brevard College who was of considerable aid to PFI a productive member of the ERC Advisory Board, was killed in an accident in Virginia on April 8^th. PFI will pass on information, including the time and place of the Memorial Service on Brevard College campus, as the information is received.

The PFI staff warmly welcomes back Jessica Sharp who returned to the Institute staff on April 1, 2005 in the capacity of an Environmental Education Assistant. This is a half-time position. Jessica was selected from a field of more than 10 qualified applicants. Ms. Sharp, who worked part-time for PFI during the academic year and full-time during the summer for nearly two years when she was a student at Brevard College, had more of the experience that the Institute was seeking. Jessica, who graduated with honors from Brevard College in January 2005, will be reporting to Operations Coordinator Heather Cosby.           

PFI’s website is located at www.brevard.edu/pfi.

KceeI is pleased to announce that the Geology of Northeast Pennsylvania and Watershed Concepts workshops are both filled, with 25 participants registered for each. Registrations continue to roll in for the Forest Stewardship and the new Pennsylvania Land Choices workshops.

The Pennsylvania Land Choices (PLC) course has been listed on the KceeI website and a mailing is presently being sent to past attendees, school administrators, and teachers. The brochure being mailed can be viewed at the following location: www.kceei.keystone.edu/Documents/PLC_brochure.pdf. This course is for teachers of grades 6-12. This will be a three day course which will be held on August 9-11, 2005. As with other KceeI courses, the workshops, materials, room, and board are offered for free. Attendees will have the option of receiving 30 Act 48 hours, or 2 CPE credits through the NEIU-19. The only charge is if an attendee chooses the CPE credit option, which is $75 per credit payable to NEIU-19.

Dr. David Reese has developed a performance task for workshop participants to complete in order to fulfill their requirement for CPE credits. Each participant will develop a WebQuest-based scenario appropriate for the students they teach. The purpose of this task is to engage students in an interaction or some authentic creation that provides evidence that they thoroughly understand the subject. Participants will be challenged to create a realistic and complex WebQuest scenario which requires students to strive to meet a goal, take on a role, deal with an audience, negotiate a complex or messy situation, and perform or produce work against standards and criteria.

KceeI is currently in the process of interviewing for a new Operations Coordinator. Deanna Haluska, the current Operations Coordinator, will be leaving her position in mid-May to pursue different career aspirations. She will be sorely missed; her hard work and dedication has helped make the Institute what it is today, and she is energetically working to ensure KceeI is prepared for its summer workshops before she departs. The candidates interviewed to date have all been exceptional, and it is anticipated that a selection will be made by the end of the week.

Keystone College, KceeI, and its partners in conservation are busy planning a series of Earth Week Activities to begin on Tuesday, April 19, and continue through Saturday, April 23. The scheduled activities are as follows:

April 19, 7:00 p.m., Evans Hall
Monitoring Pennsylvanian Biodiversity: Reasons, Results, and Rewards of the PBBA, Robert S. Mulvihill

As project coordinator of the 2nd Pennsylvania Breeding Bird Atlas, Bob Mulvihill will present results of the 2004 Atlas effort and explain future goals of the project. His program includes many fine photographs and interesting anecdotes and he is always glad to answer Atlas questions. Mulvihill is Field Ornithology Projects Coordinator at Powdermill Avian Research Center, the 2,200 acre field research station of Carnegie Museum of Natural History in southwestern Pennsylvania.

April 19, 12:00 – 1:30, Campus Center Patio

Keystone College’s Earth Fest Test – How well do you know your world?

This program is for the entire campus community. Teams will compete by taking tests and completing activities at six different stations:

1. Global Warming
2. Environmental Heroes and Milestones
3. Biodiversity
4. Water Resources
5. Population
6. Keystone and the Environment

April 20, 7:00 p.m., Evans Hall

Countryside Conservancy Stewardship Awards and Annual Meeting

This will be the ninth annual presentation of our Stewardship Awards, honoring farmers, homeowners and other landowners of the region who have shown themselves to be outstanding stewards of the land. The Annual Meeting will review Conservancy achievements over the past year. All are welcome to this free event; coffee and desserts will be provided. For more information contact Countryside Conservancy at 570-945-6995

April 21, 6:00 p.m., Capwell 214

Fourth Annual State of the Tunkhannock Creek Watershed

The State of the Tunkhannock Creek Watershed is an open forum to discuss the status of the Tunkhannock Creek Watershed. Watershed partners will discuss their activities in the watershed; these partners include DEP, County Conservation Districts, Willary Water Resource Center, Countryside Conservancy, the Tunkhannock Creek Watershed Associations, KceeI and Keystone College Water Management faculty and students.

The main feature of this program is the unveiling of the continuous water quality monitoring program, which contains three stations: the South Branch of the Tunkhannock Creek, Ackerly Creek and a groundwater monitoring well near Ackerly Creek. Thanks to a partnership with the University of Minnesota and the Lackawanna Heritage Valley Authority, this data will be streamlined to the Tunkhannock Creek Watershed Atlas where users can interactively analyze it. Join this informative meeting and share your thoughts and concerns.

April 22, 4:00 p.m., Keystone College Environmental Education Institute (KceeI)

Hiking Keystone College’s Woodland Campus

Come experience the natural beauty of Keystone College’s Woodlands Campus. Members of the Keystone community will lead a hike along three miles of established nature trails. Bring your binoculars and dress appropriately. The hike will depart from the KceeI at 4:00 pm.

April 23, 10:00 a.m., Little Rocky Glenn

Litter Cleanup at Little Rocky Glenn

Join the South Branch Tunkhannock Creek Watershed Coalition to help cleanup the trash around Little Rocky Glenn; a property recently obtained by Countryside Conservancy. For more information contact Countryside Conservancy at 570-945-6995.

April 23, 9:00 a.m., Lazybrook Park

Litter Cleanup at Lazybrook Park

Join the Lower Tunkhannock Creek Watershed Association to help cleanup the trash along the Tunkhannock Creek at Lazybrook Park. For more information contact the Willary Water Resource Center at 570-945-8550.

Just a reminder, if you would like to view the Northeast, check out the live “Streaming Camera” at www.atlas.keystone.edu/video.htm

KceeI’s brochure may be viewed at its website in a printable Adobe PDF form www.kceei.keystone.edu/Workshops.htm.

KceeI’s website is located at www.kceei.keystone.edu.

DePaul University

DePaul’s AAM staff scheduled two more video conferences for April and added two more schools to the program.

The AAM program is now being included as part of the Professional Development Partnership with DePaul University’s School of Education and several elementary and high schools in city of Chicago.

DePaul’s AAM program website is located at: http://aam.depaul.edu/.

Illinois State University

Spring in Central Illinois has brought out scores of colorful flowers, magnificent blooming trees, and a growing list of presentations by the AAM staff at Illinois State University. The AAM infrastructure, created by Richard Satchwell, AAM director, and Judy Bee, digital preservationist, is beginning to pay off. Milner Library will host the first AAM workshop on April 22. This workshop will be nestled between a series of introductory presentations to principals, superintendents, and teaching librarians. A summer workshop schedule has been posted. The ISU-AAM partner will offer four-day workshops during the weeks of May 31, June 6, June 27, and July 11.

The AAM office has a new (temporary) home within Milner Library. Before reaching the AAM office, visitors are greeted by a wonderful display, created by Judy Bee, about the AAM program and primary resources.

Renovation plans continue, as Satchwell works through the planning and design of a new office space and digitization center. Martha Burk has joined the AAM staff at Milner Library. Martha’s experience at Milner Library has been a real asset as she supports the program’s efforts.

AAM at Illinois State University was highlighted on April 13 during an event entitled IMPACT Showcase, an effort led by the College of Education. Three thousand principals and superintendents were invited to participate in this full-day awareness event. Satchwell is anxious to see what impact this showcase has on the AAM training requests.

ISU’s AAM program website is located at: http://www.mlb.ilstu.edu/aam.

Southern Illinois University-Carbondale

The SIU-C AAM program continued workshop series in three schools and districts during March and April.  The workshop series with Carbondale Community High School is nearly complete, and a similar series is being delivered to teachers in the Pinckneyville Community High School and to two groups in Cairo, Illinois.

AAM staff members have continue planning for delivery of EDUC 550: An Adventure of the American Mind, a three-hour graduate level course, for the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) cohort.  The course syllabus is currently being reviewed and revised, and course materials are under development.

In addition to these activities, SIU-C AAM continues ongoing discussions with Saluki Kids Academy, exploring possible collaborative programs for the summer.  The AAM staff is also consulting with public school administrators about additional workshops, and also about establishing workshop activities in additional schools.

SIU-C’s AAM program website is located at: http://aam.siu.edu/.

Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville

The SIU-E AAM team concluded the Phase II basic workshop series at Bond County High School. A total of nine teachers successfully completed the workshop. The response from the participants was encouraging.  Another basic workshop series will be held in Teutopolis, IL, this month preparing K-5 teachers.

This summer, two regional county workshops and one district workshop is scheduled, offering a 12-hour basic workshop series with an added three hours of advanced training in digital storytelling or local digitization.  The basic workshop series allows teachers to connect with the national (LOC) online resources, while the advanced workshops will allow teachers to connect their local resources with the national resources through personal digitization.  The AAM team is excited to take the workshops to the next level.

Meetings were held with other faculty members to finalize the syllabus for the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program which begins in June. The MAT students are required to integrate the primary sources from the LOC website into developed curricula.  Students are also required to utilize the skills and knowledge acquired when integrating technology into the classroom.

In March, the AAM team continued its presentations to in-service teachers at Delores Moye School in O'Fallon, IL in the CI 407: The Middle and Junior High School with Dr. Susan Breck. After the presentation, teachers expressed interest in the AAM workshops. As a result, contacts have been made with their district superintendent and planning is underway.

SIU-E AAM lessons are continuing to be evaluated and put online. Please feel free to visit the lessons at www.siue.edu/education/aam/lesson.htm.

SIU-E’s AAM program website is located at: http://www.siue.edu/education/aam.

Metropolitan State College of Denver

An Adventure of the American Mind – Colorado’s Librarian Day, co-hosted by the Auraria Library on Friday, March 4th, was a huge success! AAM-Colorado now has its Librarian Day Photos Page online for all to see, at http://aamcolorado.mscd.edu/libphotos0305.htm.

AAM-Colorado is accepting proposals for Learning Activities Development projects to be created in August, 2005. Learning Activities Development will bring teams of Colorado K-12 content experts together to create learning activities incorporating primary sources and other educational elements to accomplish stated learning outcomes. Participants must complete AAM-Colorado Workshop Series I, II, and III before participating in Learning Activities Development, and will be required to include a report describing and documenting how the project was disseminated to the team’s peers. For more information, visit the AAM-Colorado Learning Activities Development page at http://aamcolorado.mscd.edu/learnact.htm.

Digital storytelling can tie local news to national primary sources, and interweave them with personal or family events, memories, and histories. AAM-Colorado has scheduled three-day Digital Storytelling Workshop sessions for June and July. More information is available on AAM-Colorado’s Digital Storytelling page at http://aamcolorado.mscd.edu/digstory.htm.

AAM-Colorado is pleased to welcome new school districts: Adams27J/Brighton, Douglas County, and Mesa County Valley. These districts join participating schools from the Archdiocese of Denver Schools, Cherry Creek School District, Denver Public Schools, Jefferson County, and Sheridan School Districts.

AAM-Colorado is using Horizon-Wimba virtual classroom technology to create simultaneous online learning for educators participating in primary source workshops. The AAM-Colorado virtual classroom workshops will feature guest expert instructors, and incorporate media elements such as digital primary sources.

AAM-Colorado Director Peggy O’Neill-Jones will be accompanied by Workshop Supervisor Chris Jennings and Online Communication Developer Lisa Bradshaw to Colorado’s “Technology In Education: Trail Blazing Through Technology” Conference June 21-25. The annual TIE conference will take place at the Copper Mountain Resort in the beautiful Colorado Rocky Mountains. At the conference, the AAM-Colorado team will present “Using Digital Primary Source Material and Rich Media in the Classroom”, which discusses the LOC and the American Memory project, Metropolitan State College of Denver’s participation in the AAM program, and AAM-Colorado’s workshops for Colorado educators. More information about the TIE Conference can be found at http://www.tie-online.org/.

MSCD’s AAM program website is located at: http://aamcolorado.mscd.edu.

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