Harold's Calendar

For information on any of these workshops, or to register, contact me at handerson212@gmail.com or call me at 601-613-5567.

 

Harold Anderson

All the following dates are 2013 unless otherwise noted

Updated May 20, 2013.

All dates 2013 unless otherwise noted.

*June 2-7 -- North Teachers Conservation Workshop, North East Miss Community College

June 11 -- PLT Workshop, Mississippi Children's Museum, Jackson.  $15 fee.  Qualifies for 0.6 CEU.  All welcome

*June 16-21 -- South Teachers Conservation Workshop, Jones County Jr. College

June 12 -- PLT Workshop for R,C and D.  Simpson County.  Contact Joe Doss at smcsllc1@gmail.com  or call 601-447-6103 for location and cost.  Qualifies for 0.6 CEU.  This is part of a week-long series of workshops.  Each workshop is stand-alone and carries CEU's.  You do not have to attend all workshops.

June 12 -- PLT Hernando County, Qualifies for 0.6 CEU.  Contact Harold Anderson to Register

June 5  -- Another workshop like the one listed above is planned for Smith County.  Contact Joe Doss. (see above)

July 8 -- PLT Workshop for Clinton Nature Center.  Free.  Qualifies for 0.6 CEU

June 18 --  PLT Workshop, Yazoo County Soil and Water Conservation District at Yazoo County.  Qualifies for 0.6 CEU.  There is a small charge.  Contact George Byrd at gbyrd@mfc.state.ms.us for info or to register.

July 17 -- Boliver County Soil and Water Conservation District, Cleveland, MS, Qualifies for 0.6 CEU's.  There is a small charge.  Contact George Byrd at gbyrd@mfc.state.ms.us for info or to register.

*Teachers Conservation Workshops (TCW's) are sponsored by the Mississippi Forestry Association.  This is the MFA's 50th year of presenting these awad-winning workshops.  These outdoor-based workshops are fun, interactive and hands-on.  Teachers will learn much about how we manage, conserve and use Mississippi's forest through a series of field trips and a limited amount of classroom work.  Some of the things in which teacher will participate (depending on the workshop) are field trips to a variety of forest products industries (sawmills, pulpmills, plywood mills, pole treating mills, etc), tree farms and logging sites.  Teachers will learn to ID trees and wildflowers and be introduced to timber cruising, learn about soil characteristics and learn to determine water quality by examining aquatic life, and learn about soils and indangered species habitats.  I complete PLT workshop is included.

TCW's qualify for 5.0 CEU's or 3 hours college credit.

The workshop fee is $100 (Jones County Jr. College charges an extra $100 for a private room, NEMCC does not).  This includes meals, housing and all supplies. CEU AND COLLEGE CREDIT FEES ARE EXTRA.

For more information or to register visit www.msforestry.com and click on the "Teachers and Students" tab.


 

Key Lime Cake

At the North Mississippi Teachers Conservation Workshop, Andy Chumbly, an assistant principal in the Tishomingo School district brought the second-best cake I have ever eaten. Ask me sometimes, and I'll tell you about the best. He did not claim credit for it. He said his wife baked it. The recipe follows:

Key Lime Cake

1 Box lemon cake mix
1 small box lime Jello
1 1/2 C. Vegetable Oil
1/2 Cup Orange Juice
5 eggs

Glaze
4 T Conf. Sugar
1/2 C Lime Juce

Frosting
1 stick margarine (softened)
1- 8 oz. Stick Cream Cheese
1 Box Conf. Sugar
1 t. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350
Mix ingredients into 3 well-greased cake pans. Bake for about 20 mins or until cake springs back in middle when touched with finger. Remove from pan and while cake is still warm, mix glaze and drizzle over layers.
Frost when cool and garnish with lime slices.

Tomato Pie Recipe

This recipe was submitted by Martha Watkins, a teacher from Oxford, MS, whom I met at the 2010 North Mississippi Teachers Conservation Workshop.

I tried this. Mmm, Mmm Good!

Makes two pies
Two regular pie crusts
four cups of diced fresh tomatoes (Romas work best)
1/2 lb of cut bacon, cut into small peices after cooking
one cup sour cream
two green onions chopped fine
one cup shredded cheese
a dash of garlic powder (optional)
Additional shredded cheese to cover pies.
Salt and pepper to taste

Lightly brown pie crusts in oven at 350 degrees, mix remaining ingredients. Cover enenly with remaining cup of shredded cheese
Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown. Let cool about 10 minutes before cutting. ENJOY!

PLT-MSCURRICULUM CORRELATION

The Project Learning Tree Pre K-Gade 8 Activity Guide is correlated to the Mississippi PLT Curriculum. The work was completed in August of 2009 by education students at Mississippi State University, working under the supervision of Dr. Margaret Pope and Dr. John Guyton.

The document, which is nearly 300 pages, is too large to fit on this blogspot. It is posted at:

http://www.plt.org/cms/pages/33_43_29.html. In case you can't make it out, that is 33_43_29.html.

Morning Glories on My Garden Fence

PLT Works in Mississippi -- Proof Positive. Results of a Pilot Project

PLT Works in Mississippi – Proof Positive

By

Harold Anderson,

MS PLT Coordinator

For the twenty-two years I’ve been involved with PLT, the National Office has claimed that PLT can help raise test scores. I took their word for it. Now I know for sure.

It all started the day Jeannine May set herself on fire. Yep, she sure did – right there in an advisory board meeting in June of 2004. I was giving my semi-annual report to the board when I got to the part about the International PLT Conference that I had attended just a month before in North Dakota. I explained that the most meaningful session, to me, was the one by Oil City Elementary School Principal Mike Irwin and Environmental Education Director Cindy Kilpatrick wherein they explained how they had used PLT to turn around a failing school. I saw something was happening to Jeannine. I didn’t know if it was a stroke or an epiphany. She slumped back in her chair, her eyes glazed over, and I swear, I could faintly see a light bulb floating over her head and heard what sounded like gears clashing.

It was an epiphany.

“I was just sitting here, trying to be quite,” Jeannine said. “I’m reluctant to say anything because I’m inclined to get myself overextended, but I’m excited about what you just said. My boss, Dr Homer Wilkes, (Jeannine is the PAO for the NRCS in Mississippi) is very interested in environmental education, and I’m sure he would support me getting involved in bringing such a project here to Mississippi.” She jumped into the chair, pumped her fist into the air and screamed “Let’s go for it!” (Not really, but hey, I’m entitled to a little poetic license).

I contacted Principal Mike Irwin at Oil City and arranged a show-me trip. Jeannine, Lynn Porter (an environmental educator with the Hinds County Soil and Water Conservation District and long-time supporter of PLT) and I drove to Oil City on a scorching hot August day during the first week of school. The first thing we saw when we drive up, was a teacher and students weeding a flower bed – and it was 103 degrees! Now, my dear not-from the-South friends, 103 degrees in Mississippi and Louisiana is not the same as 103 degrees elsewhere. Stepping into it from an air-conditioned car is like getting hit with a steaming blanket. Your hair instantly goes limp and is plastered to your forehead (if you are lucky enough to have that much hair – I don’t). Your clothes are instantly sodden and cling to your body. If you raise your hand to wipe the sweat out of your eyes, sweat drips from your elbow and forms pools on the ground. Do you get the idea it was hot? And they were weeding a flower bed! Now THAT’S impressive!

Awe-stricken, we introduced ourselves to our new heroes and explained our business. The teacher led us to Mike and Cindy. They took us on a tour of this beautifully maintained 1920’s building and grounds filled with interesting environmental education nooks. PLT was everywhere; the staff (from custodians to teachers) and students were proud of their school and students were excited and eagerly learning.

We explained that we would like to do something similar in Mississippi. Cindy and Mike offered their help, and this one very important piece of advice: It won’t work unless you have someone in charge – his or her job must be to direct the program.

Full of hope, we returned to Mississippi and put together a committee. With our enthusiasm high, we decided to go for it. We secured a grant from the MS Department of Environmental Quality, in cooperation with the Central Mississippi R, C and D Council. We identified five counties scattered throughout that state where we wanted to conduct the program and hired Olivia Brunson, a retired board-certified teacher, to administer the program. The schools ranged from inner-city, to small town to rural. Four were public schools and one was a private academy. One school dropped out of the program due to the illness of two key teachers. Olivia suggested that we focus on fourth grade, since fifth graders are tested on science on standardized tests.

Olivia presented each school with an environmental teaching kit and taught the involved teachers selected activities from PLT and other environmental “Project” programs. Each participating teacher earned a $100 stipend.. Olivia developed a post-test, with the questions drawn from the state curriculum, then helped the teachers teach the afore-mentioned activities. At the conclusion of the school year, the teachers administered a post-test – with dramatic results. The average increase in test scores was 41 points! In the inner-city school it was 61 points. Now that’s impressive!

Where do we go from here? We’re still working on that. But we have dramatically proven that the National PLT office was right – PLT CAN improve test scores. You’d better believe we will use this information to further environmental education in Mississippi.

For her efforts, Jeannine May was named Mississippi’s PLT Educator of the Year for 2009.

Herb Cookies Recipies

Mariam Wahl brought some of these cookies to a workshop in Lafayette County. They were delicious.

Lemon Basil Snaps

(Use only fresh basil in this recipe)

¾ cup unsalted butter, softened

¾ cup sugar

1 large egg

1 Tablespoon grated lemon rind

1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/3 cup minced fresh basil or lemon basil

2 cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

1/3 cup chopped pistachio nuts

3 Tablespoons sugar

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and next 3 ingredients, beating until blended. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, beating until blended. Cover and chill 1 hour.

Combine nuts and sugar in a shallow bowl. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; roll in nut mixture and place 2 inches apart on un-greased baking sheets. Flatten slightly with hands or bottom of a glass. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Lavender Sugar Cookies

½ cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons lavender flowers, crushed or ground in food processer

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, vanilla, and lavender flowers. Sift flour and baking powder together and add to butter mixture. Drop teaspoonfuls of batter on un-greased cookie sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes just until edges brown. Remove to racks to cool.

Lavender Ice Cream

(This recipe is for a tabletop ice cream freezer.)

2 cups heavy cream

2 cups whole milk

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 Tablespoon lavender flowers

2 egg yolks

½ cups sugar

Place lavender flowers in a diffuser ball or in triple thickness cheesecloth bag. Combine cream and milk in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Place lavender into milk and heat until mixture almost boils, 5-8 minutes. Reduce heat to low and remove and discard lavender. Meanwhile, beat egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla in a small bowl until light yellow and smooth, about 1-2 minutes. Add 4-5 tablespoons of the hot mixture into the eggs and stir until combined. Add egg mixture back to hot milk, stirring continuously to keep eggs from curdling. Cook over low heat 3-4 minutes until thickened and mixture coats the back of a spoon.

Cool mixture in an ice water bath, stirring constantly. Chill in refrigerator for at least 1 hour before placing in ice cream freezer. Freeze according to manufacturer’s directions.

Lavender Lemonade

In a 2 quart pyrex measuring bowl, place 8 cups of water and 7 heaping tablespoons of lavender flowers. Boil 24 minutes in microwave; let steep for 2-3 hours. Strain lavender water and use to make your favorite lemonade recipe. For, convenience this also works well with Country Time Lemonade mix.

Lavender Lemon Bars

and all this time I thought lavender was just a scent! These are great!

Accomplishments Since 1987 Chart

gkzmgMISSISSIPPI PROJECT LEARNING TREE

20 YEARS OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION IN MISSISSIPPI

An Historic Event!

Calendar Year	Number of Workshop Sites	Number of Workshop Groups	Total Workshop Participants (Facilitators + educators trained since the beginning of program. No retirements, etc. deleted)	Number of Trained Educators Still Working (Running total: excludes facilitators. Educators trained 10 years or more ago are deleted, as they are considered to retire or resign after 10 years	Potential Number of Youth Being Reached 2
1987-19931	180	214	4,252	3,195	222,096
1994	27	41	730	4,769	133,532
1995	30	45	725	5,469	153,132
1996	33	48	1,047	6,491	181,860
1997	36	53	886	7,377	206,556
1998	23	35	684	8,048	225,344
1999	29	31	637	8,527	238,755
2000	33	43	767	8,726	244,328
2001	24	37	744	8624	241,472
2002	28	38	697	8,813	246,764
2003	30	41	715	8,684	243,152
2004	29	37	708	8,662	242,536
2005	25	36	619	8,551	239,428
2006	24	37	788	8,614	241,192
2007	33	42	725	8,426	235,928
Totals	584	772	14,724		3,170,363

¹Project Learning Tree started in Mississippi in 1987

²Assumes average service life of educators is 10 years and average classroom size is 28. Previously published charts did not reflect the impact of educators retiring after the assumed 10-year career. The chart was corrected in 2004 to show retirements beginning in 1997.

NOTE: This report does not agree with previously published reports due to an error discovered in 1998 and 1999 figures (now corrected).

MISSISSIPPI’S PLT HIGHLIGHTS

· 20 leadership (facilitator) workshops in 21 years (through 2007)

· 403 facilitators trained

· Averaging 28 workshop sites/year through 2007

· Averaging 37 workshop groups/year through 2007

· 14,724 educators and facilitators trained through 2007

· Best year was 1992, with 1,093 trained.

· Average size workshop group is 19