South Carolina Teachers’ Tour

Teaching Sustainable Forestry
in Environmental Education

 

 

2012 Tour Review
Application
Agenda

What is the SC Teachers’Tour ?

The S.C. Teachers’ Tour is a four-day tour of the forests and forest industry in South Carolina. Teachers tour public, private and industrial forests; discuss current forest issues and forest management practices with professionals in the industry; and visit wood products production facilities (furniture, lumber mills, paper mills, and other wood products manufacturing facilities). In short, teachers experience how forests are grown, harvested, made into useful products, and regenerated into new forest for future generations.

The purpose of the tour is to provide an unbiased look into the impact forests have on our state’s environment, economy, and quality of life, and familiarize teachers with the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), a land stewardship program practiced by the forest industry and landowners.

The Principles of Sustainable Forestry:

• To insure that the needs of the present are met without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs by practicing land stewardship ethics which integrates the reforestation, managing, growing, nurturing, and harvesting of trees for useful products with the conservation of soil, air and water quality, wildlife and fish habitat, and aesthetics.
• To use and promote among all forest landowners, sustainable forestry practices that are economically and environmentally responsible.
• To protect forest from wildfire, pests, diseases, and other damaging agents in order to maintain and improve long-term forest health and productivity.
• To manage forests and lands of special significance (e.g., biologically, geographically, or historically) in a manner that takes into account their unique qualities.
• To continuously improve the practice of forest management and also to monitor, measure and report the performance of members in achieving their commitment to sustainable forestry.

33% of the United States is Forest Land

62% of South Carolina
is Forest Land

What topics are covered during the tour?

Key topics include:

• FOREST MANAGEMENT
  • Sustainable forestry
  • Ecosystem management
  • Bio-diversity
• FOREST PRODUCT PRODUCTION
  • Harvesting techniques
  • Processing raw material into products
  • Careers in the forest industry
  • Contributions of the forest industry on S.C.’s economy
• WILDLIFE CONSERVATION
  • Endangered species protection
  • Wildlife management techniques
• TOURS INCLUDE
  • Private, industrial, and public forest lands
  • Lumber, paper, furniture, and other wood product mills
  • Cultural events highlighting the history of land use in South Carolina

What do teachers get out of taking the tour ?

Teachers gain the knowledge and experiences necessary to effectively teach and discuss forests issues that affect our state. Along with this are a vast variety of resource materials that are useful in their classrooms. Resources include videos, posters, CD-ROM’s , books and technical manuals, literature, teacher packets describing various industries, and a notebook full of valuable facts, articles, and other data pertaining to forestry and forest issues. Teachers are also furnished with a list of contacts they can use to arrange for foresters and other professionals to visit their classes or arrange field trips during the school year. Teachers may also receive training in PROJECT LEARNING TREE, an award winning activity-based multi -disciplinary environmental education curriculum designed to teach critical thinking and problem solving skills.

Can I get credit for this workshop ?

Graduate credit is available from the University of Charleston for those wishing to take this course for certification purposes (EDUC-678-K60 Teaching Sustainable Forestry in Environmental Education). A nominal fee is charged by the college for this and additional work and classes are required to meet this requirement for credit. Teachers may also apply through their district offices for recertification credit (CRC's) under Category 6 - Professional Training.

How much does it cost to take the tour ?

All meals, lodging, materials, and transportation during the tour are provided FREE by donations from the members of the S.C. Teachers Tour Coalition, who sponsor the tour.

S.C. Teachers’ Tour Sponsors
The SC Teachers’ Tour is sponsored by the SC Forestry Commission, and The S.C. Forestry Foundation. Funding is provided by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative through the SC Forestry Foundation and its business partners and individual and corporate scholarship donations.

Who can attend?

• Preference is given to full-time certified school teachers for grades 3 to 8 specializing in environmental studies and secondary teachers specializing in environmental studies, life sciences, biology, Tech Prep or natural resource education.
• Tour is limited to 35 participants each year.

"My textbook does not cover forests or forestry in any facet. With this course, I now have the resources to expand my subject matter. This was the best teacher training course I’ve ever attended. We were treated first class and it was nice to be told how much we were appreciated instead of how poor our schools and teaching are."
- Robert (Bob) Davis - West End Elementary School - Easley - ’98

How can I attend the SC Teachers Tour ?

To learn more about the SC Teachers tour or to obtain an application, contact Stephanie Kolok at (803) 896-8855 or e-mail skolok@forestry.state.sc.us . Course requirements, Agenda ,other information and an application can also be obtained from this web site.

 

From a previous participant:
"I have taken many courses over the years and I can truly say this was one of the best. Everything was well organized, all the information was useful and could be put into practice in the classroom. The resources were also some of the best I’ve been given. This tour has given me far more than I expected. I wanted this for background information for the unit that I’m teaching next year. I received not only a wealth of information for this but also ideas for other units for the classroom. I would recommend this program to others. It has been one of the most useful classes I’ve taken."
- Gwen Lawrimore - Beck Middle School - Georgetown

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Environmental Education / 2012 Tour Review
Application / Course Requirements