Community Calendar

April 1 – 30, 2024

Studies show that outdoor learning can help children increase attention, be more motivated to learn, and control impulses more effectively. We’re encouraging educators across the country to sign a pledge and commit to the following:

• Spend at least 5 minutes a day, 5 days a week, or any meaningful amount of time learning outside with students.
• Support outdoor learning efforts in schools
• Connect with other local educators and outdoor professionals.

After an educator takes the Outside for 5 pledge, they’ll receive a series of emails with tips, resources, and other ways to engage with partners for the campaign. They’ll become a part of a larger community committed to outdoor learning!

Let’s enjoy the spring and go Outside for 5! You can discover a new perspective when you step outside. Whether it’s a forest, a city park, or just outside a school building, there are simple ways to learn something new in nature’s classroom. Join an international movement of educators, administrators, and caregivers who are embracing the outdoors for learning, stress reduction, and mental health improvements!

Join us for this fun, interactive and educational professional development focusing on early childhood
learners.

Project Learning Tree’s early childhood curriculum Trees & Me contains hundreds of ideas for fun, easy-to-do, hands-on experiences to connect young children to nature, with a focus on
trees and forests.

Through both outdoor and indoor activities, children explore nature through their senses, experience trees throughout all four seasons, and connect with their community.

These activities are designed for families and teachers to use with children ages 1–6 in a range of settings, including preschools, childcare centers, and nature centers, at home, or with families and friends spending time together.

Each workshop participant will receive a 176-page Trees & Me activity guide, a $25 value. Activities are correlated to the K-2 Early Learning Standards for Science, English Language Arts, Math, and Social Studies. The guide is also correlated to the NAEYC standards and the Head Start Child Outcomes Framework.

Cost: $10 payable day of the workshop via cash or credit card.

Register: email name and phone number to rbeadel@arkforests.org. Please include the workshop location.

Workshop qualifies for 3 hours of ADE-approved PD and AR PDR credit for educators.

April 1 – 30, 2024

Studies show that outdoor learning can help children increase attention, be more motivated to learn, and control impulses more effectively. We’re encouraging educators across the country to sign a pledge and commit to the following:

• Spend at least 5 minutes a day, 5 days a week, or any meaningful amount of time learning outside with students.
• Support outdoor learning efforts in schools
• Connect with other local educators and outdoor professionals.

After an educator takes the Outside for 5 pledge, they’ll receive a series of emails with tips, resources, and other ways to engage with partners for the campaign. They’ll become a part of a larger community committed to outdoor learning!

Let’s enjoy the spring and go Outside for 5! You can discover a new perspective when you step outside. Whether it’s a forest, a city park, or just outside a school building, there are simple ways to learn something new in nature’s classroom. Join an international movement of educators, administrators, and caregivers who are embracing the outdoors for learning, stress reduction, and mental health improvements!

SAVE THE DATE

June 11 & 12, 2024

Pulaski Tech College, North Little Rock

Join AEEA for interactive, interesting, and fun professional development. More details coming soon.

For more details and registration, see the conference page.

June 13-14, 2024
AGFC’s Rick Evans Grandview Prairie Nature Center
Columbus, AR

Forest management practices provide some of the most important wildlife habitat enhancement tools available, primarily because forestry practices can be tailored to improve a wide variety of wildlife habitats while providing a continuous source of revenue, including timber production. Join us for this 2-day hands on, interactive workshop to learn more about five Arkansas wildlife species and their biology, history, and habitat needs. Sessions will focus on:

·         Arkansas Black Bear

·         Whitetail Deer

·         Wild Turkey

·         Bobwhite Quail

·         Feral Hogs

·         Habitat improvements including prescribe fire, forest thinning, and forest stand improvements

Registration is limited to 25. Limited overnight bunkhouse-style shared lodging is available on a first-come first-reserved basis so register early!

Fee: $30 registration only / $60 registration with overnight lodging

Qualifies for 12 hours of ADE and AR PDR credit.

Click HERE to see the flyer for more information and a link to register.

Please contact Rob Beadel at rbeadel@arkforests.org with any questions.

June 20-21, 2024
Ferncliff Retreat House
Paron, AR

In 2023, Arkansas’s forest industries contributed $5.4 billion dollars to the state’s economy. ^a When you think of forest products you likely think of pulp, paper, and 2×4’s but it is really so much more! Over 5,000 everyday products are derived from trees – from medicines to paints and from toothpaste to tires, tree-based chemicals and other wood by-products are all around us.

Join us on the 2-day field trip as we explore several of Arkansas’s forest products. We will visit working pecan and peach orchards to learn how these trees are grown to produce their prized fruit and nuts. Plus, we will visit a native tree seedling nursey to see how seedlings are grown, collected, and packaged for reforestation projects across the region. Did you know Arkansas is also a producer of live Christmas trees? Participants will tour a Christmas Tree farm to learn what goes into growing this iconic holiday décor. A growing market, fairly new to the state, are white oak staves. Wood from white oaks is used to make wooden casks and barrels for the wine and bourbon industry. We will learn how and why white oak is used to make these containers plus have the opportunity to take an optional guided tour of the Rock Town Distillery to see how these barrels are used in aging spirits.

Registration is limited to 25. Limited overnight bunkhouse-style shared lodging is available on a first-come first-reserved basis so register early!

Fee: $30 registration only / $60 registration with overnight lodging

Qualifies for 12 hours of ADE and AR PDR credit.

Click HERE to see the flyer for more information and a link to register.

Please contact Rob Beadel at rbeadel@arkforests.org with any questions.

June 27-28, 2024
Russellville, AR

According to the U.S. Forest Service, Arkansas is the #3 state for economic impact of forestry in the U.S. and is #1 among Southern states. From dimensional lumber to plywood, cross-laminated timber to corrugated boxes, pulp and paper to toilet tissue and paper towels – Arkansas’s timber industries produce a wide range of products.

Join us for this interactive and educational 2-day STEM workshop focusing on Arkansas’s forest industries, Arkansas grown forest products, and forestry-related careers. Participants will tour facilities to learn how Kraft paper, wood chips, corrugated boxes, and dimensional lumber are manufactured. Participants will also learn about various career opportunities that exist within the field of forestry.

Registration is limited to 25. Limited overnight hotel lodging is available on a first-come first-reserved basis so register early!

Fee: $30 registration only / $80 registration with overnight lodging

Qualifies for 12 hours of ADE and AR PDR credit.

Click HERE to see the flyer for more information and a link to register.

Please contact Rob Beadel at rbeadel@arkforests.org with any questions.

Join us for a fun, interactive and educational professional development focusing on Arkansas’s Woods, Water and Wildlife. Attendees will participate in hands-on activities focusing on our
forests, lakes, and the wildlife that can be found in these habitats.

This unique workshop will feature three internationally recognized interdisciplinary curricula – Project WET, Project WILD and Project Learning Tree.

Participants will receive multiple activity guides filled with hundreds of hands-on activities — all correlated to state and national education frameworks.

Participants will also have the opportunity to take a guided pontoon cruise on Lake Ouachita to learn more about and experience Arkansas’s largest and clearest lake.

Project WILD
Brings the wonders of wildlife into your classroom and educational programs while teaching students
about Arkansas’s great outdoors. Project WILD is designed to teach students of all ages about wildlife and habitats.

Project Learning Tree
Helps students learn about our natural and created environment, and understand their roles and
responsibilities within it. PLT teaches about trees, forests, wildlife, water, recycling, climate science, and green careers.

Project WET
Inspires students to respect our precious water resources and to understand the importance of sound water management. Activities focus on the biological, chemical and physical aspects of water.

This workshop qualifies for six hours of ADE-approved professional development.

Cost: $30 per person payable at workshop via cash or credit card

Register by emailing emily.stubblefield@arkansas.gov