Project Learning Tree Trains Weyerhaeuser Employees to Teach Kids About Forests

Laura Six, a forest ecology scientist in our Centralia, Washington, office, presents to a high school class a few years ago.

Millions of kids across America face big decisions when they graduate high school, and one challenge common to many students in rural communities is whether they'll need to move to a bigger city to find career opportunities. But what if that was a choice those kids didn't have to make?

"Through our partnership with Project Learning Tree, we're sending a message to rural youth that they can have rewarding, well-paying careers in their own hometowns by working for a company like ours," says Katie Hooker, corporate giving manager. "Sparking interest in our industry starts with nurturing a love for the outdoors and teaching kids about nature."

Project Learning Tree, an educational initiative of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative®, is a nonprofit organization committed to advancing environmental education, forest literacy and green career pathways. PLT offers award-winning instructional materials for grades PreK-12, professional development resources, and an extensive support network. Since it was founded in 1998, PLT has reached 138 million students through 765,000 educators.

"Thanks to a Giving Fund grant, we're bringing training programs for PLT's forest literacy framework to four more Weyerhaeuser communities this fall through training sessions for educators and employees," Katie says. "We hope learning about this amazing program will inspire even more employees across our ownership to get involved."

The 2023 Washington state Project Learning Tree conference in Skamania included environmental outreach experiences.

PRIMING KIDS FOR GREAT CAREERS

Our partnership with Project Learning Tree is a part of our Learn Local, Earn Local initiative rooted in the Rural Communities arm of our 3 by 30 Sustainability Ambitions. Learn Local, Earn Local focuses on supporting local programs that are investing in workforce development and youth education.

PLT's Forest Literacy Framework does both. It translates the language of forests and sustainable forest management into concepts for everyone, at any age. Learning about these concepts can help students visualize a future career, engage with real-world science, technology, engineering and math applications, learn essential modern workplace skills and cultivate leadership qualities.

"As forestry professionals, we don't typically have opportunities to influence students every day - but teachers do," says Angela Holland, area marketing manager for our Pine Hill Timberlands area and chair of the Project Learning Tree Committee for Alabama. "To be successful, PLT needs to form lasting relationships between educators and experts in environmental fields - like our employees."

PLT operates in all 50 states through partners such as nonprofit organizations, state education and natural resource agencies, and colleges and universities. Many of our local offices have worked with PLT for years.

"We have a workshop planned in October for 20 teachers from Greater Clarke County," Angela says. "They'll be coming to our Thomasville, Alabama, office to learn, so it'll be a great opportunity to share what motivates us, what drives our decisions, and how we think in terms of sustainability."

Laura gives a presentation on biological diversity research to PLT coordinators and educators at the PLT conference in 2023.

A TREE-MENDOUS WAY TO GIVE BACK

Now, all of Weyerhaeuser is encouraged to participate in a similar fashion.

"Workshops for employees and educators are being scheduled this month in Alabama and Kenora, Ontario, and in Washington state and Oregon in the spring." Katie says. "And they're just the beginning of what we hope will be a new level of involvement with Project Learning Tree."

Training - whether through an in-person workshop or the Weyerhaeuser-specific on-demand resources available online - can help employees take the leap to bring PLT into a local classroom.

"Many people in our industry volunteer in classrooms or career fairs," says Laura Six, a forest ecology scientist in our Centralia, Washington, office. In 2019 she joined the Education Operating Committee that oversees PLT as an industry representative. "We aren't teachers, but we're driven to participate because we care about our communities. This kind of formal partnership makes it a lot easier to show off the awesome variety of jobs available in the forest industry."

Employees who participate in PLT can earn $15 in volunteer rewards per hour spent training or volunteering through our TREE-Mendous Matching Gifts program.

"It doubles your impact," Laura says. "You can get those hours in to support a great cause and raise additional money for these causes at the same time."

HOW TO BRING PROJECT LEARNING TREE TO YOUR COMMUNITY

Some PLT volunteers choose to work with their children's schools, or the schools they attended themselves. You can connect with an existing program in the school or help start a new one.

"There are always opportunities to get involved, even in a small way," Angela says. "You can simply talk to teachers about your experience, get involved in local workshops, or volunteer to lead a workshop for educators."

No prior teaching experience is needed to participate.

"The hard work of preparing the learning materials has been done," Angela says. "The most valuable thing our employees can do is simply to share their passion for their work, which in turn can help inspire future generations."

To get started, check out our Project Learning Tree partnership website to learn more about the Forest Literacy Framework, watch training videos and learn more about PLT.

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