Page 30 - Georgia Forestry - Issue 4 - Fall 2022

Lancaster Forestry Camp’s mud-run obstacle course builds team-working skills for these young people.
COVID dark years, camp was buzzing with activity in July.
“They come from all over the state; from public, private and home schools,” said Gail Westcot, of UGA’s Warnell School and longtime PLT, TCW, NRCW and Lancaster Camp coordinator. “Lots of these kids don’t know a thing about forestry,” she said. “GFC came and demonstrated equipment, and boy, did they love that! They got to use the fire hoses and learn about fire breaks. They talked to loggers on a harvesting site. Anything hands-on, they really enjoyed.”
One of the campers’ (and observers’) favorite activities that helped break the ice on the first afternoon of camp was a mud-run obstacle course.
“They did a lot that day and it was hot,” said Westcot, “but they jumped right in! We use it as a team-building exercise and it’s a fun experience.”
A Place for ‘Every Kid’
As post-COVID recovery continues and employers struggle to fill job vacancies, FFA and Agriculture Education veteran Shawn Collins praised GFC’s outreach efforts. He said he’s seen first-hand the value of forestry education.
“Our job is to bring industry and edu- cation together,” Collins said. “This is something every kid can get involved in and it’s kept kids from dropping out of school. When education and industry work together, we can take young people and turn them into productive citizens, and add them to a productive society.”
wildlife, forests, forest products and water. Teachers learn about the cycle of growing trees, the utilization of trees for common consumer products and the man- agement of trees for wildlife and water. At the completion of the workshop, certifica- tion is awarded in the Project Learning Tree program, and in the ancillary courses about water (Project WET) and wildlife (Project WILD).
Kasey Bozeman is one of PLT’s stron- gest ambassadors.
“As educators, we have the obligation and the privilege of teaching kids how to think, not what to think,” she said. “The knowledge and awareness they get go a long way, even if their career is something other than in natural resources.”
Bozeman takes pride in opening people’s eyes to the renewable cycle of forestry and the value of conservation.
“To help kids understand it’s okay to use a piece of paper, to cut a tree, and not be wasteful — this is powerful stuff!” she said. “We have more trees now than we did a hundred years ago. We want to be wise with our resources.”
One of the exercises Bozeman most enjoyed was teaching a group of young- sters about “scents in the forest.” To demonstrate the path of a beetle, she dabbed peppermint oil on tree branches,
and explained how animals, including skunks, use scent to communicate danger to other wildlife.
Rising seventh and eighth graders enjoyed hands-on forestry lessons as well this past summer, at the Billy Lancaster Forestry Youth Camp south of Covington, GA on Lake Jackson. After two post-
28 | GEORGIA FORESTRY
STASIA KELLY IS A MEDIA RELATIONS SPECIALIST WITH THE GEORGIA FORESTRY COMMISSION. SHE IS FOCUSED ON TELLING THE STORY OF FORESTRY AND THE IMMENSE IMPACT OF THE INDUSTRY ON GEORGIA’S ENVIRONMENT, ECONOMY AND HERITAGE.
THANK YOU, PLT...
from the Unit Director of the Boys & Girls Club, Valdosta
After collecting leaves outside, T (third grader) began creating pictures with leaf rubbings. He expanded on the lesson, creating a Plant Man who saves the universe by keeping plants alive with his powers of sunshine, water
and soil. This child, who has struggled academically, was correctly using vocabulary words such as “tsunami,” “extinction” and
“humanity.” He was engaged in the hands-on experience in ways I had not previously seen. I was very impressed with his knowledge, and I was thankful for the supplies that Project Learning Tree provided so that I had the opportunity to see that.