2003 Forest Educator of the Year Application Press Release Past Minnesota Forest Educators of the Year. You could be next! Applications are now being accepted for the fifth annual Minnesota Forest Educators of the Year competition. We encourage you to enter, to join the ranks of these past winners: 1999 — Winners during the competition's first year were Jon Rowe, a grade 9— 12 forestry teacher from Grand Rapids High School, and Todd Savolainen, a sixth grade teacher from Longville Elementary School. Todd's curriculum included having sixth grade students teach younger classes about tree identification and animals of the forest, having a Native American elder teach how to weave baskets made of Black Ash, and even techniques for safe tree climbing. Jon was honored because of his commitment to giving students hands-on exposure to the environment through tree-identification and forest-soils analysis lessons, among many other activities. Tragically, Mr. Rowe passed away during an accident while teaching his students. His memory will always be with us. 2000 — This year's winners were Karl Kaufmann, a forestry and biotechnology instructor at Pillager High School, and Steve Maanum, a fifth grade science and math teacher at Park Rapids Middle School. Karl was selected because of his dedication to developing a curriculum that emphasizes stewardship and multiple use, including utilizing the Pillager School Forest as an outdoor classroom. Steve's lessons that won the judges' notice were several fall, winter and spring activities, including an emphasis on animal studies. One such example was the Bluebird Project, in which students and volunteers built and installed 161 bluebird houses throughout the Park Rapids community. 2001 — The third annual winners were Ed Pitzenberger of Claremont and Marcia Miller of Hibbing. Ed is a nature studies and physics instructor at Triton High School, and Marcia is a fourth grade teacher at Merritt Elementary School. Ed was selected because of his dedication to developing a curriculum that emphasized understanding the role forests play in wildlife conservation, soil conservation, recreation and water quality, including using the Triton High School Forest as an outdoor classroom. Marcia's lessons involved participatory, hands-on outdoor activities. Students were encouraged to discuss matters relating to the forest every day, such as listing objects made from trees. They were taken on trips to adopt a tree and identify trees on nature walks, and they learned how to make paper. 2002 — Our most recent Minnesota Forest Educators of the Year are Christopher Holmes, a fifth grade teacher at James Madison Elementary School in Virginia, and Doug Ploof, a senior agri-science instructor at Little Falls Community High School. Chris, who oversees the Virginia School District's 120-acre School Forest, had lessons during the past school year that included tree identification, seedling planting, tree pruning, birdhouse building, and student writing of a Virginia history booklet, including the importance of logging to the city's development. Doug teaches two forestry classes each trimester - "Introduction to Forestry" and "Forest Management." His lessons include: field trips to the Weyerhaeuser Museum and several forests, tapping trees and boiling maple syrup, pruning 1.5 acres of pine using pole saws, a portable sawmill demonstration, and working as teams to make tables and chairs from raw materials gathered in the forest.