Athens, Ga. – Gail Lutowski, education specialist for the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, has been named an Outstanding Educator of the Year for 2007 by Project Learning Tree (PLT). Lutowski is one of five environmental educators selected nationwide and will receive her award on May 8 during PLT’s 21st Annual International Coordinators’ Conference.
Coordinating internationally acclaimed PLT programs across the state of Georgia is an important part of the Warnell School’s public service mission. Lutowski is the third representative of the Warnell School to receive recognition as PLT Outstanding Educator of the Year over the past decade.
Lutowski coordinates PLT programming and other K-12 education programs out of the May Kahrs Warnell Forest Education Center, which is located within the 3,250-acre Dorothy Warnell Research, Education and Demonstration Forest just northwest of Savannah in Effingham County.
“We are very proud of Gail for all of her hard work coordinating PLT programs throughout southeast Georgia,” said Kris Irwin, public service associate and Lutowski’s supervisor at the Warnell School. “Gail is a dedicated educator who has a passion for teaching school children about the natural and environmental resources that surround them and that they use as a part of their daily lives.
“She truly believes that children who are given a better understanding of their environment will be better stewards of our natural resources when they grow-up.”
PLT is the national environmental education program of the American Forest Foundation. Developed in 1976, PLT has an international network of more than 500,000 trained educators using seven curricula covering the total environment. In Georgia, PLT is sponsored by Georgia Forestry Commission and Georgia Forestry Association. PLT began recognizing outstanding educators with this award in 1986.