Eastern North Carolina focuses on Place-Based Education
as theme for school and community collaboration in rural areasSchools and Communities Getting Better Together: Place-Based Learning Conference
Co-sponsored by the Rural School and Community Trust,
The Science House at North Carolina State University,
and local partner River City Community Development Corporation
Thursday, November 8th: 8:00a.m. to 4:30 pm
Friday, November 9th 8:00a.m. to 12:00pm
Kermit E. White Graduate Center
Elizabeth City State University
Elizabeth City, North Carolina
[Directions] [Campus Map]The Rural School and Community Trust, The Science House (NCSU) and River City Community Development Corporation invite teachers, administrators, students, and community members to be a part of a conference that will showcase examples of powerful community-school connections. Northeastern North Carolina schools and communities have been actively involved in developing Place-Based Education initiatives over the last few years with support from the Rural School and Community Trust, the Northeast RESA and the Science House.
an article by Stephanye Hunter
Schools and Communities Getting Better Together was the theme for a well-attended Place–Based Learning Conference at Elizabeth City State University on November 8th and 9th, 2007. The partners that collaborated to sponsor this event for the Northeastern North Carolina educational community were The Rural School and Community Trust, The Science House and the River City Community Development Corporation. The focus of the conference was to showcase a broad range of school/community projects from around the United States.
The conference agenda featured Vision workshops where successful Place-Based Learning initiatives were shared, Energy shops where the participants engaged in a hands-on activity, and Action shops to focus on the next steps for involving schools and communities in relevant learning experiences. The conference participants attended sessions with Place-Based Learning themes built around environmental science, entrepreneurship, documenting community history with video and digital storytelling, Mapping Century Farms with GIS, and STEM initiatives. Lead students involved in these projects were presenters along with their mentors. Excitement reached a peak as the conference attendees put their hands on GPS units to collect marked data points, gathered weather information with hand-held weather monitoring units, measured the dissolved oxygen and conductivity of local waters, and watched video productions made by students in Vermont.
The keynote speaker, Rachel Tompkins, President Rural School and Community Trust, found a connection to both the youth and adults attending this conference in her paraphrased words from a popular song by Martina McBride, “You can put your heart into singing a song you believe in, that by tomorrow folks will forget you ever sang. Sing it anyway.”
Participant comments about the conference included the following:
“The importance that every person can make a positive impact on education! How can we include place based learning into the curriculum?”
“ (I saw a) Parallel to my rural community;” “the passion for learning,”
“(this is) Global education touching the future today!”
“It takes a village to raise a child was a echoed in the entire program”
The Science House Northeast office was pleased to be involved in several of the Vision Shops through our involvement with the Bennett’s Millpond Project and the 4-H GIS Mapping Club. Contact Colleen_Karl@ncsu.edu for addition information.
For further information please contact the Rural Trust’s Jere King Johnson at jereking@ncol.net, River City CDC’s Angie Wills at angiewills@rivercitycdc.org or The Science House's Colleen Karl at colleen_karl@ncsu.edu.
The Science House has developed a model place-based education project over the last four years in the Northeast involving students, teachers and the community in environmental research on Bennett’s Millpond in Chowan County.
The Rural School and Community Trust has provided continued commitment to the region through initiatives at the Albemarle Learning Center.
The River City Community Development Corporation is a participating partner working to strengthen the bond between schools and grassroots communities.
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