Environmental Education at PMSS Today

TODAY Environmental Education programming at Pine Mountain is indebted to the foundations of the original program conceived in the 1970s. The early program served a range of school programs within and without the state of Kentucky.  Reaching more than 3,000 children each year, the early programs strived to educate our future natural resource stewards. The programming today follows the founding philosophy and has been expanded to include adult programs, workshops, and retreats that utilize the rich ecology of the school setting.

In addition to the School’s work with educators, it is charged to preserve the 800-acre Bickford State Nature Preserve, including removing invasive species and protecting the local hemlock trees against the invasive woolly adelgid.

The current environmental programming may be followed on the Environmental Education page of the Pine Mountain Settlement School’s main website. 

Environmental Education at PMSS Tomorrow
(November 5, 2023  — AI generated image)

When the world made a leap into the future with AI (Artificial Intelligence) the editors of this website queried AI about the future of Environmental Education  (“futuristic environmental education class) and what the future would look like in the new “eco=friendly classroom”. The results were startling — but not.

Sure the grass is green, but the image is dystopian. If you do not know what “dystopian” means, then you may look it up (“futuristic education”) in the new APP (application) in a Microsoft AI search and contemplate what kind of future you desire or are beginning to live.  Or, you can find your way into the forest, sit beside a stream, gaze on a sunset, camp among the wild creatures, marvel at the change of the seasons, —- freeze, over-heat, gasp for breath — as the climate changes around you. The outdoor classroom is a change agent for the future.

The lessons found in the outdoor classroom is still available at Pine Mountain — or you can look to the future of the “eco-friendly” classroom through a headset, seated in a “plastic” chair or look longingly toward the “grove” of trees in the top right corner of your view! You can change this image, but outdoor education requires that you walk the trails, discover a rare salamander , drink water filtered by million-year-old limestone, struggle (from lack of exercise) to the top of the Pine Mountain ridge and watch the sun struggle to find its way through the haze of “progress.” Or, you can learn lessons from the critters at the school, The sheep, goats chickens, and the smartest of them all, “Lady”, the canine guardienne who knows the warmth of a pile of leaves, and one of the joys of a day in November — as the season shifts to winter.

AI generated image of Environmental Education Class in 2050.

See
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
 GREEN BOOK 1974 
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION Guide
E. J. CARR PLANT CENTER Guide

and more