T.R.E.E.

The room is filled with various boxes and objects neatly pressed again the wall and stacked on shelves, where space permits. They are obviously for programs that T.R.E.E (Teaching Responsible Earth Education) runs, and are waiting to be used in classes when the school year resumes.

Every now and again their office phone rings, and a car on Magazine Street comes to a quick stop. Apart from that, the rain has slowed, and the only sounds in the room are the fan and squeaky reels of a tape recorder.

Ann Kungel, the organization’s Assistant Director/Senior Staff Educator, sits staring straight ahead when she starts to recall a moment she describes as magical. It occurred during one of T.R.E.E.‘s overnight programs with 7th graders that take place on the North Shore.

Like most of the students they teach the children were from inner city areas, many of who never had experiences with nature or the outdoors. It was close to bedtime and several of the boys in the bunkhouse Kungel was chaperoning started making shadows on the wall. One might think this group of young boys would make more menacing shapes mimicking monsters and such, but as Kungel approached them she discovered the shadows represented birds and butterflies.

When she began speaking with them one boy told her he loved it there. That when he opened the door he would see birds and trees where at home usually he usually just sees flashing blue lights.

Both Kungel and Sue Brown, the founder and director of T.R.E.E., received their Masters in Curriculum and Instruction. Kungel, who also has a background in finance, says it was her belief in how the organization was educating children that drove her to become involved as a teacher herself.

T.R.E.E. writes that its mission is: to educate children and adults about the life science processes that govern our planet, to inspire them to appreciate the natural world, and to motivate them to protect it. The programs they use when working with different schools – Lost Treasures, Earthkeepers, Sunship Earth, and Sunship III – are designed to be appropriate for specific age groups, and teach children how various processes relate to each other in a literal way so they can fully grasp concepts.

Steps towards starting the organization began after Brown attended a workshop lead by Steve Van Matre of the Institute for Earth Education, creator of the programs T.R.E.E. uses. Brown, who has lived in New Orleans for almost forty years, was teaching at the time and thought it was the best method of education she had experienced. Wanting to bring it into the classrooms, she used Sunship Earth for ten years before adding more programs and starting the non-for-profit T.R.E.E. 15 years ago.

While teaching 7th grade on the North Shore she was able to take advantage of the close proximity to the lake and swamp and conducted lots of science experiments with her students. Based on her own love of nature her mother passed to her as a child, she wanted other kids to experience the same amazing wonders of the environment she was able to growing up.

“I guess then I realized that I liked my job out there better than I liked my job in four walls of teaching and I still felt like I was teaching some amazing things and so I decided to start the non-profit T.R.E.E.”

The programs at T.R.E.E. may be used worldwide, but New Orleans is the only place that uses all of them. “We are the only site in the world that has all the programs. People talk about New Orleans as being behind the times but this is really cutting edge, experiential education, and the only place in the world that does this. We have the potential to be a base and grow because we have every program,” says Kungel.

Brown adds that the biggest goal of T.R.E.E is to have programs that do what they say they will do.

While each program differs for specific age groups, they all are designed to teach children concepts to a point where they “own it.” They are constructed so that children have full understanding of what they are learning and how things relate to each other and themselves through literal experiences. “Just having knowledge isn’t enough. If you don’t have something to tie the knowledge to, then the knowledge is only extraneous. It isn’t practical; and they get with us the experiences to tie the knowledge and then all of a sudden they go ‘oh I can to something about that, and I care about that because it relates to me’,” says Kungel.

She further describes all their programs as “concrete reenactments of what’s happening in nature while you (the students) are surrounded by it really happening all around you.”

For example, 4th graders go to a location and receive plant and animal role cards. Every child, whether they are a plant, or an animal that eats a plant or other animals, puts on a belt and literally connects up to all the different attributes they need in the web of life. Plants will connect to the sun, and soil, and animals to plants for food.

Kungel states that every time they are questioned why they can’t do certain actions their answer reflects just how much they understand the concepts. “They say ‘because all living things on the earth are connected.’”

Safety is a major priority for all the programs as well. There is a five-to-one adult to child ratio on overnight programs and three-to-one on day trips. Brown says that it feels comfortable for the kids and gives a sense of community.

All programs have a time of solitude for the students. Whether it is 15 minutes or half an hour – whatever time the schedule can afford – the kids are asked to find a “magic” spot where they return each day to reflect on and process what they are learning and the experiences they have. They are supposed to be able to be alone, yet not feel lonely, Brown says. While Brown was uncertain at first how her students would take to this part of the experience she discovered it is one of their favorties. “It is one thing that often they will ask for, ‘when do we get to go to our magic spots?’ They don’t have time in their schools and in their lives to just be quiet. Somebody is yelling at them, there’s neighbors, their kids, sirens.”

Many schools that T.R.E.E. works with are those they have worked with before. They see how the programs work, want to do them again, and often do all the programs the organization offers. Teachers are able to see different ways children learn, and having this experience with their class early in the the year makes a difference back in the school setting.

Many times, children who seem disruptive to the classroom environment benefit greatly as well. Both Brown and Kungel say that the programs are great opportunities for these types of children because they are often the ones who become leaders, and are the best problem solvers out there. They are seen in a different light and show all new potential.

The programs meet a third of the benchmarks and standards for the state in science and language arts as well some in math and social sciences. People, at first, don’t believe that 12 weeks worth of work can happen in three or five days – depending on the the grade level, but they realize it afterwords, based on how well students grasp the content they were taught.

“They know it enough that they can put it inside, and use that kernal of information that they got to grow and attach it to other things, and develop what they need to in life…which is what we keep saying education is about.” Brown says of students who participate in the programs T.R.E.E. offers.

THE CONNECTION INSPECTION AND BRINGING IT BACK:
In each lesson, students are asked to apply the concepts themselves in something called the Connection Inspection. First students read about a key concept statement, then they do an activity relating directly to it, and then apply it to something. They have to make a connection back and forth. “In essence they are taking a test each time they do an activity, and getting reinforcement immediately from an adult who can tell them yes or no,” says Brown. “It all draws together as the perfect lesson…knowing, setting it up, giving them information, letting them work it out, assimilating it, pulling it in, and then applying it.”

At the end of each program students also need to bring what they learned back to the city, and realize the concepts are not isolated. It is called “You take it back,” and asks students “how is this used back in the city?”

Students often change a habit that relates to what they learned, and also take the material and teach a younger class, or someone at home. Teaching helps them understand what they were taught even more. To reinforce each step of the program kids are rewarded with letter keys that acknowledge their completion. “It is a ripple effect that goes on in community….and woven through the rest of the year and rest of lives,” says Brown.

REAL LIFE LESSONS
Older kids, such as the 7th graders become much more aware and concerned about energy use. In the program for this age group, students are issued check books and have to pay for energy materials. Not only are they made aware of how their actions relate to the use of energy, they have to buy what they use, balance their check books and are not allowed to go into dept. Parents often notice a change in their children at home. They are much more aware of saving electricity and turning off lights. Seventh graders are asked to talk about their experiences and ideas in sharing circles. This greatly aids to peers and teachers seeing each other in different perspectives.

GREATER NEW ORLEANS FOUNDATION, THE FUTURE AND OTHER PARTNERSHIPS
T.R.E.E. plans on branching out further into communities with recently received grant money from the Greater New Orleans Foundation (GNOF). They are trying to partner high school students who have gone through their programs with adults who really understand, and are working to solve, problems in the St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes. The idea is to create presentations for the community that illustrate the issues and share information.

Finances for all non-profits remain an issue. It is harder for both the schools and T.R.E.E. to fund their portions of the programs, and Brown worries about the future for the youth in New Orleans during these difficult times. “The question is, is what happens to our children. We can go back to text learning…but then we haven’t quite gotten it. The things that you remember are because of experiences. They attach to you and a text book doesn’t attach to you. It’s as simple as that.”

The community, according to Brown, is the glue that holds us all together. In terms of the importance of partnerships and working together – especially in the environmental movement – Brown says, “We all have a piece, and none of us can do it all. There is no sense in reiventing the wheel. We all eed to do our piece well, and then acknowledge, and take, and help others with the pieces they have. We all have a different passion for what we do.” Kungel adds, “I think that it’s particularly important that the youth see what all is out there. What is happening in the community. Who are the feet on the ground doing all sorts of things.”

Of the partnership they have with GNOF, Brown says it has been wonderful, especially because of their partnerships, and helping them expand their programs into other school districts.

Website: Tree Talk

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