Kids Connect with Nature at Apple Tree Ridge Farm

images/uploads/green_circle.gif COPPER HILL, VA — Nestled into the side of a mountain near Roanoke, Apple Ridge Farm gives city children the opportunity to learn through camps and nature. “It is important for children to connect with nature,” said Laura Wasko, Environmental Education coordinator. “It’s important…as we’re moving into this electronic age.” The rolling property is…

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Teachers learn to dance the chemistry of acid mine runoff

MARYVIlLLE, TN — Oxygen and Pyrite stood together, giggling like fourth graders, as Water danced between them, singing a water song and tugging on Iron’s sleeve. “Come away with me,” she sang. Dancing out the chemistry of acid mine runoff, building models of how runoff works, and tie-dying kerchiefs with rusty water — these were…

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Enviromental Education from the Heart

Since the first Earth Day, environmental education has become a standard part of the science curriculum in schools nationwide. “Students will learn,” say the standards committees, about the web of life, about interrelationships among ecosystems, about biological communities, and about the natural world. Ironically, this formal appreciation for nature comes at a time when children…

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Fighting Nature Deficit at Tremont

WALKER VALLEY, TN — It’s not strength in numbers that inspires Ken Voorhis. Instead, it’s strength in intensity – possibly even a life-changing experience – that excites Voorhis in his job as executive director of the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont. On staff since 1984, Voorhis spends his days teaching children all the benefits…

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Recognizing “nature deficit disorder”

Q How did you first become interested in the way children are being closed off from nature? A. I started researching Last Child in the Woods in the late 1980s, when I was working on The Future of Childhood. I looked for repeating themes, and I noticed that people had this feeling, they couldn’t name…

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Mr. Randolph Goes To Washington

images/uploads/jw_circle.gif Whether we like it or not, decisions are made in our nation’s capitol every day that have a direct impact on life here in the mountains. This year, Appalachian Voices hired a staff member in Washington, DC, to serve as our full-time voice for the mountains on Capitol Hill. J.W. Randolph is Appalachian Voices’…

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Kayaks are Fine for Fishing

Self-proclaimed “granola” Woody Callaway sighs as he dips his paddle on the Green River at sunset. “This work is sooo hard,” he says, laughing. The founder of Liquid Logic, a kayaking company based in Hendersonville, N.C., knows that kayaking isn’t always about serene moments. Taking a kayak down class 5 rapids produces a rush of…

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Wayne Bailey Fought to Preserve Eastern Wild Turkeys

Conservationists, turkeys and turkey hunters alike have lost a great friend. Wayne Bailey, one of a handful of people who brought the wild turkey back from the brink of disaster, died Feb. 27 in his Danville, Va. home after a long battle with cancer. Bailey, who was born in 1918 at Rock, W.Va. is known…

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