The Atlantic Teachers Tour has been a long-standing initiative of forest sector partners with the goal of providing educators with an on the ground experience of forest management and to provide some real-world references and resources for lesson planning. The tour is made possible through the help of the provincial departments of natural resources, industry members, contractors, and woodlot owners. Taking place over three and a half days from July 31st to August 3rd in Truro Nova Scotia, teachers from all Atlantic provinces were represented. Having a multi day event allowed teachers to learn about the forestry industry in depth, and provided them with resources to bring into their classes. In total, there were twenty-five teachers on the tour, five of whom were from New Brunswick. Throughout the tour, teachers got to tour live forestry operations, visit urban forests, view commercial and pre-commercial thinnings, and saw how planting and harvesting worked. Teachers even got the opportunity to operate harvesting equipment. Participants said that it was the “best professional development event they had ever been to”, and that it “really changed their attitude towards forestry”. The teachers were also “really inspired by the passion people in the industry have for forests and their jobs”. Another fully booked French tour is scheduled for the end of August in northern New Brunswick. Any teacher interested in participating is encouraged to contact Lori at reception@forestnb.com or visit the tour website at teacherstour.com.
(Pictured from left to right): Andrea Patterson (Park Street School), Elizabeth Howlett (Park Street School), Chris Battis (Riverview High School), Kimberly McCormick (River Valley Middle School), and Darrah Sawyer (River Valley Middle School)
