Place-Based_Education

New Horizons for Learning

This site includes many excellent articles, demonstrating varied perspectives on place-based education, outdoor education, and educational renewal.

Promise of Place

The Promise of Place website is a project of the Center for Place-Based Learning and Community Engagement, a public-private partnership that works to advance place-based education. This website is a resource for community members, students, administrators, educators and activists interested in place-based education.

The Rural School and Community Trust

The Rural School and Community Trust is a national nonprofit organization addressing the crucial relationship between good schools and thriving communities through service-learning, quality teaching and school leadership, and advocacy. This website includes a state-by-state listing of place-based education resources: the Vermont section includes many articles pertinent to the particular resources and challenges of rural schools.

Shelburne Farms

Shelburne Farms is a membership-supported, nonprofit environmental education center and National Historic Landmark on the shores of Lake Champlain in Shelburne, Vermont. Its mission is to cultivate a conservation ethic. The farm serves as an educational resource by practicing rural land use that is environmentally, economically and culturally sustainable. This website contains lots of information about Shelburne Farms' education programs, which take place both on- and off-site, are designed to share the wonders and workings of the natural and agricultural world with learners of all ages.

Sustainable Schools Project

This website contains interesting information about a program to help schools use sustainability as an integrating context for curriculum, community partnerships, and campus practices in Burlington, Vermont.

Vermont Humanities Council

The Vermont Humanities Council is a nonprofit organization dedicated to “creating a state in which every individual reads, participates in public affairs, and continues to learn throughout life.” This site is a great resource for educators and community members interested in Vermont as place.

Vermont Rural Partnership

From the VRP website: The Vermont Rural Partnership (VRP) is a coalition of 17 of Vermont's smallest, most rural, economically challenged schools and communities. The schools are located in seven counties and range in size from Belvidere school with 32 students K-6 to People's Academy in Morrisville with 450. VRP’s mission is accomplished with the full engagement of community members and resources, the ability to network and learn from others within the Partnership, and the help of selected technical assistance partners.

Vermont Wilderness School

The Vermont Wilderness School is “committed to building a powerful community of naturalists, teachers and leaders. Its programs go beyond traditional "environmental education" to help develop a deep understanding of self, community and nature, and in doing so, build healthy connections to the natural world and each other. VWS offers a variety of long-term mentoring programs for children and adults.

VWS also hosts The Art of Mentoring, a week-long investigation for people interested in creating a strong mentoring culture in their communities. This week of storytelling, lectures, ceremonies, celebrations, singing, group activities, and adventures explores different aspects of “nature mentoring.”

VT-FEED Program

Vermont Food Education Every Day (VT-FEED) is a “community-based approach to school food system change,” the result of a partnership between Vermont non-profits Food Works, Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont, and Shelburne Farms. This is a great, informative site about what’s possible for schools and farmers in Vermont, and includes programs and resources for educators.