When Georgia leaders piled off Bus Trip IV at the Rock Eagle 4-H
Center near Eatonton, Ga.,
they learned a valuable lesson: good teaching isn’t just in
classrooms.

The bus trip brings together business, education and government
leaders with a common aim.
Each is committed to making Georgia education better.

The Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education sponsored
the trip. Throughout the week
of Nov. 11, the leaders toured 23 of the state’s most innovative
classrooms and learning
centers.

The Rock Eagle stop brought the leaders to the 4-H environmental
education program. This
nationally recognized model program, begun in 1979 by the
University of Georgia Extension
Service, has a simple plan. It lets nature teach the classes.

Each year, more than 40,000 students leave their schools and
reconvene classes outdoors.
They meet at 4-H centers around the state: the Rock Eagle woods,
Jekyll Island seashore,
Wahsega mountaintop or Tybee Island marshes.

The leaders saw firsthand what it means to learn from Mother
Nature. As they sat in a circle,
an environmental education teacher let them meet a king snake
and a boa constrictor. The
braver students touched and even held the snakes.

Another class toured the Natural History Museum. There Diane
Davies, who developed the
program and the museum, said they welcome students to interact
with the exhibits.

“Students will never hear ‘don’t touch’ in this museum,” she
said. “They learn so much more
when they can experience things.”

One more class listened intently as costumed teachers from the
living history program showed
how to cut a shingle.

“They used red cedar,” a teacher said, “because it lasts so
long. The shingles would probably
be around long after the house under them crumbled.”

Anne Hancock, chair of the steering committee for the bus trip,
called Rock Eagle “a
wonderful example of partnering and caring. We are proud of what
you do here.”

The tour moved on to other shining stars of the Georgia
educational system. Its aim was to
applaud success in Georgia schools and communities, educate
state leaders about local efforts
and help communities join the statewide effort to improve
education.

The 23 stops were chosen from almost 100 requests to the GPEE.