[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 51 (Tuesday, May 3, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 3, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                         PROJECT LEARNING TREE

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                          HON. BRUCE F. VENTO

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                          Tuesday, May 3, 1994

  Mr. VENTO. Mr. Speaker, today students and teachers from all 50 
States, Canada, and Mexico will participate in ceremonies to support 
the need for environmental education programs in our schools and the 
need for more cooperation between and among nations to guarantee a safe 
and healthy environment for future generations.
  This is a universal event bringing together policymakers, business 
and industry, and our teachers and students to support environmental 
education. I will be joined by our ambassadors from Mexico and Canada 
on the Capital Mall to plant a white oak as symbolic of this 
International Environmental Education Day.
  Two other events will be held simultaneously on our Mexican/United 
States and Canadian/United States borders. Sponsored by the American 
Forest Foundation and its award-winning environmental education 
curriculum, Project Learning Tree, these ceremonies will feature 
environmental exchange boxes--prepared by classrooms in all 50 States 
and sent to our borders--which hold representative items from our 
Nation's communities. These exchange boxes will constitute a permanent 
exhibit located at appropriate border sites in North Dakota and Texas 
to signify the importance of youth action working to better our 
environment.
  The Project Learning Tree curriculum, recently revised to incorporate 
state-of-the art environmental activities for pre-kindergarten through 
senior high students, uses the forest as a window to the environment, 
and includes diverse lessons on air, water, energy, and solid waste 
packaging. The curriculum, used by over 400,000 teachers and some 20 
million students since 1973, focuses on teaching students the critical 
thinking skills necessary to make intelligent decisions about their 
environment, not what to think about their environment.
  Mr. Speaker, environmental education programs are needed in every 
classroom in our country--indeed, the world. I hope that the events 
today in Washington, North Dakota, Canada, Texas, and Mexico will 
provide inspiration to our school system to adopt environmental 
education as integral to a student's education. I also hope that 
joining with our North American neighbors to promote better 
international cooperation in our quest for a better environment will 
enhance the progress we have made to ensure a safe global environment 
for all.

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