EE and The Media Gazette,
Project
History- In this section...
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You willl review the background that led to the mission and development of this toolkit and about the
Pennsylvania Environmental Education Media Group (PEEMG) members who were instrumental in its development.
Pennsylvania Center for Environmental EducationThe Pennsylvania Center for Environmental Education (PCEE) is a partnership established in 1996 through an executive order of Pennsylvania’s Governor Tom Ridge. Housed at Slippery Rock University, the Center would be a collaborative effort between twelve Pennsylvanian agencies and organizations for the purpose of state capacity building in environmental education (EE).
Current foci within PCEE include four initiatives: 1) information dissemination, 2) professional development, 3) business and industry and 4) higher education.
The PCEE Partners are:
- Pa Alliance for Environmental Education
- Pa Association of Conservation Districts, Inc.
- Pa Dept of Agriculture
- Pa Dept. of Community and Economic Development
- Pa Dept of Conservation and Natural Resources
- Pa Dept of Education
- Pa Dept of Environmental Protection
- Pa Dept of Health
- Pa Fish and Boat Commission
- Pa Game Commission
- Pa State System of Higher Education
- Pa Wild Resource Conservation Fund.
Pennsylvania Environmental Education and the Media Group
The Pennsylvania Environmental Education and the Media Group (PEEMG) was developed from two media workshops entitled Raising the Profile. The workshop/training sessions, facilitated by PCEE, were provided for nonformal environmental educators and held in December 1998 and March 1999 at Kings Gap Environmental Center in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. National Environmental Education Advancement Project (NEEAP), the National Environmental Education Training Foundation (NEETF) and PCEE provided funding for the workshops.
The December workshop provided for the participants:
- a clearer conception of ‘the media’ (e.g., who they are and what it is);
- basic media skills (e.g., message development, press release and media plan);
- basic message delivery practice.
The workshop objectives were:
- to afford participants the confidence to return to their organizations and communities and reiterate the skills and information they received;
- to develop a media group, PEEMG, to meet again in March 1999 for additional training and to act as a state resource in promoting environmental education.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS TO DATE:
A PEEMG working group was created out of the initial December workshop. For the subsequent March 30th workshop, the working group was entrusted to:
- provide a strategy to increase coverage of "mainstream" environmental education and associated projects and programs in Pennsylvania,
- develop some tips and examples of how to successfully interact with the press, drawn both from its successes and the materials given at the training. It was recommended that this could be presented statewide as a "physical" tools packet available on request by EE providers in Pennsylvania.
Upon further discussion with the PCEE staff it was decided that a "virtual" (as opposed to physical) user-friendly EE/media resource toolkit could be developed at the PCEE Web site. Such a packet would afford easier and immediate access to a larger statewide audience with corresponding national implications.
Current PEEMG Members - 5-23-00
Lou Tamler, SW Pa. Regional Math and Sciences Center 425 Sixth Avenue, Pittsburgh PA, 15219 Tel 412 201 7400 tamlerl@rmsc.collaboratives.org
Joel Anne Sweithelm, Air and Waste Management Association, 1 Gateway Center, 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh PA, 15260 Tel 412 232 3444 jsweithelm@awma.org
Karen Boyle, Monroe County Environmental Education Center, 8050 Running Valley Road, Stroudsburg PA, 18360 Tel 570 629 3061 monroecd@ptd.net
Chris Resek, Creek Connections, Box 10, Allegheny College, Meadville PA, 16335 Tel 814 332 5351 creek@alleg.edu
Marci Mowery, Pennsylvania Audubon Society, 100 Wildwood Way, Harrisburg PA, 17110 Tel 717 213 6880 mmowery@audubon.org
Kevin Peter, School District of Philadelphia, Office of Education for Employment, John F. Kennedy Center, 734 Schuylkill Avenue, Room 681, Philadelphia, PA 19146-2397, kpeter@phila.k12.pa.us
Kathy Bright, Schuykill Center, 8480 Hagy’s Mill Road, Philadelphia, PA 19128-1198 Tel 215 482 7300 scee@erols.com
Nancy Arnold, Pennsylvania Chemical Industry Council, 25 N. Front St, Suite 100, Harrisburg PA 17101 Tel 717 232 6681 narnold@pcic.org
Theresa Alberici, PCEE Exec, Pennsylvania Game Commission, 2001 Elmenton Ave. Harrisburg, 17110 Tel 717 783 4872 TMAlberici@PGC.state.pa.us
Evan Pappus, Clean Air Council, 135 South 19th Street, Suite 300, Philadelphia, PA 19103 Tel 215 567 4004 office@cleanair.org
Anne Garber, Environmental Fund for Pennsylvania, 105 Locust Street, 3rd Floor, Harrisburg PA 17101 (717) 238 1888 (717) 238 4128 efanne@aol.com
Joan Clippinger, DCNR, P. O. Box 8767, RCSOB, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8767, 717-705-2862, Fax 717-705-2832, jclippinger@dcnr.state.pa.us