North Palm Beach, FL – Friends of MacArthur Beach State Park was selected as Partner of the Year by Florida Project Learning Tree (PLT). The award was presented on November 5 at the 2022 Florida PLT Facilitator Retreat in Gainesville, Florida. Friends of MacArthur Beach State Park (Friends) was granted this award for their continued support of the mission and goals of PLT in Florida and for providing engaging opportunities for youth and adults to discover and explore nature and the outdoors.
“We are honored to receive this statewide award from Florida Project Learning Tree,” says Veronica Frehm, Executive Director of Friends of MacArthur Beach State Park. “Our education program is dedicated to providing quality environmental education (EE) to students and educators from all backgrounds, and PLT gives us the tools to further this mission.”
The Friends organization makes education a priority, providing hands-on science programs to all Palm Beach County students free-of-charge. In 2013 John D. MacArthur Beach State Park became a Florida PLT Environmental Education Center, consistently providing high quality PLT professional development training to educators each year, in addition to regularly incorporating PLT activities into educational experiences. Friends host over 5,000 Palm Beach County students on field experiences annually, and PLT concepts and curriculum provide experiential instruction to educate, excite and involve the students, teachers, and visitors in science.
“Friends of MacArthur Beach State Park’s commitment to Project Learning Tree and the field of environmental education is truly commendable,” says Elise Cassie, Interim Coordinator, Florida Project Learning Tree, University of Florida. “Friends of MacArthur Beach State Park incorporates PLT into exciting programs for K-12 grade learners in addition to providing at least two PLT Professional Development experiences for educators each year. Friends of MacArthur Beach State Park supports and aligns with the mission and goals of PLT and it is an honor to recognize them as the 2022 Florida PLT Partner of the Year.”
John D. MacArthur Beach State Park, Palm Beach County’s only state park, is situated on a barrier island between the Atlantic Ocean and the Lake Worth Lagoon. The Park is made up of 436 acres of pristine coastal land and contains four different communities or habitats including seven species of plants and 22 species of animals on the endangered or threatened list. For more information about Florida PLT visit, https://programs.ifas.ufl.edu/plt/ and to learn more about MacArthur Beach State Park visit, macarthurbeach.org.
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