FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 27, 2009
Dave Bennett is the new Education Programs Coordinator at the Appalachian Mountain Club’s (AMC) Pinkham Notch Visitor Center. He will manage the AMC’s North Country Youth Outreach and Teen Wilderness Adventures programs, according to Andrea Muller, AMC’s North Country Youth Education Director.
“We are excited to have Dave on board to lead our educational outreach efforts with local students,” Muller said. “He will be building on the natural science and outdoor educational programs we provide for students in local schools, and is also involved in after-school programs designed to help kids learn about and explore the natural world,” she said.
AMC’s Teen Wilderness Adventure programs are designed to help teens develop outdoor skills while also learning teamwork and other interpersonal skills.
Through its North Country Youth Outreach program, AMC instructors work with local school teachers and local students to help apply concepts learned in the classroom though hands-on experience in the outdoors. Some of the schools partnering with AMC include Milan Village, Whitefield Elementary, Colebrook Elementary, Groveton and Gorham Middle. AMC hopes to expand these programs to additional local schools in the future, according to Muller.
Through the work of Bennett and others, AMC will continue to support youth programming for such organizations as the Boys and Girls Club of Littleton and the Gorham Family Resource Center’s Project Youth program. “This is a wonderful opportunity to work with North Country educators to provide fun, engaging programming for students. It is our goal to help develop a continuum of curriculum that focuses on specific classroom goals and community needs while fulfilling New Hampshire Frameworks,” said Bennett.
AMC is supported in its community outreach work through a generous grant from the Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund. AMC’s recent award of a three-year grant enables the organization to continue to strengthen its commitment to sharing the beauty and wonder of the region with youth through educational outdoor programming, Muller noted.
Bennett has worked in outdoor education for several years, and has guided backcountry skiing and dog-sledding adventures in Colorado and kayaking trips in the San Juan Islands off the coast of Washington State. Between guiding positions, he worked as a carpenter, helping to build low cost community housing in northwestern Washington. He has held multiple positions with AMC, including backcountry shelter caretaker and Teen Wilderness Adventures instructor.
Bennett holds a degree in biological science with an option in education from Plymouth State University and is currently working toward his master’s degree in education, also at Plymouth State.
He holds the National Ski Patrol’s Basic Avalanche training certification as well as Wilderness First Responder certification and he is a Leave No Trace Master Educator.
More information on the AMC’s North Country educational outreach efforts is available by contacting Andrea Muller at amuller@outdoors.org or 466-2721, ext. 8132.
Founded in 1876, the Appalachian Mountain Club is the oldest conservation and recreation organization in the nation. With 90,000 members in the Northeast and beyond, the nonprofit AMC promotes the protection, enjoyment, and wise use of the mountains, rivers and trails of the Appalachian region. The AMC supports natural resource conservation while encouraging responsible recreation, based on the philosophy that successful, long-term conservation depends upon first-hand enjoyment of the natural environment.
More information on AMC is available online at www.outdoors.org.
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