Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach County News
November 19, 2015
Contact: Willie Puz, Public Affairs and Recycling, 561-640-8914 (o); 561-379-2405 (c)
SWA Educator Named Florida Project Learning Tree Educator Of The Year
The Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach County’s Education Specialist Brian Elkins received a statewide
honor during a special ceremony this past weekend. Elkins was selected as the 2015 Project Learning
Tree Educator of the Year.
Project Learning Tree is an award-winning environmental education program designed for teachers and
other educators, parents and community leaders working with youth from preschool through grade 12. At
PLT, the goal is to teach students how to think, not what to think about complex environmental issues.
PLT materials are multi-disciplinary and aligned with state and national education standards.
Elkins’ nominator listed several of his contributions to the PLT program, such as regular use of PLT
activities with visitors, hosting countless workshops, and being an active Environmental Education center
coordinator. Elkins’ nominator went on to write “Your tenacity and dedication to the program has truly
made a positive impact.”
In a letter to Elkins announcing his selection, Nancy Peterson, Florida PLT Coordinator wrote “Your
continuous commitment to Florida PLT and the field of environmental education is truly commendable.
The sum of your contributions to environmental education is immeasurable.”
“I am honored to be recognized in the environmental education community and am humbled at being
selected for this award,” said Brian Elkins, SWA Education Specialist. “The Solid Waste Authority of Palm
Beach County has given me the opportunity to expand its educational opportunities, and, through Project
Learning Tree, we have an incredible resource for providing quality environmental educational programs.”
This isn’t the first award for Brian Elkins. In 2013, Elkins was awarded the FAU Pine Jog Environmental
Education Center’s Environmental Educator of the Year Award. And, last year Elkins and a colleague
(Lana Blackman) completed two years of attending workshops and trainings and leading statewide
meetings to become Project Wild Facilitators and Project Learning Tree Facilitators.
Each year, the SWA’s education team reaches more than 20,000 school aged children through in-class
programs, nature field trips, and facility tours. More information on the SWA’s education program is
available online.
About Project Learning Tree® - PLT is a program of the American Forest Foundation that uses the forest
as a window on the world, engaging the next generation of America's thought-leaders and decision
makers. They provide educators with peer-reviewed, award-winning environmental education curriculum
resources that can be integrated into lesson plans for all grades and subject areas. Developed in 1976,
their 50-state network includes more than 500,000 trained educators and materials that cover the total
environment.
About the Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach County - Forty years ago, the Florida Legislature created
the SWA, a governmental agency, through the Palm Beach County Solid Waste Act. Since then, SWA
has dutifully served Palm Beach County’s residents and implemented an award winning Integrated Solid
Waste Management System that takes care of the processing and disposal of the County’s trash and
recyclables.
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