New Hampshire’s forests aren’t just beautiful — they’re one of our state’s greatest educational resources. Through Project Learning Tree, homeschoolers, microschools, and co-ops can provide students with hands-on experiences that connect science, outdoor exploration, and potential career paths. Whether a student dreams of working outdoors or simply learns best by doing, this program turn New Hampshire’s forests into living classrooms.
Today we are putting a spotlight on Project Learning Tree so you can learn more about it. Thanks to Doug Cullen for authoring this week’s Provider Spotlight. He also shows up at many of our Fairs. Come by and talk to him sometime!
Check out the Project Learning Tree program below. It looks really appealing to me and probably to anyone who loves the outdoors.
-Jody
Jody Underwood, Ph.D
President, Education Options
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PROVIDER SPOTLIGHT
Learning in New Hampshire’s Forests
Project Learning Tree’s K–12 curriculum and the Forestry Technician Credential offer hands-on, place-based learning for students ready to explore New Hampshire’s woods, wildlife, and working landscapes.
“New Hampshire’s forests are more than scenery—they’re living classrooms.”
For many New Hampshire families, education is most powerful when it connects to real life: a walk through a sugarbush, a question about wildlife habitat, a visit with a forester, or a student’s growing curiosity about outdoor work. That is why New Hampshire Project Learning Tree, offered through the New Hampshire Timberland Owners Association (NHTOA), creates such a promising opportunity for homeschool learners, co-ops, and microschools; they also work with public schools, charter schools, private schools, CTE Centers, and Adult Ed Centers.
Together, the Project Learning Tree curriculum and the Forestry Technician Industry-Recognized Credential create a hands-on pathway for high school students who learn best by doing, observing, questioning, and contributing.
“Students who learn best by doing often learn best outdoors.”
Learning by Doing
Project Learning Tree (PLT) is an award-winning environmental education program that helps K–12 students learn through New Hampshire’s forests. It combines science, writing, math, civics, mapping, and career exploration into flexible, hands-on lessons that connect learners with the forests and natural resources that shape our state.
Experienced Leadership
Jennifer (“Jenn”) Scarinza, New Hampshire’s Project Learning Tree Coordinator, spent more than 21 years teaching forestry, natural resources, agriculture, and outdoor recreation. Her experience gives homeschool families and microschools access to the perspective of a veteran career and technical education educator.
Why It Works for Homeschoolers and Microschools
Flexibility matters in homeschool and microschool settings. A parent educator can use the program to build a semester study around New Hampshire forests, while a microschool can make it the foundation of weekly outdoor labs. Students might compare tree species, calculate forest benefits, study watersheds, examine land-use decisions, or interview local professionals. PLT supports serious academic learning while encouraging curiosity, independence, and family-centered values that attract many families to home education.
A Pathway to Forestry Careers
What students learn
The Forestry Technician Industry-Recognized Credential (IRC) gives high school students a chance to explore forestry as a possible career. Best of all, it is currently free for families and microschools. Students learn about forest ecology, management, mapping, forest health, and forestry operations from professionals from the University of New Hampshire Extension and partner organizations.
Where it can lead
For high school students, the IRC can be more than a certificate; it can be a bridge to possibility. It stands on its own as proof of foundational forestry knowledge and can also count toward the Society of American Foresters’ Candidate Certified Forestry Technician credential.
Students participate in two applied field experiences: one focused on forest field skills and another introducing them to industry operations, including commercial mill settings. Some may discover forestry technician work, wildlife and conservation careers, land management, recreation, forest products, or the many people and technologies involved in getting wood from the forest to useful products. Others become more informed citizens and better stewards of the land around them.
A Unique Opportunity for Microschools
Microschool owners may find this partnership especially attractive. Small schools often look for distinctive programming that is academically strong, community-connected, and difficult to replicate in a conventional classroom. A forestry pathway can become a signature offering with outdoor learning days, field-skills experiences, local industry tours, guest speakers, mapping projects, and student presentations. It also creates natural connections with landowners, foresters, sawmills, conservation groups, municipalities, and higher education partners.
Learning That Fits New Hampshire
This approach fits the spirit of New Hampshire. Our forests are not distant scenery; they are part of our communities, economy, recreation, wildlife habitat, water quality, and family traditions. Many students already hike, hunt, tap maples, stack firewood, explore trails, or help care for land. PLT and the Forestry Technician IRC transform those familiar experiences into rigorous learning and show that science, math, and career readiness can happen outdoors.
More Than Career Preparation
For homeschool families, the opportunity is personal and practical. A student who loves being outside can see a future in meaningful work; a student unsure about college can explore a skilled pathway; and a college-bound student can strengthen a transcript with applied science, environmental literacy, and career-connected learning. For microschools, the opportunity is strategic: it can distinguish a program, deepen community relationships, and offer families something academically strong and authentically local.
Learn More
Whether you’re homeschooling one student, running a microschool, or organizing a learning co-op, Project Learning Tree and the Forestry Technician credential offer an affordable and flexible way to combine rigorous academics with outdoor exploration. Students build practical skills, gain confidence outdoors, meet professionals working in the field, and discover that New Hampshire’s forests can become places of learning as well as recreation.
To learn more about Project Learning Tree or explore partnership opportunities, contact Doug Cullen at 603.224.9699 or [email protected].
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Upcoming Fairs
- Saturday October 3 from 2-4pm, Evergreen Elementary in Hudson (near Nashua) will host a fair. It’ll be a Fall Fest theme with a food truck (the same one from our Bow fair!), and be tons of fun. Education providers and attendees can register here.
- Saturday October 24 from 9am-1pm. Join us in Loudon (near Concord). It’ll be held indoors at the Benjamin Franklin Academy Charter School, 157 Chichester Rd in Loudon, in conjunction with a 5k run, so we expect a lot of families to show up. Education providers and attendees can register here.
Let us know if you want to organize a fair in your area. Anyone in the Laconia area interested? We haven’t had one in that region yet. We’re also interested in hosting fairs in the Lakes and Seacoast regions.
Let your friends know about these fairs. Word of mouth is the best way to advertise. Also, follow us and share our events and posts on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
About EdOpt
EdOpt is a 501(c)(3) non-profit whose aim is to help families understand all their education options, from non-traditional (homeschooling, homeschool co-ops, microschools) to traditional (charter schools, private schools, tech centers, dual enrollment, learn everywhere).
Use our website to find education providers options around the state. If your organization isn’t there, please enter it!
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