Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Teachers Summer Class At Potlatch

Instead of spending their summer break in a classroom, 12 southeast Arkansas teachers donned hard hats, ear protection and safety goggles as they spent four weeks working at Potlatch.<} {The third year of the Potlatch Teacher-Intern program attracted teachers from McGehee, Warren and Prescott, who wanted to learn more about today's work place.<} {During the program teachers toured Potlatch operating units, attended noon time disucssions and worked on special projects.<} {The goal of the program is to build stronger relationships with educators and to enable them to share with students a more realistic view of business' role in the economy and the community. The teachers learn more about the daily realities of business, the operations of Potlatch, the contributions Potlatch makes to the community and the challenges that the forest products industry faces.<} {Selected to participate in the 1996 program were Reasa Britt, SEABEC: Anita Harrod, Hampton High School; Jeanette Wright, Carla Gill, Jan Smalling and Dayna Bussell, Warren Eastside Elementary; Regina Scroggins, Warren Brunson Elementary; Kelvin Gragg, Warren High School; Roynelle Gober, Prescott Middle School; Jane Purtle, Prescott High School; Nelwyn Birch, Drew Central; and Deana Beard, McGehee Conner Middle School.<} {"I was fascinated by the amount of technology and skill that is required to produce quality wood and paper products," Harrod, counselor in the Hampton School District, said.<} {"I plan to bring several career classes to tour the Potlatch facilities so they will be more prepared for today's workplace," she said.<} {Harrod was one of nine teachers assigned to different departments as the Southern Wood Products Division in Warren. In addition, two teachers participated in a pilot program at Cypress Bend and two teachers interned in Prescott at the Ozan Unit.<} {Teachers in Warren worked in the public affairs, accounting, resource, manufacturing, engineering-environmental or security department.<} {In Prescott and at Cypress Bend the teachers rotated to different departments throughout their stay.<} {The teachers also worked on special projects, including the Potlatch Environmental-Economic Day Camp, a pilot program conducted in Warren, and a forestry test site of Hybrid Poplar trees at Cypress Bend.<} {"Our teacher-intern program is one of the best ways to make a connection between business and education," Barbara Pardue, public affairs director. "It is an enriching experience for teachers, for our employees, for the students and for the communities."<} {The teacher interns were selected from written applications submitted in May.<} {In the application they described how the teacher intern program would benefit them and their classes, their thoughts on business and the forest products industry and which area (department) would be of the most interest and use to them.<} {Teachers are given a small stipend during their time at Potlatch, but the experience and lessons are far more valuable.<} {"I was impressed to learn the steps Potlatch takes in protecting our environment," Smalling, a second grade teacher at Warren Eastisde, said. "And I didn't realize that Potlatch plants far more trees than they harvest. I will definitely be able to utilize my experience in the classroom."<} {Scheduled throughout the program were tours of the Southern Unit, the W&SR Railroad, the Bradley Hardwood Unit, the Cypress Bend Pulp and Paperboard Mill, the Ozan Unit in Prescott and a resource tour, including trips to The Lost 40 and a red-cockaded woodpecker cavity.<} {They also attended discussions with different departments to better understand how each department functions in a corporate setting and participated in a mock Nowlin test session. Nowlin is a fundamental skills test given to prospective employees.<} {"I was able to see the production process from beginning to end -- from site preparation to tiny seedlings to mature trees; from `in the gate' to green lumber; from finished lumber to `out the gate'," Gober, a Prescott Middle School teacher, said. "I also discovered that no part of the tree is wasted, because uses for seemingly useless by-poducts have been searched for and found."<} {"My experience at Potlatch was very valuable. I observed corporate business practices that I felt are most important towards education," Birch, a Cypress Bend teacher intern, said. "I plan to incorporate my observations at Potlatch into my computer curriculum by sharing the importance of strong communciaton, math and computer skils."<} {Teachers intersted in the 1997 Potlatch summer teacher intern program should contact the public affairs office at 501-226-2611.<}