North Carolina's system of Educational State Forests has been developed for use as a living outdoor class room.

Their purpose is to teach children and adults about the complex, interdependent ecosystems that make up a forest and which can be managed for a multitude of uses.

Ranger conducted classes are available to groups of ten or more visiting the forest.

Special study sites are available to assist teachers or other group leaders in using the forest as an outdoor classroom.

Instructor's activity packets and special study sites are available to assist teachers or other group leaders in using the forest as an outdoor classroom.

Educator Resources:

• TCESF Overview One-pager
• Letter to Educators
• TCESF Class Offerings
• Teacher's Guide to the NC Educational State Forest System
• NC Office of Environmental Education
• NC Department of Public Instruction

Turnbull Creek ESF also provides resources for educators to bring the forest into their classrooms! We provide professional development workshop opportunities throughout the year by way of Project Learning Tree workshops and Investigating Your Environment Workshops for formal and non-formal educators. Project Learning Tree (PLT) is a world renowned professional development program with supplemental curriculum materials in the form of activities using trees and forests to increase students’ understanding of the environment. Turnbull Creek ESF is a PLT Outpost, and can provide workshops during the year and provide PLT "Tree Trunks" on loan to educators to recreate activities learned in workshops. Investigating Your Environment (IYE) is a week-long professional development workshop for educators held annually in the mountains of North Carolina by N.C. Forest Service staff and facilitates the learning of multi-faceted forest, wildlife, soil, and water investigation modules. If you’re interested in being a part of either a PLT Workshop or an IYE workshop, please contact us.