Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont

Introduction

Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont (GSMIT) is a private, non-profit organization that works closely with the National Park Service to provide educational programs. Nestled along the Middle Prong of the Little River in the national park, Tremont is a year-round gathering place for groups, schools, and individuals interested in learning more about the environment. Programs emphasize connecting people with the natural world, and understanding our place in it. Tremont’s extensive trail system and varied habitats provide an outdoor classroom where participants can experience and learn about the delicate balances in nature and the human impacts upon those balances. It is our hope that by helping individuals develop environmental awareness and understanding of nature within Great Smoky Mountains National Park, we can help nurture within them a positive environmental ethic that will be reflected in their decisions and behavior no matter where life takes them.

GSMIT was established in 1969 as one of the first residential environmental education centers located within a national park. For many years Tremont was operated by Great Smoky Mountains Natural History Association in cooperation with the National Park Service. In 2001 GSMIT became independent, but continues to work in close partnership with the park and Great Smoky Mountains Association.

The Tremont Experience
Students cross the Middle Prong bridge to begin their multi-day experience in one of the country’s most beautiful national parks. Here they will learn about interconnections, biodiversity, and environmental issues in a 520,000 acre classroom.

On the first day, most take part in a large group activity. In the Cooperation Course, small groups rotate through various fun, team-building challenges. In Walker Valley Living History they role-play with Tremont staff, who dress and act as folks who lived here at the time the park was formed. Either is a half-day activity.

During the rest of the trip students seek salamanders, orient maps, become geologists and explorers. They hit the trail in any weather, studying science, language arts, math and ecology. Their senses are sharpened and bodies challenged.

Throughout their stay, they learn about flora and fauna, hear stories from the past, and have classes that attain curriculum standards. They eat, sleep, and live with their fellow students and teachers, creating lasting memories of the Smokies.

Why Bring Your Students to Tremont?

Great Smoky Mountains is one of the most biodiverse areas in the world.
Our professional teaching staff consists of talented individuals with a variety of skills and experiences. Staff have college degrees in fields such as ecology, forestry, biology, wildlife resources, and environmental studies, and have experience in environmental education programming and outdoor leadership. These individuals also help the programs at the Institute grow by continuing to bring in new ideas and current methods in the field.
Our curriculum teaches about the history and beauty of this place, and it correlates with the National Science Education Standards (NSES) provided to us by the National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) and state curriculum standards.
Through our cooperative approach to teaching, we share the immersion of students in the elements and wonder of the Smokies.

Weaving Our Message

Connecting people and nature is how we define the Tremont experience. As our mission states, “Great Smoky Mountains Institute provides in-depth experiences through educational programs designed to nurture appreciation of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, celebrate diversity, and foster stewardship.”

How do we translate this into our lessons?
There are three strands we believe are at the heart of our mission: sense of place, diversity, and stewardship. These strands weave the thread that flows through each of the activities we offer. They are what we desire people to experience and contemplate from the time they arrive here until long after they return home. These strands are the basis upon which we evaluate our progress and improve our work.

Sense of Place

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a unique and inspiring place.
Getting to know a place helps us appreciate it, and leads us to want to care for it.
Wild places like the Smokies are important to the health of our planet.
People are part of the web of life, affecting and being affected by other living things.
Each of us is part of a “home ecosystem,” so these ideas should be transferred home.

Diversity

There is tremendous biodiversity within Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
The Smokies are and have been affected by people of diverse interests and perspectives.
We can learn much about ourselves from people of diverse backgrounds and cultures.
Diversity within plant, animal, and human communities makes them strong.

Stewardship

We have a responsibility to preserve and care for the Smokies and places like it.
Living in an earth-friendly way can be transferred to our lives at home.
Preserving places means learning about their problems and working to help.
Our lifestyle and daily habits can be adjusted to have less impact upon the environment.

A Cooperative Approach to Teaching
Tremont has a unique team approach to environmental education. Here are some reasons for our cooperative teaching arrangement.

Students - Tremont Naturalists know the local ecology quite well - but we don’t know your kids very well. We feel strongly that the best Tremont experience for students comes from learning from us AND from you in a fresh and unfamiliar setting. As a visiting teacher you may not be a Smokies expert, yet you will be better able to relate students’ experience at Tremont with your school curriculum and their own life experience back home.

Teachers - We strive to make a Tremont experience enriching not only for students but for teachers as well. We want teachers who visit Tremont (with their schools) to gain valuable firsthand experience in leading outdoor activities with their students. Providing teachers the opportunity of leading a group outdoors can equip them to begin feeling comfortable there and can inspire them to return to their own classrooms refreshed and excited about environmental education. Connecting People and Nature: A Teacher’s Guide is an extensive curriculum resource available to teachers. It provides lesson plans, information and tips on how to teach in the outdoor setting. Every school attending Tremont receives this resource well in advance.

Here’s how Cooperative Teaching works.
One Tremont Teacher/Naturalist (T/N) and one adult from your school are assigned to each group of 20-24 students. That group will meet together each morning and afternoon for a lesson. After an introduction to the lesson, half the group will go with the T/N and the other half will go with the classroom teacher. All class supplies and lesson plans are provided by Tremont and will be distributed on your first day along with trail information. Teachers may also choose to teach all of one subject and request Tremont staff to teach all of another subject. This format is reflected in the sample schedules. Sometimes for a higher fee Tremont staff are able to provide the majority of the teaching. This is provided as scheduling permits for groups with unique program needs that require greater involvement from our teaching staff.