Kevin Lewis
Winner of the Ben Meadows Company 2005
Outdoor Pro Award
Kevin, of Elberton, GA, was nominated for the Ben Meadows
Company Outdoor Pro Award by a teacher in the Barrow County,
GA school district. Why would a kindergarten teacher nominate
a Procurement Forester for our Outdoor Pro Award?
The teacher writes:
Kevin takes time out of his work schedule to perform ‘tree
talks’ with elementary age children. The talks are a program
Georgia Pacific created to help children become aware of the
environment and to become good stewards of our environment.
Kevin has created cartoon characters to help him with these
talks. The characters really appeal to the students—this
helps them retain the information Kevin gives them.
At the ‘tree talks’, Kevin speaks
about trees and the need for conservation in conjunction with
use. He also discusses the need for tree thinning and the other
aspects of cutting. The cartoon characters reinforce to the
students the positive aspects of land renewal. Students identify
with the characters and the information stays with the students.
At a recent talk with my kindergarten students,
Kevin playfully made the suggestion that if he were king for
a day he would make three rules: if you cut a tree, you have
to plant a tree; if you drop trash, you have to pick it up;
and recycle paper and glass. Weeks after a tree talk, my students
still recall the rules Mr. Lewis shared with them. He is inspirational
because of his enthusiasm for his work. He truly enjoys his
job and shares that enthusiasm with others; it is contagious.
We spoke with Kevin about why he devotes his time,
expertise and even his own land to inspire kids to enjoy and
preserve their forests. Click
here to read this interesting interview from a fellow outdoor
professional.
We spent some time with Kevin Lewis,
Ben Meadows Company Outdoor Pro Award winner, during a typical
day out in the field taking stewardship over the land about
which he cares so much.
