Local Take Pride Affiliate Receives National Thanks

LAS VEGAS -The Take Pride in America® Program, a national partnership established by the U.S. Department of Interior, has awarded UNLV’s Public Lands Institute a Certificate of Appreciation for its contribution to the nationwide effort. The Public Lands Institute, through its Southern Nevada Take Pride in America Program, was one of 16 contributors to Take Pride’s Public Service Announcement campaign featuring actor, director, and conservationist Clint Eastwood.

In May 2005, the national organization began an ambitious effort to create a campaign to help spread the word on volunteerism and motivate people to respond to the many volunteer opportunities presented on its website. The Public Lands Institute joined with such contributors as the American Recreation Coalition and the Walt Disney Company to provide funding for the filming, production, and distribution of the PSAs.

In the letter accompanying the certificate, Take Pride Executive Director Marti Allbright noted that the Public Lands Institute’s “generous contribution made this broad, sweeping public outreach campaign a reality.” She thanked the institute “for the dedication shown to the Take Pride mission.”

The Public Lands Institute provided $12,500 in funding from the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act. “The local Take Pride affiliate saw this as an excellent opportunity to show our commitment to the national effort,” said Nancy Flagg, director of the Public Lands Institute. “However, it was also an important first step to introduce our relatively new program to the community. We were fortunate to have Mr. Eastwood personalize the message for Nevada.”

The PSAs began airing this fall on television, radio, and print media outlets nationwide. The UNLV Public Affairs Office secured agreements to have the Southern Nevada Take Pride PSAs air on the local NBC, CBS, and Fox affiliates; Cox Cable; and local channels CCTV, KCVB, and UNLV-TV.

Take Pride in America® aims to engage, support, and recognize volunteers who work to improve our public parks, forests, grasslands, wildlife refuges, cultural and historical sites, local playgrounds, and other recreation areas. To participate in local Take Pride events, visit www.getoutdoorsnevada.org.

Research Highlights Outdoor Recreation Education

LAS VEGAS -Three UNLV researchers are breaking new ground in environmental education research. Jeanne Klockow, education curriculum coordinator for UNLV’s Public Lands Institute, has joined with Gregory Schraw and Lori Olafson of the College of Education, to develop assessment instruments to evaluate the effectiveness of a federally based recreational education program. The research, “Assessing Discover Mojave: Instrument Development and Analysis,” is gaining regional and international attention from educational researchers.

The research team recently was notified their work has been accepted for presentation at the Conference on Research and Practices in Science Education in Hong Kong December 16-17, 2005. It also will be published in the Teachers’ Handbook after the conference. The study was first presented October 6, 2005, at the 23rd Annual Northern Rocky Mountain Educational Research Association in Jackson, Wyoming.

Klockow, Schraw and Olafson developed an assessment plan to determine whether hands-on outdoor events through informal education promote any changes in the knowledge, attitude, and performance of at-risk urban children. They studied a total of 44 children in Clark County, aged eight to 12, who participated in the Discover Mojave Outdoor World Program’s canoeing, bird watching, art, and fishing activities . The recreation education program is for urban, economically disadvantaged youth and is designed to encourage lifelong recreation on public lands. The program is funded by the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act and managed by UNLV’s Public Lands Institute on behalf of the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and U.S. Forest Service.

“This is ‘lived’ research,” explained Klockow. “The research is being produced as the programs are delivered,” she said. “The results are letting us know whether or not we are on the right track with the education-in-the-environment curriculum.”

The study’s findings revealed that knowledge, attitudes, and performance increased substantially as a result of the youths’ participation in the outdoor recreation events.

• 44% of the children had little knowledge prior to the events compared to 78% having more complete knowledge after participating in the events.


• 94% of the participating children demonstrated all performance skills.


• Post-event attitudes were significantly higher than pre-event attitudes, suggesting that participating in the events had a positive impact on the children.

The next phase of the research will study how informal education can affect formal education. Specifically, Klockow, Schraw and Olafson want to see if teachers report student attitudinal changes toward science and if the students’ participation leads to improvement in their science grades.