by Alivia Acosta,<\/b> Volunteer Development Coordinator, <\/i>Appalachian Trail Conservancy<\/i><\/p>\n
The Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) invited people from across the country to join them on an amazing Appalachian Trail (AT)\u00a0Ed-Venture Series.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Starting in Georgia and traveling all the way north to Maine, each session was led by environmental educators providing exciting content across diverse disciplines that connect curriculum and students to the AT. These interactive sessions were hosted live via Zoom, shared simultaneously on\u00a0Facebook Live\u00a0(which allowed for participation from around the world), and then published to YouTube for access at any time. There were over 500 registrations to the live events and over 4,500 views of the various recordings on\u00a0YouTube as of February 1, 2021.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Although the series made it to Maine on March 3, 2021, the ed-venture continues!\u00a0The next ATC Ed-Venture Series will cover a wide range of topics; from how heritage and history can be expressed through art and creative writing to the importance of acknowledging native lands.<\/p>\n In September 2020, the ATC partnered with Walk the Distance for a special promotion. Walk the Distance is an iOS phone app tied directly to your phone\u2019s health data, tracking how many steps you have taken and allowing individuals to experience the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine by incorporating virtual stops along the 2,193.1 miles of the Trail. These virtual stops feature iconic Trail locations, viewpoints and vistas, as well as history about those locations and some of the Trail Clubs that look after particular Trail sections. For the special promotion, folks would receive the app after donating $5 or more to the ATC. It resulted in more than 10K in donations with roughly 850 people taking part in the promotion.<\/p>\n The ATC also offered virtual training opportunities for its volunteers in lieu of a historically bi-annual in person meeting centered around volunteer leadership. This flagship virtual training was called the Volunteer Leadership Academy. It offered pathways of learning for volunteers to select from based on topics of interest or areas of expressed need.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The online sessions offered a collaborative learning environment where participants were provided with opportunities for network-capacity building by sharing knowledge and practicing skills. The three learning pathways that were hosted and identified based on findings from the 2020 Club Listening Session Report were:\u00a0Engaging New People, Organizational Leadership, as well as AT Cooperative Management & Project Leadership.<\/p>\n Beyond virtual training for volunteers, the ATC is excited to\u00a0announce the\u00a0launch\u00a0of a clearinghouse\u00a0for\u00a0Appalachian Trail volunteer opportunities in the form of\u00a0the\u00a0Volunteer Engagement Platform\u00a0(VEP).\u00a0The\u00a0platform aggregates projects and volunteer roles from across 14 States to make\u00a0it easier for current and aspiring volunteers to get connected and remain engaged in their own personal volunteer experiences throughout the Trail.<\/p>\n