JAY — A local teacher has received national recognition for his efforts in the classroom.

Veteran teacher Rob Taylor has been named a 2011 National Project Learning Tree Outstanding Educator for 2011. He is one of five recognized around the country. The others are from California, Louisiana, South Carolina and Texas.

Taylor has taught for 22 years, one of them in Livermore Falls and the rest in Jay schools.

He said he became a teacher because he loves working with kids.

“I started in college as a physical therapy major and started tutoring and fell in love with teaching,” Taylor said.

He currently is the Jay School Department’s gifted and talented teacher and science educator.

Project Learning Tree, an environmental education program of the American Forest Foundation, selected Taylor for his commitment to environmental education, exemplary use of Project Learning Tree, and exceptional teaching skills, according to a news release.

Taylor will be honored at Project Learning Tree’s 25th International Coordinators’ Conference on June 6-9 in Montgomery, Texas. He is invited to attend the World Forestry Center’s International Educators’ Institute, July 10-16, in Portland, Ore.

Taylor was selected, in part, for his creativity in using the outdoors to increase students’ understanding of science and engaging them in opportunities for leadership in their community, the release states.

Taylor has written and received numerous grants, some with assistance from students, to help pay for the unique ventures he takes his students on.

A recent grant for the Jay Middle School is from PLT GreenWorks!, where he involved students in creating a greenhouse, powered by solar energy, to grow food for the school cafeteria.

They are now constructing a wind turbine and creating a composting program.

Throughout his career Taylor has had his students out in boats testing the water in Parker Pond and charting the results. His students raised trout and released them into water bodies. They’ve also been involved in technology and physics related to the environment with International Paper.

For several years Taylor has worked with students and others to turn about 200 acres of town land into a place for students and adults to learn about nature. That harvest of the land and recreational component are ongoing.

Students, under Taylor’s guidance, have achieved numerous awards at state and national levels. He has been a longtime adviser for Jay’s Envirothon teams.

The Envirothon Team recently received a $240 grant to purchase forestry tools from the Society of American Foresters. 

“One of the grant requirements was that we had to hold a training for students with professional foresters on how to use the equipment,” Taylor said. 

Maine Forest Service district forester Patty Cormier and independent forester Steve Gettle trained the students. 

“We were able to purchase compasses, Biltmore Sticks, basal area prisms, tree marking paint, a clinometer and a soil auger,” he said. “All this equipment will help students learn more about forestry in the Jay Recreation Area and will help them prepare for the Western Maine Regional Envirothon on May 17 at the Auburn Land Lab.”

Jay High School has 24 kids on four teams preparing for the event.

“Through his work with the Gifted and Talented program, idle school students are challenged as never before,” Scott Albert, Jay Middle School principal, said, according to the release.

“Rob truly makes the outdoors a learning field for all,” Gettle of Jay said.

Taylor, who grew up Hopkinton, Mass., is also involved in out-of-school activities that include being an Explorer Post adviser and current member of  the Jay Recreation Committee. He is also member of the steering committee of “Mapping Our Footsteps” and the Chisholm Trails Committee to link Jay and Livermore Falls by an urban trail.

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