Gregory A. Smith

Devotions from Oakdale are to encourage the reader with daily inspirational and motivational encouragement from the writer, Greg Smith, while serving a prison sentence in Oakdale Federal Correctional Institute in Oakdale, Louisiana. Greg wants to uplift and share his positive attitude even under adverse times to show that anyone can overcome anything in life if you allow God to be the center of your daily walk. Who is Greg Smith? Greg Smith is an ordinary man touched by God in an extraordinary way. His gift of thinking big and his obligation to serve has always driven him to accomplish much. But praise and titles have never been important to this man who values Jesus Christ and family above all else. His sense of humor and unwavering focus has fallen onto the pages that outline his life. Greg graduated from Centenary College of Louisiana in Shreveport, Louisiana with a degree in Petroleum Geology. He holds Diplomas in Ministries/Pastoral Education and in Theological Foundations from Seminary Extension of the Southern Baptist Convention in Nashville, Tennessee. Greg know without a doubt his best story is yet to come. I would love for you to share your story. Please feel free to contact me. 318-621-6529 [email protected]

Place- and community-based education – an approach to teaching and learning that starts with the local – addresses two critical gaps in the experience of many children now growing up in the United States: contact with the natural world and contact with community. It offers a way to extend young people’s attention beyond the classroom to the world as it actually is, and to engage them in the process of devising solutions to the social and environmental problems they will confront as adults. This approach can increase students’ engagement with learning and enhance their academic achievement. Envisioned as a primer and guide for educators and members of the public interested in incorporating the local into schools in their own communities, this book explains the purpose and nature of place- and community-based education and provides multiple examples of its practice. The detailed descriptions of learning experiences set both within and beyond the classroom will help readers begin the process of advocating for or incorporating local content and experiences into their schools.

Place- and community-based education – an approach to teaching and learning that starts with the local – addresses two critical gaps in the experience of many children now growing up in the United States: contact with the natural world and contact with community. It offers a way to extend young people’s attention beyond the classroom to the world as it actually is, and to engage them in the process of devising solutions to the social and environmental problems they will confront as adults. This approach can increase students’ engagement with learning and enhance their academic achievement. Envisioned as a primer and guide for educators and members of the public interested in incorporating the local into schools in their own communities, this book explains the purpose and nature of place- and community-based education and provides multiple examples of its practice. The detailed descriptions of learning experiences set both within and beyond the classroom will help readers begin the process of advocating for or incorporating local content and experiences into their schools.