Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont receives $3,000 grant from Leadership Education Fund of East Tennessee Foundation to partially fund Tremont’s Environmental and Community Leaders Fellowship.

The Environmental and Community Leaders Fellowship empowers young adults to build equitable access to green spaces, encourage excellence and personal leadership in public education, and find career opportunities in their urban underserved communities.

The fellowship is co-designed by Fulton High School in Knoxville, Tennessee. The goal is to create a model experiential learning program that meets academic requirements, connects the students to community leaders, and provides real-world leadership opportunities.

Each year, 30-40 high school students will be selected for the two-year fellowship. To apply for the program, students must be a junior (11th grade) at Fulton High School and be recommended by a teacher.

Participants will practice leadership skills and increase community engagement through service events, elementary and middle school student mentorships, and capstone projects in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

“The fellowship model is exciting for Tremont Institute because it allows us to work closely with a community and school over the long-term. At Tremont, we recognize that transformative experiences occur during our residential school programs in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, but that we also have an opportunity to bring our expertise in experiential learning and environmental leadership to the communities that we serve. Support from the Leadership Education Fund helps us invest in creating opportunities for Fulton students to take the lead in designing and implementing community engagement and stewardship events that will serve their neighbors and city, increasing access to Knoxville’s exceptional natural resources and spaces,” says Caleb Carlton, Manager for Innovation and Assessment.