Finding common ground at the continental divide

Posted on July 23, 2014

By MARK VIOLA / Staff writer

For Taylor County High School biology teacher Patricia Joe (P.J.) Piland, who was chosen to attend the Keystone Science School’s 2014 Key Issues Institute, her trip to Colorado proved to be both a unique professional development program and a profoundly personal experience.

Piland’s trip was sponsored by the Georgia- Pacific Foundation. She was one of 10 teachers chosen from Georgia-Pacific’s facility communities in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Texas and Wisconsin.

PHOTO: For Taylor County High School Teacher Patricia Joe (P.J.) Piland, her week-long trip to Colorado for the Keystone Science Schools 2014 Key Issues Institute was one of professional development and personal triumph. She is shown above celebrating after climbing to see the continental divide in 19 degree weather. “We went at 5 a.m. so we saw the sunrise over the continental divide,” Piland said. “That was so cool.”

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