Cedar Coal Education Program: Experiences and Successes reaching out from the Coal Industry to K-12 and the Public

"Ask an average non-industry person on the street “What is coal? What is coal mining? What is a coal miner?” The most common answers are coal is something Santa puts in your stocking for being naughty, coal mining is destroying the earth causing global warming, and a coal miner is a person that uses a pick and shovel to dig coal out of the earth. As farfetched as these answers seem, unfortunately this is the opinion of many Americans. Realizing the lack of educational opportunity regarding coal and coal mining, a first-of-its-kind grassroots coal education program known as CEDAR (Coal Education Development and Resource) was created. What started from a general conversation at the December 1992 North Carolina Coal Institute (NCCI) Winter Meeting at the Mid Pines Club in Southern Pines, North Carolina led to the creation, and later expansion of, CEDAR. NCCI President, Gene McBurney, challenged John Justice, NCCI Board Member from east Kentucky, to come up with an idea of how to improve the image of the coal industry, pledging $5,000 from the NCCI as seed money to assist in the development of any such program. John then met with the leaders of Coal Operators and Associates, Inc., (COA) in Pikeville, KY where they agreed to match the NCCI commitment, as well as to assist in the program’s development. After further meetings with representatives from industry, business, and the local school system, CEDAR, Inc. (of east KY) was born. The first year of implementation, the program offered coal education programs to public and private schools in one county in east Kentucky. Although it started in the coalfields of eastern Kentucky, it certainly did not end there. After an amazingly successful first year of the program, it didn’t take long for industry leaders in the western Kentucky coal-fields to learn about, and take note of this new, unique, and exciting program that provided opportunities for teachers and students to learn, “the rest of the story” about the coal industry. Through the joint efforts of Costain Coal, and the Western Kentucky Coal Association, CEDAR of West Kentucky, Inc. was formed in 1994, and has operated since that time, except for the two year period from 2004-2006. The program restarted in 2006 under the name of CEDAR West, Inc. and continues to be offered in six western Kentucky counties."