Profiles of Environmental Education Grants Awarded to Organizations in Alabama
- Indicates a Headquarters grant
2014 Grants
Auburn University-AL Cooperative Extension System $91,000
Mona Dominguez, 310 Samford Hall, Auburn, AL 36849-5131
http://www.aces.edu/main/Exit
Increasing Environmental Literacy and Watershed Stewardship through Youth-focused Citizen Science Project
The goal of this 2-year project is to build capacity within the Alabama Cooperative Extension System 4-H Alabama Water Watch Program to provide educators including teachers, volunteers, and 4-H agents with the training, materials, and support needed to increase environmental literacy for youth (ages 9 – 18) in Alabama which will enable them to actively take part in watershed stewardship in their local communities and ultimately make informed and responsible decisions about the environment.
2013 Grants
Alabama Clean Water Partnership $171,436
Allison Randle, 95 Jimshill Rd., Wetumpka, AL 36093
Cleanwaterpartnership.org
Eco-Action: Waters to the Sea
The Eco-Action: Waters to the Sea project uses innovative multimedia learning and data-gathering technologies in computer kiosks deployed at popular nature centers, museums, and informal science centers, plus related web-delivered multimedia content developed for teachers and students, to realize the goal of increasing non-point source pollution-reduction behaviors in citizens throughout Alabama’s Mobile Bay watershed.
2011 Grants
Alabama's Mountains, Rivers and Valleys RCDC $74,250
Mr. Jay Grantland, 5514 U.S. Highway 31 South, Hartselle, AL 35640
WaterWorks: Teaching Environmental Responsibility
This project will educate students on how to reduce non point source pollution, reduce energy consumption, and understand environmental responsibility. Students will be taught the value of water-treating wetlands, onsite sewage wetlands, green roofs, worm-composting, rain barrels, in-place storm water basins under the pavers, solar power, passive solar hot water heaters and natural mosquito control using native species minnows. The instruction and activities will be on-site and hands-on, which will teach environmental responsibility by exploring natural and constructed wetlands as related to water quality, flood prevention, water storage in droughts, groundwater recharging, wildlife habitat, riparian zone protection and anesthetic values.
2008 Grants
Alabama Forestry Foundation $10,700
Chris Erwin, 555 Alabama Street, Montgomery, AL 36104
Teachers Conservation Workshop
This 4-day workshop is designed to give teachers a better understanding of the important role Alabama’s forest ecosystems play in protecting the environment while providing economic resources to the citizens of the state. Guest speakers from government agencies, academic institutions, and industry covers topics such as wildlife, silviculture, fire, tree identification, and water quality. The workshop includes field trips, classroom lecture, and hands-on activities. The audience for this workshop is kindergarten through grade 12 teachers from across Alabama. The teachers come away with a better understanding of the necessity of managing the forests and other natural resources to keep them healthy and productive.
The Martin Foundation $121,500
Angela Martin, 110 Pawnee Drive, Anniston, AL 36206
Community Unity for a Healthy Life
By educating teachers, students, parents, community leaders, and the public about threats to human health from environmental pollution, Community Unity for a Healthy Life increases the public’s awareness and knowledge about polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), lead, and mercury for residents of the city of Anniston and Calhoun County, Alabama. This project helps to address concerns about these environmental toxins, which have been dumped in the counties over a period of 40 years. Through a community education approach that includes weekly workshops, seminars, and health fairs, members of the community are educated about threats to human health from the toxins and learn how to minimize human exposure to preserve good health. In addition, several resources, including a Web site, a monthly e-newsletter, and an informational brochure, have been developed to further inform community members about various ways that humans may be exposed to contaminants. By increasing the community’s awareness and knowledge, this project enables community members to develop skills to make informed decisions and take responsible actions for their health care. Partners on this project include Family Links, Inc., the Department of Environmental Health Sciences and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Albany, and Jacksonville State University.
2006 Grants
Alabama PALS (People Against a Littered State) $75,000
Spencer Ryan, 340 North Hull Street, Montgomery, AL 36104
Clean Campus Program
The Clean Campus Program promotes environmental stewardship through education about litter, thereby creating a cleaner, healthier, and less polluted environment for all Alabama school systems, colleges, and universities. The program, which is focused on a variety of hands-on projects, provides students, faculty, and staff in kindergarten through grade 12 with all the tools and educational support needed to transform campuses into cleaner, safer places. These tools are supplied through seminars, educational materials, projects, and leadership and community building activities. By learning how to minimize pollution and litter at its source, the students are becoming environmentally aware and are learning how their behavior affects the environment. The faculty and staff are, in turn, learning how to build a foundation for future adult behavior and advance the concept of personal responsibility in caring for the environment. Participating schools receive, free of cost, on-site seminars, an environmental curriculum, trash bags, brochures, and on-site banners. In return, participating schools provide environmental education as part of the curriculum and are also required to support an ongoing recycling program at the school. The program partners with the Alabama Education Association and more than 400 schools throughout the State of Alabama.
Camp Fire USA Central Alabama Council $14,295
Gen Williamson, 3600 8th Avenue, South, Suite 502, Birmingham, AL 35222
Camp Fletcher: Spring Environmental Field Trip Program
Outdoor environmental education field trips are provided to low-income kindergarten and elementary school students at no cost to schools under this grant. Students are taught the health implications of air pollution; the connections among lakes, rivers, and streams and the drinking water that comes from their taps; and learn about animal habitats, urban development, and the importance of establishing national forests, parks, and wildlife preserves. Environmental stewardship is therefore easily understood and the knowledge retained at a higher level. The method of instruction is based on Project WILD and Project Learning Tree, and is provided by volunteer teachers.
2005 Grants
Alabama Coastal Foundation, Inc. $12,310
Cathy Barnette, 122 Fairhope Avenue, Unit 3, Fairhope, AL 36533
Alabama Coastal Kids Quiz Conservation Scholarship Competition
The Alabama Coastal Kids Quiz Conservation Scholarship Competition is an educational contest for all fifth grade students in coastal Alabama. The contest is designed to emphasize, introduce, and test their knowledge in coastal resources, conservation, and the environment. Teams of five students from public and private schools in Mobile and Baldwin Counties participate. Questions are based on concepts and relationships developed through the Project Conservation Action through Education (CATE) CD-ROM and teacher tool kit. The major objective of the Coastal Kids Quiz is to teach issues in water quality and conservation to the students. The competition provides an outlet for promoting dialogue about social, economic, and environmental interests. It further introduces conservation principles to children in Alabama’s coastal area who have not had the opportunity to express their knowledge and understanding outside the classroom. Elementary school teachers tutor the students and assist in hosting the contest. The competition also provides an important and useful resource for fifth grade teachers.
Dauphin Island Sea Lab Mobile Bay National Estuary Program $10,051
Roberta Swann, 101 Bienville Boulevard, Dauphin Island, AL 36528
Mobile Bay National Estuary Program (MBNEP)
Education for land use professionals about the economic feasibility of altering land use practices to reduce storm water runoff and nonpoint source pollution, in the process hoping that they become better environmental stewards, is the goal of this project. The expected outcome is the adoption, use, and promotion of environmentally sensitive development practices by land use professionals. Participants are recruited through networking with the Mobile Area Association of Realtors, the Baldwin County Association of Realtors, the Montgomery Association of Realtors, and Barkerville Donovan, Inc., a Mobile-based engineering firm. The Mobile Bay National Estuary Program (MBNEP) advertises the program on the “grassroots, inc.” and MBNEP Web sites. In addition, MBNEP develops letters, flyers, and e-mails to each real estate board for distribution to its members. Land use professionals participate in an on-line course and two live workshops, receive an e-newsletter, and are exposed to networking opportunities.
2004 Grants
Alabama Forestry Foundation $5,000
Rick Oates, 555 Alabama Street, Montgomery, AL 36104
36th Teachers Conservation Workshop
In this project, the Alabama Forestry Foundation hosts a 5-day workshop for teachers designed to give them a better understanding of the role that Alabama's forest ecosystems play in protecting other parts of the environment. The workshop makes use of field trips as well as guest speakers. The workshop also incorporates Project Learning Tree, Legacy, the GLOBE program, and other environmental curricula. Topics discussed include endangered species, water quality, soils, the importance of fire in an ecosystem, and energy conservation. The teachers are given field trip guides, papermaking kits, and leaf identification kits that they can use to teach their students about forest ecosystems.
Friends of Winnataska, Inc. $23,990
Ellen B. Buckner, 1524 Shades Crest Road, Birmingham, AL 35226
Winnataska Consortium for Teacher Education in Environmental Studies
The purpose of this project is to initiate a consortium for teacher education in environmental studies at Camp Winnataska. While setting up an office at the camp site, Friends of Winnataska, Inc., revised the camp waste management services to offer recycling. This organization is providing materials to support the consortium workshops on site. The workshops, 12 for teachers and 2 for students, address biology, chemistry, ecology, geology, geography, and environmental education.
2003 Grants
University of Alabama at Birmingham $22,000
Alan Antenucci, 620 20th Street South, NHB 104, Birmingham, AL 35233
Birmingham Air Quality Study
The goal of this project is to enhance the student awareness, knowledge, and skills that are needed to make decisions affecting environmental quality by working with middle and high school teachers and their students. Textbooks often lack specific examples of how the information provided is of practical value. By moving away from a strictly textbook-based approach, student participants experience better performance on standardized tests, improved classroom management, increased enthusiasm for learning, and greater pride and ownership in accomplishments. The first step to achieving project goals was the adoption of the GLOBE curriculum in 2000 by the Birmingham City Schools. The project offers training workshops for 30 middle and high school teachers in the Birmingham area and provides equipment and supplies for their classrooms. The training and equipment enable the teachers and their students to gather air quality and atmospheric data using GLOBE curriculum protocols.
2002 Grants
Legacy, Inc. $9,663
H. Paige Moreland, P. O. Box 3813, Montgomery, AL 36109
Tools for Teaching Environmental Education in Alabama's Classrooms
"Tools for Teaching Environmental Education in Alabama's Classroom" is a series of workshops designed to target kindergarten through 12th-grade teachers from six geographical areas in Alabama. The workshop series is held in Mobile, Dothan, Decatur, Tuscaloosa, Clanton, and Anniston. Each workshop is tailored to focus on specific environmental issues relevant to a particular geographical area. The 3-day events are composed of four components: Ecology, Waste Management, Pollution Prevention, and Natural Resources. These four components are demonstrated with hands-on teaching strategies, content lectures from field experts, field trips to relevant sites, round-table discussions, and problem-solving activities. The objective of each workshop is to equip Alabama teachers with the tools necessary to bring environmental education into the classroom.
2001 Grants
Cahaba River Society $10,000
Randy Mecredy, 2717 7th Avenue, Suite 205, Birmingham, AL 35233
Children Linking Environmentally Across the Nation (CLEAN) Environmental Education Training
The goal of the project is to build environmental literacy by providing quality training to help teachers make science come alive and capture their students’ attention. During the past four years, the Cahaba River Society’s (CRS) CLEAN Program has provided hands-on educational field trips, teacher workshops, and interdisciplinary classroom curriculum activities to students and teachers in the Cahaba River watershed and drinking-water service area. CRS is expanding the teacher-training component of the program by offering additional hands-on workshops to educators to improve their environmental education teaching skills. The workshops prepare teachers to use the CRS CLEAN curriculum to improve their environmental education teaching skills and enhance field trip experiences.
Clear Branch United Methodist Church $5,000
Craig Smith, 8051 Glenn Road, Trussville, AL 35173
Rivers To Mind
Venture Crew is a program for young men and women between the ages of 14 and 21 that is organized and sponsored by the Boy Scouts of America. A Venture Crew group sponsored by the Clear Branch United Methodist Church canoes several rivers in central Alabama and is producing a multimedia presentation that focuses on the environmental problems the group observes during the canoe trips. The group provides the presentation to schools and community organizations. The objective of the group’s effort is to bring the essence of the rivers to the minds of audiences and to ask the members of those audiences to help “mind the rivers.” It is hoped that increasing public awareness of existing environmental problems will help increase concern for the environmental condition of the rivers.
2000 Grants
Alabama Mayors Corporation for Economic, Cultural, and Education Development $13,896
Shandra Jackson Smith, PMB #202, 2663 Valleydale Road, Birmingham, AL 35244
Enviro-Youth Alabama: An Environmental Education and Career Development Project
The Alabama Mayors Corporation for Economic, Cultural, and Education Development is a non-profit segment of the Alabama Conference of Black Mayors (ACBM). The Mayors Corporation is promoting environmental career preparation among high school students in ACBM towns through Enviro-Youth Alabama, targeting 9th through 12th grade students, primarily minorities. The objectives of the project are to explore and study local environmental concerns and issues in ACBM communities and to increase student interest among students in environmental careers. At least 15 high schools in ACBM communities sponsor environmental science fairs, focusing on local environmental issues. Students whose projects score high and others attend a one-day environmental career conference and exposition at Tuskegee University. The conference features a career preparation seminar and a statewide environmental project competition. The four students whose projects score highest are offered scholarships to attend Tuskegee University's summer preengineering program for high school students.
1999 Grants
Cahaba River Society $25,000
Rachel Reinhart, 2717 7th Avenue South, Suite 205, Birmingham, AL 35233
Cahaba/Black Warrior CLEAN
The CLEAN program of the Cahaba River Society expands its innovative environmental education programs, teacher training workshops, and interdisciplinary classroom curriculum activities to serve rural and low-income students (4th through 12th grades) and teachers in the underserved lower Cahaba watershed. The program offers 1,000 students hands-on environmental education activities during field trips on the water. In addition, the program trains 200 teachers to lead the field trips and encourage students to undertake waterway restoration projects with partners in the community.
Citizens' Lead Education and Elimination Project $4,700
Whitlynn T. Battle, 325 Center Street South, Birmingham, AL 35205-3031
Lead Umbrella Workshop
A one-day lead information and education workshop is held for parents, representatives of local governments, policy makers, health providers, representatives of tenants' interests, members of religious communities, and education and childcare providers. The workshop addresses the issue of lead poisoning in children. Experts in lead education conduct the workshop, reinforcing their efforts with printed materials. As a follow-up to the workshop, a coalition (the Lead Umbrella) is created to develop a comprehensive plan to educate members of communities affected by the issue and work to eliminate childhood lead poisoning in the community of Birmingham.
1998 Grants
Center for Environmental Research and Service $4,800
Michael William Mullen, Troy State University, Troy, AL 36082
Community Water Conservation Education
This project addresses the trends in groundwater levels in the wiregrass region of southeast Alabama through a comprehensive community water conservation education program. The project uses a program aimed at middle school students. Through the use of printed materials, local media, a community water festival, targeted workshops, and the provision of tools for water conservation, the project increases public awareness of the area's dependence on groundwater resources. The project is offered in Troy and other towns and cities in the wiregrass region.
1997 Grants
Cahaba River Society $17,500
Rachel Reinhart, 2717 7th Avenue South, Suite 205, Birmingham, AL 35233
Cahaba/Black Warrior Clean
This project provides for 105 water resource field trips for approximately 2,300 students and 60 teachers. Four teacher workshops, each a week in length; six day-long teacher field trips and planning sessions; and fifteen curriculum training workshops, each a full-day session, are conducted for 315 teachers. A curriculum developed by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation was adapted to create an interdisciplinary classroom and field curriculum that is tailored to regional issues and that complements the field experiences.
Cullman County Soil and Water Conservation District $5,000
Robert Harbison, 301 1st Street N. E., Cullman, AL 35056-1456
Teaching the Teachers
Under this project, teachers and other educators learn to develop and deliver their own environmental education programs for elementary and secondary school students. In addition, members of conservation district boards and Earth Team volunteers have the opportunity to participate in workshops. The two-day workshop trains participants to use the material provided to teach classes and gives them the opportunity to practice their newly acquired skills in a classroom setting.
Franklin County School System/East Franklin Junior High School $5,000
Wyatt Hutcheson, P. O. Box 610, Russellville, AL 35653
Development of an Environmental Education Program
This project develops an environmental education center at the East Franklin Junior High School. The center includes an outdoor classroom and nature trail that has a wetlands habitat, a bird habitat, and a native plant habitat. The project is designed to teach students about the threats to human health posed by pollution and to educate them about environmental careers. A companion workshop trains teachers in the use of Project Learning Tree.
Jacksonville State University $162,615
Margaret B. Bogan, 700 Pelham Road North, Jacksonville, AL 36265
Environmental Education, From Awareness to Action
Under this teacher training project, secondary school teachers improve their skills at 11-day in-service workshops, during which they examine model teaching strategies. The project is intended to increase the teachers' environmental awareness and attitudes, as well as to prompt them to take action to influence the use of water resources and to foster public understanding of the effects of such use. Teachers learn new teaching and assessment strategies that inspire students to become active learners and high achievers, communicate with an international network of colleagues teaching about the environment, facilitate action programs for students, and provide district in-service education. The teachers keep and submit notebooks of the projects and Internet communications their students conduct. The project serves teachers in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
1996 Grants
Central Florida Muscogee Tribe, Inc. $5,000
Dr. Margaret B. Bogan, c/o EDRS Jacksonville State Univ., 700 Pelham Rd. N., Jacksonville, AL 36265-9982
Nature Trail Development
Participants in the Nature Trail Development project are building a system of nature trails, on tribal lands, through cypress, riverine swamp and low wetlands. A trail guide will be published to describe the plants found along the trail. The purpose of the project is to increase tribal capacity to deliver environmental education programs and to use the trail as a tool to educate tribal members about the ecology of tribal grounds.
Huntsville-Madison County Botanical Garden $4,965
Melanie Garton, 4747 Bob Wallace Ave., Huntsville, AL 35805
Introducing Environmental Science to Teachers Grades K-6
The purpose of this project is to introduce environmental science to teachers of kindergarten through sixth grade. A teacher workshop on water, ecology and plant life will be conducted. The workshop will use visits to field sites, exhibits and outdoor classrooms as a vehicle. The target audience is 50 elementary teachers who have demonstrated leadership in science education.
1995 Grants
Huntington College $4,100
Douglas McGinty, 1500 E. Fairview Avenue, Montgomery, AL 36024
Environmental Education Outreach Program
This project will develop an assortment of environmental education modules covering the following issues: pollution prevention, land use, wildlife, water, atmosphere, energy, population, and "Our Backyard". The target audience for the project is 5,404 students enrolled in 33 schools serving students in grades 5 and 6 in the Montgomery County Public School System. Teacher workshops will be an integral part of the project.
1994 Grants
Poarch Band of Creek Indians $3,500
James T. Martin, HCR 69A Box 85B, Atmore, AL 36502
Water Quality Assessment
This project involves a classroom presentation to high school students concerning water quality assessment. The presentation includes identification of pollution sources and reinforcing the understanding of the methods of abatement.
1993 Grants
Foley High School $5,000
Pam Henson, Pride Place, Foley, AL 36535
Take A Class Outdoors: The Key to Introducing Environmental Issues
The "Take A Class Outdoors: The Key to Introducing Environmental Issues" project will develop an outdoor environmental laboratory, arboretum, and nature study center for use by 1,300 students from Foley High School and seven other schools, as well as for teachers in-service activities.
Poarch Band of Creek Indian $5,000
James T. Martin, HCR 69, A Box 85-B, Atmore, AL 36502
Non-point Source Pollution and Tribal Surface Waters
The purpose of this project is to develop and implement an environmental education program to address non-point source pollution of tribal surface waters. The program includes hands-on, field demonstration projects and production of instructor and student program manuals.
1992 Grants
Creekview Elementary School $4,284
Alabaster, AL 35007
Environmental Protection
The purpose of this project is to teach environmental protection to educators and students using the natural area around the school and other learning materials. The curriculum will educate teachers and pupils using the school setting as an instructional resource.
Elmore County Board of Education $2,208
Wetumpka, AL 36092
Pass it Down - A Study of Nature
"Pass it Down - A Study of Nature" is a school yard nature center curriculum for 4th through 6th grade pupils that includes on-campus field study, wetlands preservation, high technology microscopy, and computer data analyses. The curriculum uses school-owned land as the nature center.
Gadsden Cultural Arts Foundation $4,715
Gadsden, AL 36092
Alabama Wetlands Exhibit
The "Alabama Wetlands Exhibit" is a museum exhibit that is used as a communication device to promote the aesthetic and environmental value of Alabama's wetlands. The exhibit includes both the art and science of a wetland.
Gulf Coast RC&D Area $5,000
Bay Minette, AL 36507
Gulf Coast RC&D Composting Education Project
The "Gulf Coast RC&D Composting Education Project" provides the public with practical knowledge about composting through a public information and education campaign. The program teaches why home and farm composting is useful and how it can be done.
Montgomery Clean City Commission $4,964
Montgomery, AL 36024
Puppet Show for Conservation and Recycling
This grant funds a puppet show to teach children in kindergarten through 3rd grade how to conserve resources and recycle used products. The project includes activity pages and brochures for parents to use at home after the show to reinforce topics discussed.