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Profiles of Environmental Education Grants Awarded to Organizations in Colorado

Other States and U.S. Territories in EPA Region 8

 - Indicates a Headquarters grant

2015 Grants

EForce - Earth Force Inc   $91,000
Dr. Lisa Bardwell, 2555 W. 34th Avenue, Denver, CO 80211-3335
GreenSchoolsConnect (GSC)
GreenSchoolsConnect (GSC) is a groundbreaking program that engages sustainability professionals to train and support school districts as they implement sustainable policies and practices. Through GSC, Earth Force convenes an uncommon, yet willing, set of stakeholders who are committed to supporting youth and building a culture of sustainability within school districts. GSC achieves this goal by (1) linking school district teams with sustainability leaders and practitioners from corporate, higher education, nonprofit, and government organizations that all commit to a year-long partnership to identify and implement specific sustainable practices within schools and school districts, and (2) providing professional development to educators to engage young people in an inquiry-based process whereby they identify and implement sustainable practices in their schools.

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2014 Grants

Cloud City Conservation Center      $91,000.00
Lynne Westerfield, 119 W 9th Street, Leadville, CO 80461
http://www.cloudcityconservation.org/ Exit
Lake County Compost Initiative
This project empowers Lake County youth to be the environmental leaders of their community and expands Lake County's capacity for environmental stewardship. The Lake County Compost Initiative increases the environmental understanding and environmental stewardship behavior for 1,100 Lake County K-12 students through daily composting and experiential education opportunities. The project also develops student leadership in community environmental projects which increase compost by 75,000 pounds, decrease community greenhouse gas emissions by 172,777 pounds, and ultimately reach 10,670 community members, students and visitors. Ultimately the project increases capacity in each Lake County School to reduce waste, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and establish a model program for the community as a whole.

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2013 Grants

Yampatika Outdoor Awareness Association     $80,273
Sonja Macys, 925 Weiss Dr., Steamboat Springs, CO 80487
Yampatika.org
Replicating Successful K-5 ELP in NW CO  
The focus of this project is to replicate Yampatika's already successful Environmental Literacy Plan (ELP) model in Northwest Colorado, and provide funding, training and technical assistance to Northwest Colorado (NW CO) kindergarten through 5th grade (K-5) environmental education (EE) providers and school districts wishing to adapt it to their own needs. Yampatika's ELP is a standards-based EE program that reaches Kindergarten through 5th grade students in the classroom and the field with three place-based experiences. Its curriculum was deigned to support teachers in meeting academic standards. Third party evaluations show that students who participate in the ELP have improved academic achievement and increased propensity to participate in activities that promote environmental stewardship. With support from the EPA, Yampatika will deliver the program to 73 elementary school classrooms in the school year.

Groundwork Denver, Inc.     $150,000
Wendy Hawthorne, 3050 Champa St., Denver, CO 80205
      Groundworkcolorado.org
Take Charge Energy Ambassador National Model for Climate Change Education
The Take Charge program aims to serve as a national model of community projects that educate high school and college students, as well as other youth and adult members of the community, to become Energy Ambassadors.  These educated and trained Energy Ambassadors then help members of a variety of communities (in settings that include urban areas, college campuses, rural town centers, underserved and diverse populations) make informed decisions that lead to increased energy efficiency and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.  

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2012 Grants

Earth Force  $150,000
Lisa Bardwell, 2555 34th Street, Denver, CO 80211
Earth Force: Building Environmental Education Communities
Earth Force, a non-profit organization, uses the grant to award 19 sub-grants up to $5,000 each to organizations that apply with a joint application and agree to work together as a team. Each team applicant identifies partner organizations within their community to meet the specific goals identified in their application. These awards are used for the development and implementation of projects, programs and solutions to meet a variety of educational and environmental priorities. Four of the 19 awards are awarded to organizations working directly on the development of environmental literacy plans.

National Jewish Health   $150,000
Lisa Cicutto, 1400 Jackson Street, Denver, CO 80206
Building Communities of Learning for Environmental Stewardship: Air Quality and Health
The overall goal of the project is to build capacity for sustainable, youth-driven, environmental stewardship activities focused on air quality and human health throughout Colorado. The environmental education sub-awards program allows a network within EPA’s Region 8 to build capacity in environmental education skills related to air quality and human health and teaching using an inquiry-based framework while simultaneously allowing schools, educational institutions and not-for-profit organizations to tailor implementation and environmental stewardship activities to meet the needs of their community. All sub-grant projects must address the link between air quality and health. A requirement of the sub-grants is that educators (working with children and youth) participate in professional development events focused on building skills for teaching and learning using an inquiry-based, critical-thinking approach. In addition, all educators are required to attend an event offered by National Jewish Health focused on the link between air quality and health. The environmental education activities proposed in the sub-grants can be tailored to meet the needs of their community and target audiences but must use one or more of the following modalities: environmental education, environmental information, environmental outreach, and environmental stewardship.

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2011 Grants

City and County of Denver   $44,694
Becky Goyton, 201 W. Colfax, Denver, CO 80202
Environmental Education Regional Grants
The City and County of Denver will educate Denver Public School (DPS) students and staff on how to critically think about waste, increase their awareness of waste issues through hands-on activities, and change their behaviors to help increase waste diversion at school and at home. Our objectives are to engage DPS students and staff in performing analysis of their schools waste streams and current recycling efforts; prepare them to use data collected to evaluate the feasibility of various strategies for diverting more school waste; assist them in developing new waste diversion educational campaigns and programs that they have determined will benefit their schools the most; and educate parents about how they can contribute to the schools efforts and incorporate waste diversion behaviors at home.

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2010 Grants

Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education   $76,461
Katie Navin, 15260 South Golden Road, Golden, CO 80401
      Environmental Education for Everyone
Working with a diverse group of stakeholders, Environmental Education (EE) for Everyone aims to create a state environmental literacy plan that provides the framework and tools to allow schools to expand and improve their EE programs. Feedback and information is collected through stakeholder meetings and advisory committee meetings to coordinate the independent efforts of teachers and EE providers and ensure that the plan adequately addresses all the stakeholder needs. Using the stakeholder feedback, Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education (CAEE) builds an online network and tool that links formal and non-formal educators across the state and allows them to access the tools, resources, and support needed to foster environmental literacy and stewardship. Kindergarten through grade 12 educators across the state are provided access to the Colorado Environmental Literacy Plan and Network through online and in-person resources and trainings on the effective integration of EE into the classroom. Additionally, EPA Region 8 states participate in regional meetings to facilitate collaboration among the region and build capacity for environmental literacy planning. Partners include the National Wildlife Federation, Boulder Open Space and Mountain parks, the Colorado Department of Education and the Lieutenant Governor's Office, and other Region 8 EE organization.

Colorado Association of Conservation Districts   $15,000
Darlene Jensen, P.O. Box 4138, Woodland Park, CO 80866
Camp Rocky
Through the cooperation of environmental agencies and organizations, Camp Rocky provides teens each year with hands-on outdoor experiences in conservation and natural resource management and mentors students in career opportunities. Educational advancement occurs through instruction in five principles: water and soil conservation, fish and wildlife management, forest management, rangeland science, and recreation management. Students implement their work plans, from riparian area restoration projects to trail construction, among others. Located at the base of Pikes Peak in the Rocky Mountains, Camp Rocky is a week-long experience that engages students in conservation projects, from installing gabions for riparian aquatic management to thinning trees and debris for forest fire mitigation. The program includes presentations conducted by students at meetings of conservation districts, national meetings of conservation partners, local community events, and career days at their schools.

Earth Force   $121,850
Lisa Bardwell, 2555 West 34th Avenue, Denver, CO 80211
      Bridging the Gap
To ensure the success of pre-service education, Earth Force is developing a model to support educators as they make the transition from college student to educator. Bridging the Gap creates a link between pre-service education programs and placement of educators in kindergarten through grade 12 school districts to improve the quality of environmental education young people receive and develop a model for pre-service educators that can be replicated in other schools and school districts across the country. The project develops and launches a teacher mentorship program that places pre-service environmental educators with experienced mentors who work directly with educators to support their incorporation of environmental action strategies into the classroom. Ultimately, pre-service educators use the environmental action approach in their classrooms to facilitate real-world stewardship projects that empower students to identify and address environmental issues in their communities. Through this environmental action approach, students gain critical-thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills. Earth Force works with partners in Erie, PA (Gannon University and the Erie Public School District); Tampa, FL (University of Southern Florida and the Hillsborough Public School District); and Portland, ME (University of Southern Maine, and the Portland Public Schools).

Environmental Learning for Kids (ELK)   $50,000
Cindy Chang, 14460 East 50th Avenue, Denver, CO 80239
The Leadership Corps 
The Leadership Corps program provides career, leadership, and life skills development to youth ages 13 through 18 in ELK's under-served communities. The goals of the program are to: (1) promote environmental stewardship of Colorado's natural resources; (2) diversify science and environmental professionals; (3) increase career success for participants; and (4) cultivate future community leaders. The program achieves these goals by using a combination of environmental education, career development, mentorship, community service, and leadership training activities (at least three per month). Activities include college campus visits, college preparation workshops and assistance, portfolio development, monthly adult and peer mentoring sessions, and summer work experience. The program also provides leadership training, including an intense week-long leadership program and environmental education training. Youth are required to participate in at least one self-designed community service project, and Leadership Corps students are committed to participation through a contract signed by youth and parents.

Wildlands Restoration Volunteers (WRV)    $27,000
Jessica Evett, 3012 Sterling Circle, Suite 201, Boulder, CO 80301
Youth and Community Stewardship Initiative
The mission of Wildlands Restoration Volunteers (WRV) is fostering a community spirit of shared responsibility for the stewardship and restoration of public lands among residents of the Northern Colorado Front Range and beyond. As a result of their proximity to a fast growing urban population, public lands along the Northern Colorado Front Range are among the most heavily used in the country and have suffered some of the greatest levels of degradation. By engaging volunteers in direct stewardship of their local public lands, providing training and education, and participating in local outreach efforts throughout the community, the program provides a powerful venue for increasing public awareness and critical thinking in the following areas: watershed protection, wildlife habitat restoration, healthy wetlands and riparian areas, pollution prevention, sustainability, urban habitat enhancement, and recreational impacts. Various aspects of the program include ecological stewardship projects; environmental education programs including outreach presentations, field trips, and youth day-camps; a youth steering committee; formalized trainings; and creation of long-term volunteer stewardship plans.

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2009 Grants

Earth Force, Inc.   $142,455
Lisa Bardwell, 2120 West 33rd Avenue, Denver, CO 80211
     Community Building Initiative
In collaboration with a diverse set of local partners, the Community Building Initiative develops community-wide systems to deliver environmental education in local cities. As part of the initiative, Earth Force trains local staff at a 3-day program and provides technical assistance materials. This training program provides Earth Force staff members with the tools, knowledge, and skills necessary to build partnership groups in their home communities. These partnership groups are responsible for developing a local strategy for implementing environmental education within the community. The partnership groups, or "Environmental Literacy Action Tanks," work together to develop community-wide education plans that engage young people in environmental problem-solving efforts. The partnership groups are designed to give underrepresented youth (between the ages of 11 and 19) the opportunity to participate in the initiative more than once. Working with both formal and informal educators, the partnerships provide young people with real-world experiences in stewardship projects along with an understanding of key environmental science issues. Young people are reached through programs offered in classrooms, after-school settings, and community-based organizations. Earth Force works with a range of community-based organizations, higher education institutions, and school districts to develop the tools necessary to deliver environmental education locally.

Front Range Earth Force   $20,150
Ana Soler, 2130 West 33rd Avenue, Denver, CO 80211
The River Connection
The River Connection is a model endorsed by the Conservation Funds Forum on Nature and Children to provide young people living in public housing a program focused on preparing them to become environmentally aware, knowledgeable, and engaged. The program, a seamless continuum of activities beginning in preschool and spanning through the teen years, imbues young people with an ethic of environmental stewardship. These young people emerge with job readiness skills to fill the green careers market. The river connection portion of this program provides upper elementary and middle school-aged students with coordinated year-round opportunities to understand their connection to the watershed and local river. Through their school work, school activities, and summer programs, they learn about the river as a natural connector in their community and work together as a team to develop and implement projects to ensure its ongoing stewardship. To ensure a more meaningful connection to nature, the young people engage in a sequenced series of field trips and hands-on experiences to help them better understand and relate to their watersheds. The students design and implement a stewardship project of their own choosing, resulting in tangible environmental improvement. This program also includes professional development training, field excursions, and year-round programming and program support. Adults learn how to help their students increase critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills while improving the young people's environmental education content knowledge.

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2008 Grants

Cottonwood Institute   $19,935
Ford Church, 2930 Birch Street, Denver, CO 80207
Community Adventure Program
The program is a class offered for credit during the school day to public high school students in grades 9 through 12 at New Vista High School and at P.S. 1 Charter School, both alternative schools. Through outdoor education, environmental education, and environmental service-learning, the Community Adventure Program inspires high school students (1) to become active community leaders by completing the award-winning environmental service-learning curriculum; (2) to develop the essential camping and wilderness survival skills of participants; (3) to develop the life skills of participants, including problem solving, project management, logistical coordination, leadership, teamwork, and communication skills. During this class, students go on hikes to practice nature awareness skills, practice essential camping and wilderness survival skills during overnight camping trips, brainstorm local environmental issues, choose an issue to address as a class, and collaborate with other local organizations to design and implement a student-directed action project to address the issue.

Earth Force, Inc.    $90,068
Vince Meldrum, 2120 W. 33rd Avenue, Denver, CO 80211
     Preparing Pre-Service Educators to Use Environmental Action Strategies
Earth Force, a national environmental education organization, trains teachers around the country on a unique approach that blends inquiry-based science education with community engagement. Activities are focused on increasing the number of pre-service educators who are trained to integrate environmental action strategies into their classrooms and improving the quality of environmental educators. Earth Force is training staff at each participating university in environmental action strategies, partnering with universities to develop a model that integrates environmental action strategies into their work with pre-service educators, and helping to pilot the integration model with pre-service educators at the universities. The integration model is presented at the 2008 National American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) Conference and National Service Learning Conference. Integration of the environmental action plan into pre-service environmental education programs helps position colleges and universities for National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) accreditation. By adopting the environmental action approach in the classroom, teachers facilitate real-world stewardship projects, which enhances student understanding of environmental science projects. It further empowers students to indentify and address environmental issues in their communities. Partners in this project include Western Kentucky University, Murray State University, and the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point.

Eco-Cycle, Inc   $50,000
Cyndra Dietz, P.O. Box 19006, 5030 Pearl Street, Boulder, CO 80308
Green Star Schools Program
Green Star Schools Program represents a change in the way natural resources are managed and consumed. The program is a first-in-the-nation model project that is educating the public about environmental issues in the community, such as waste reduction, recycling, composting, resource conservation, and zero waste. The primary delivery method is waste monitoring, kick-off assemblies, compost, recycling collection, classroom and staff training, lunchroom monitoring, restart assemblies, introduction of reusables, school appreciation and incentives, waste reduction, and zero waste events. The program includes development of promotional materials, incentives, and recognitions for participants.

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2007 Grants

National Wildlife Federation   $31,438
Alexis Bonogofsky, 2260 Baseline Road, Suite 100, Boulder, CO 80302
Creating Wildlife Habitat with American Indian Focus Schools
The concept of the Creating Wildlife Habitat Project is to improve overall environmental knowledge and stewardship opportunities of students, teachers, and community members of Denver Public Schools (DPS) American Indian Focus Schools (AIFS). The environmental issues addressed by this project are habitat, habitat loss, and habitat restoration. The goal of this project is to use hands-on teacher trainings while providing opportunities in environmental stewardship to improve environmental education teaching skills of AIFS teachers, to provide teachers with opportunities to educate their students and community members about environmental issues that involve wildlife habitat, health habitats, and habitat loss, and to promote environmental careers. The audiences served by the Creating Wildlife Habitat Project will include up to educators and students in kindergarten through grade 8 from the DPS AIFS. It also includes families and interested volunteers from the participating schools communities. Developed open space and agricultural land increase air and water pollution, putting a strain on the water supplies and destroying wildlife habitats. Animal populations throughout the region have experienced declines related to loss of habitat that can be traced to rapid human population growth, grassland to farmland, urbanization, and habitat fragmentation. Aimed at the educators and their students, the project is intended to increase their impact as environmental stewards and promoting environmentally responsible behaviors. The objectives of this project are to (1) improve the environmental education teaching skills of educators from the Denver Public American Indian Focus Schools, (2) introduce students to local environmental issues and environmental careers, and (3) provide the AIFS schools and their communities with opportunities in environmental stewardship related to restoring and creating wildlife habitat. Delivery methods include teacher training; habitat restoration projects on schools grounds; school visits by Native American and other environmental professionals; community volunteer training; and community environmental stewardship projects.

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2006 Grants

Colorado Allergy & Asthma Centers   $10,000
Robin Lynn Wilson, 125 Rampart Way, Suite 200, Denver, CO 80230
Breathe Right Better Bus Colorado Air Project
The non-profit Breathe Better Foundation (BBF) was founded in 1993 by staff and volunteers of the Colorado Allergy and Asthma Centers. Its mission is “improving the quality of life of children and adults with asthma and allergies.” The Breathe Better Bus is a direct service program of the BBF and promotes lung health, knowledge of asthma, and indoor and outdoor air quality issues, and reinforces youth tobacco prevention messages. The project uses existing and newly enhanced environmental education curricula to public and private schools (kindergarten through grade 8), along with local community health fairs. The program is also conducted at six sites, including several elementary and middle schools, along with local health fairs. Outcomes expected are increased student and teacher awareness of air quality and pollution issues and increased decision-making skills on how to improve air quality in their local community. The Breathe Better Bus has a proven 4-year record with more than 85 site visits per year.

Environmental Learning for Kids   $48,100
Stacie Gilmore, 14460 East 50th Avenue, Denver, CO 80239
Youth in Natural Resources - Science and Environmental Career Development
Environmental Learning for Kids (ELK) is a non-profit, community-based environmental education organization with programs that give participants the opportunity to experience Colorado’s natural world. The program also enables participants to increase their science skills, participate in stewardship projects, and be exposed to careers in the field of natural resources. Youth in Natural Resources introduces youth in northeast Denver and Commerce City to environmental issues, science, natural resources, and environmental-related careers while building skills in critical thinking and providing new opportunities for youth to experience Colorado’s outdoors. ELK staff provide interactive, academically based environmental education programs and mentoring programs to students from the neighborhoods of Park Hill, Montclair, Green Valley Ranch, Montbello, and Commerce City. The delivery methods include career exploration through monthly environmental activities, college campus visits, college preparation, and summer work experience. Expected outputs include stewardship, such as pollution prevention, watershed protection, water quality monitoring, and wildlife habitat improvement, which will help the target audience become stewards in their communities while developing an informed, active constituency.

Freshwaters Illustrated   $24,200
Jeremy Monroe, P.O. Box 2252, Fort Collins, CO 80522
Riverwebs: An Educational Documentary on Stream Ecosystems and Aquatic Conservation
Freshwaters Illustrated (FI) is a non-profit organization that works to raise public awareness about freshwater biodiversity, science, and conservation. Colorado State University (CSU) is the primary project partner, helping to facilitate production and promotion of Riverwebs. Riverwebs and its accompanying DVD, along with online resources, contributes to EPA's environmental education priority of community issues. It provides an educational resource that can help introduce a general audience, which includes classrooms and community groups, to river ecosystems, water pollution issues, and their conservation needs. The students are introduced in both formal and informal settings to the field of aquatic ecology and are provided resources and references for exploring this discipline. The educational DVD package is distributed to students in grades 6 through 12, college teachers, conservation groups, and educators through promotions with national societies and organizations. The expected output is that the DVD package and online resources will increase public awareness of freshwater ecosystems, habitat restoration and destruction, along with the continuing growth of invasive species.

FrontRange Earth Force   $15,000
Lisa Bardwell, 2120 West 33rd Avenue, Denver, CO 80211
Greenways Project: Using Greenways to Help Educators Integrate Science, the Environment, and Service Learning
The non-profit FrontRange Earth Force (FR Earth Force) was established in 1997 as part of an initiative sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trust, designed to encourage disadvantaged youth to become active in community service. Today, this independent organization is one of eight Earth Force field offices operating across the country. The purpose of the Greenways Project is to increase the environmental literacy of science teachers and their students and encourage participants to increase their stewardship commitment to improving and protecting the environment. The project offers professional development training on how to teach content material using effective inquiry-based strategies. Outputs include training courses, intensive workshops, and on-going coaching and technical assistance. In addition, field excursions provide hands-on instruction for teachers and their students, promote student development of a service-learning project designed to address an environmental concern, and enhance student exposure to a range of environmental careers. Students gain hands-on experience as they study native and non-native plants and wildlife, water quality, biodiversity, ecosystem dynamics, and the effects of urban growth on the system.

University Corporation for Atmospheric Research   $75,144
Timothy Spangler, P.O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80301
     Protecting Watersheds by Educating Broadcast Meteorologists about Smart Growth
This grant is directed at broadcast meteorologists who deliver local weather reports. It enhances ongoing training efforts to provide meteorologists with core environmental knowledge that can be easily conveyed to their viewers. The Cooperative Program for Operational Meteorology, Education, and Training (COMET), part of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, is developing two units to train meteorologists on how to report on land use, transportation, sprawl issues, related environmental and health consequences, and the impact of these issues on local watersheds. The two new units will be incorporated into an existing online curriculum on watersheds administered by the American Meteorological Society (AMS) and the National Environmental Education Training Foundation (NEETF). The online curriculum, available on the COMET Web site, is accessed by broadcast meteorologists, as well as forecasters, colleges and universities, and the kindergarten through grade 12 community. The curriculum will also be available through AMS’ Continuing Education Program, which is required for all certified broadcast meteorologists. By learning how to incorporate environmental knowledge in daily weather reports, the meteorologists help to educate communities about the relationship between the health of watersheds and the principles and practices of smart growth. In turn, communities become better educated about local watersheds and their role in protecting them. NEETF is the partner on this project.

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2005 Grants

Colorado Energy Science Center   $24,300
Patrick Keegan, 1626 Colorado Boulevard, Suite 375, Lakewood, CO 80401
Community-Based Energy Education in Urban Schools
Colorado Energy Science Center’s (CESC) mission is to increase the public’s understanding of energy science and technology. CESC, in partnership with Denver Public Schools, Energy Outreach Colorado, and Colorado MESA (Mathematics, Engineering Science Achievement), conducts community-based environmental education programs related to energy science to middle and high school students in lower-income and underserved communities. In addition, parents attend community-related presentations. CESC also conducts two teacher training programs at Colorado School of Mines for teachers in underserved communities. Through activities that discuss basic principles of energy science and hands-on education, teachers and students learn how to analyze data on energy usage and decide whether the data provide any economic or community benefits.

Colorado State University   $10,339
Carmen Morales, 2002 Sponsored Programs, Fort Collins, CO 80523
Issue Investigation and Action Training for Middle Schools
The action training project facilitates an investigative process for middle school students to research, analyze, and evaluate land use decisions in relation to ecosystems protection. Based on principles established by the State Educational Standards for science and civics, students acquire fundamental knowledge about ecosystems, biological cycles, and wildlife habitat. They also assess the social and political contexts of land use decisions and assess alternatives, including articulating recommendations based on their analysis. In addition, middle school teachers are trained on methods in investigative teaching through Colorado State University (CSU) that encourage problem-solving, critical thinking and decision-making skills. The Environmental Learning Center (ELC) collaborates with the Poudre School District, the Turning Point Center for Youth and Family Development, the Pioneer School for Expeditionary Learning, and the CSU Student Leadership and Civic Engineering Office.

Denver Zoological Foundation, Inc.   $62,545
Sharon Schonhaut, 2300 Steele Street, Denver, CO 80205
     Community Leadership Project
Under this grant, the Community Leadership Project (CLP) provides formal and non-formal educators in the Denver area with the skills to utilize service-learning as a teaching and learning tool in their classrooms and programs. Service-learning combines community service with academic study. Pre-kindergarten through eighth grade educators (formal and nonformal), who teach in highly diverse neighborhoods, participate in an 8-hour training course at the Denver Zoo to learn how to incorporate the CLP service-learning model. The participants are provided revised training manuals that explain the service-learning model and topic-specific loan boxes. Participants gain an enhanced understanding of local environmental issues and learn how to implement activities identified in the loan boxes, which include an educator project manual, community involvement suggestions for environmental service projects, and resource opportunities including volunteer assistance and additional Web sites and guidance. During the academic year, CLP staff provides 40 in-class lessons that focus on specific loan box topics, such as building of bird houses, habitat gardens, and recycling. Key partners include the Adams County Public Works Department, the Adams County School District 14 Afterschool Program, Front Range Earth Force, the Audubon Society, the National Wildlife Federation, Mile High Girl Scout Council, and the Colorado Division of Wildlife.

Environmental Learning for Kids   $25,000
Stacie Gilmore, 14460 East 50th Avenue, Denver, CO 80239
Learning Environmental Activities for Families (LEAF)
Learning Environmental Activities for Families (LEAF) educates lower-income and underserved families of students who participate in Environmental Learning for Kids (ELK) about environmental issues that affect their communities. LEAF also introduces families and students to science-related careers. Through group field activities facilitated by natural resource professionals, LEAF uses urban environments as classrooms to teach about weighing the various sides to environmental issues. Families also learn how they affect the health of urban communities and to work together to make decisions and tangible improvements in the communities. The program provides a strong support network for parents who wish to encourage their children to pursue careers in science.

Regents of the University of Colorado   $29,070
Ralph L. Brown, 3100 Marine Street, Campus Box 572, Room 481, Boulder, CO 80309-0572
Teacher's Guide: My Water Comes From the Mountains
In partnership with the National Science Foundation, this program provides educator training and development of an Educator's Guide for formal and non-formal educators in grades 2 through 5. Included in the training is a corresponding materials pack based on the award-winning book, My Water Comes from the Mountains. The educator training provides investigative learning techniques through water quality analysis and interactive activities that describe various water uses for ecosystems, community consumption, and recreation. The guide supplements the training and is used as a resource for formal and nonformal classroom activities.

Thorne Ecological Institute   $30,000
Jessica Feld, P.O. Box 19107, Boulder, CO 80308
Connecting Students to Nature and Environmental Careers
The Sombrero Marsh Environmental Education Center was established through collaborative partnerships among the Thorne Ecological Institute, the Boulder Valley School District, and the City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks Department. The center provides a multitude of ways to educate elementary school students and teaching assistants about how they affect their environment and about opportunities in environmental careers. This project provides inquiry-based education about wetlands ecology, conservation, and land stewardship to elementary and middle school students in formal and nonformal settings. Various career professionals conduct classroom presentations and discussions on environmental careers.

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2004 Grants

Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education   $15,000
Ali Goulstone, 15260 S. Golden Road, Golden, CO 80401
Colorado Environmental Education Competencies Project 
The Colorado Environmental Education Competencies Project enhances quality assurance measures designed to improve the effectiveness and consistency of environmental education programs in Colorado. This project defines specific performance standards and requisite skills for environmental education program managers and instructors. Through training programs, the managers and instructors learn to assess their own level of environmental education competency and identify means to improve it. The project also helps to ensure that the instructors meet the same high standards of professional excellence that are expected for the design of environmental education programs and materials. This project follows specific guidelines issued by the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) as part of the National Project for Excellence in Environmental Education.

Colorado Energy Science Center   $5,000
Susan Toth, 1767A Denver West Boulevard, Suite 49, Golden, CO 80401
An Energy Education Initiative for Elementary Students and their Families 
The Colorado Energy Science Center (CESC) is expanding its kindergarten through grade 12 energy education initiative to reach 2,500 fourth- and fifth-grade students; their families; and 100 teachers with the Energy Hog Traveling Road Show Program. The Energy Hog Education Kit offers activities that provide an interdisciplinary context for learning about energy. The kit is correlated with the Colorado Model Content Standards for science, math, reading, and writing. The program components include an Energy Hog Education Program that demonstrates how energy is wasted in homes and schools and presents ways to avoid high energy bills. Students, family members, and teachers participate in activities that include 15 modules of investigational learning. CESC’s goal is to conduct at least 100 classroom programs on energy efficiency for fourth- and fifth-grade students at schools throughout the Denver metropolitan area and to hold related assemblies as evening family events at five of the participating schools.

Colorado Renewable Energy Society    $17,960
Sheila Townsend, P.O. Box 933, Golden, CO 80402
Renewable Energy and Green Building Education Program 
This program increases public knowledge and awareness of both renewable energy and various "environmentally superior" green building products and practices that have been successfully and economically used in homes, schools, and commercial buildings across Colorado. The program consolidates existing educational materials and provides training to organizers, teachers, the general public, and the building community. This program has a positive impact on the use of solar power and green materials in Colorado. Kindergarten, elementary, middle, and high school educators attend two training workshops, including an annual training workshop, which train them to integrate the Renewable Energy and Green Building Education Program material into existing science curriculum.

Environmental Learning for Kids   $22,000
Stacie Gilmore, 14460 East 50th Avenue, Denver, CO 80239
Denver Youth Naturally Program
Environmental Learning for Kids (ELK) is a non-profit, community-based organization that offers education and training to underserved young people in the Denver metropolitan area. ELK’s environmental science program is correlated with the Colorado State Standards for Education and uses interdisciplinary curricula. During the formal classroom training, students learn about water quality testing and wildlife conservation. In this program, classroom training for the students is supplemented with field trips to visit environmental science professionals. These field trips provide the students the opportunity to discuss science careers with environmental science professionals.

National Wildlife Federation - Tribal Lands    $14,000
Tahlia Bear, 2260 Baseline Road, Suite 100, Boulder, CO 80302
Ute Tribe Wildlife Habitat Project 
The National Wildlife Federation, in partnership with the Ute Tribal Lands Associate Coordinator, provides training for tribal educators working at three reservation schools. The training focuses on environmental issues concerning the reservation. The Ute Tribe Wildlife Habitat project provides tribal educators with environmental education tools that enhance the class curricula for over 150 Native American students. Key project partners include the Southern Ute Indian Academy in Ignacio, Colorado, and the Ute Mountain Head Start Programs in Towaoe, Colorado, and White Mesa, Utah. The project may lead to an extension of the partnership to the Prairie Band of Potawatomi in Kansas and the Pierre Indian Learning Center in South Dakota.

Trees, Water and People   $8,000
Richard Fox, 633 Remington Street, Fort Collins, CO 80524
Pine Ridge Alternate Energy Education and Training Program 
Trees, Water and People (TWP) is a non-profit organization that educates Lakota youth on the Pine Ridge Reservation about alternative energy sources. Because 70 percent of the Lakota community’s income is used to heat homes on the reservation, TWP is conducting a training program designed to teach students and their families about energy alternatives that are environmentally sound, culturally appropriate, and economically beneficial. The objectives of this program are to provide environmental and alternative energy education and training; conduct specific technology and skill training for students who are interested in pursuing alternative energy careers; and offer service learning programs designed to provide hands-on training, raise community awareness of alternative energy sources, and help underserved groups reduce their energy costs.

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2003 Grants

Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education   $25,000
Mike Way, 15260 Golden Road, Golden, CO 80401
Colorado Environmental Education Professional Development Initiative
This project ensures that people entering the environmental education community are grounded with a firm understanding of the fundamentals and guiding principles of environmental education. Secondarily, the project is helping the Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education to establish a sustainable process for future training and development of environmental education leaders in the state. The project is also helping to ensure that the guiding principles of the National Project for Excellence in Environmental Education are a focal point for Colorado’s environmental education practitioners.

Colorado Energy Science Center   $5,000
Patrick Keegan, 1767A Denver West Boulevard, Suite 49, Golden, CO 80401
Connecting Energy Education in the Classroom to Real-World Problem-Solving
The Colorado Energy Science Center (CESC) is expanding its kindergarten through 12th-grade energy education initiative to support a cadre of at least 100 teachers and 1,500 students in the investigation of energy use and efficiency. In addition, CESC is providing professional development services for at least 50 teachers, implementing model classroom energy lessons, conducting at least 30 classroom programs, and hosting a public forum for at least 250 students to share what they have learned about home energy efficiency and conservation. Project achievements include more educated students, economic benefits for energy users, and reduced air pollution.

Colorado Wildlife Heritage Foundation   $14,000
Elaine Sturges, 6060 Broadway, Denver, CO 80216
Colorado Study Buddy Stewardship Program
This project is helping young people learn about local ecology and is implementing local stewardship efforts that improve wildlife habitat and natural resources. The project pairs high school science classes one-on-one with elementary school classes (in grades 1 through 3) for a school year to study local ecology and implement a wildlife habitat improvement project. The older and younger students become “study buddies” as they visit each other’s schools and classrooms, take joint field trips, participate in classroom science and literacy activities, complete a community stewardship project, and make a year-end public presentation for parents and community members. The project’s main objectives are to help students learn and practice positive stewardship skills in order to improve wildlife habitat, increase the students’ science and literacy skills, and increase the high school students’ leadership and teaching skills.

Earth Walk   $10,000
Stacy C. Turnbull, 3607 Martin Luther King Boulevard, Suite 101, Denver, CO 80205
Service-Learning Expansion
This project is increasing students’ awareness of environmental issues in their neighborhoods and community using the nationally recognized Earth Force curriculum, which guides students through a research-to-action, critical-thinking process. First students explore their community and learn about its resources. Then speakers from local agencies provide students with background information about a project related to environmental restoration. Next the students engage in the project and make presentations to the community about their findings. Earth Walk is providing service-learning opportunities to 80 students in northeast Denver and is expanding into additional schools.

Front Range Earth Force   $24,750
Lisa Bardwell, 2120 West 33rd Avenue, Denver, CO 80211
GREEN Youth Action Initiative: GREEN Institute for Teachers with Spanish-Speaking Students 
This project is incorporating a low-income and culturally diverse audience–specifically, a growing Spanish-speaking community–into both new and existing environmental education and restoration efforts. Front Range Earth Force is providing training and an award-winning curriculum in both Spanish and English to 20 schoolteachers who work in low-income regions in the Denver metropolitan area. Participating teachers learn to teach science concepts using an educational model that focuses on (1) hands-on investigation of a local watershed, (2) analysis of data collected by students, (3) understanding of the policies and practices regulating behavior in the area, and (4) effective community engagement to preserve or improve the environmental health of the watershed.

Gore Range Natural Science School   $5,000
Kim Langmaid, 400 Pine Street, P.O. Box 250, Redcliff, CO 81649
Science Outreach and Applied Research Community Issues Education
This project is expanding the Science Outreach and Applied Research (SOAR) watershed education program. This program provides students in Eagle and Lake Counties in Colorado with hands-on experience and ecological understanding of their local watersheds. The program enables the students to make informed land management decisions and to become stewards of the natural environment where they live. In addition, the program is monitoring specific sites in the Eagle River Watershed. The program is expanding to include a new sixth-grade class with approximately 100 students and their teachers, so it can establish two new monitoring locations in the watershed.

Growing Gardens of Boulder County   $5,000
Ramona Clark, 3198 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80304
Neighborhood Compost Project
The Neighborhood Compost Project is increasing community awareness of and participation in composting by providing field trips, lectures, and workshops for individuals visiting the project site. This project is also integrating compost education into existing children and youth programs. In addition to providing education, the project is providing coordination for three businesses and approximately 1,200 individuals to compost their kitchen, lawn, and garden wastes, which would otherwise be sent to landfills.

Trees, Water, and People   $7,270
Richard Fox, 633 Remington Street, Fort Collins, CO 80524
Pine Ridge Alternative Energy Education and Training Program 
This program has grown out of a desire expressed by Lakota youth for increased awareness and knowledge of alternative energy solutions. The program is designed to teach students about energy alternatives that are environmentally sound, culturally appropriate, and economically beneficial. Specifically, the program is providing (1) environmental and alternative energy education to at least 100 students via workshops, (2) specific technology and skill training to at least 20 students who are interested in alternative energy careers via demonstration projects, and (3) service-learning projects designed to offer hands-on training to young people. The program is raising community environmental awareness and is helping disadvantaged families reduce their energy costs.

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2002 Grants

Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education (CAEE)   $24,625
Mike Way, 15260 Golden Road, Golden, CO 80401
Develop Leadership Model in Colorado's Environmental Education Community
This project establishes a statewide model that provides continuity and clarity for environmental education through a set of minimum guidelines within reach of all programs. The Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education (CAEE) is gathering a representative cross-sectional team of environmental education leaders drawn from its networks of state and national contacts. This project tests and establishes environmental education program evaluation and assessment as a valid state environmental education capacity-building mechanism.

Colorado Energy Science Center (CESC)   $5,000
Patrick Keegan, 1746 Colorado Boulevard, Suite 225, Golden, CO 80401
Environmental Education Tools For Home Use
The Colorado Energy Science Center (CESC) is expanding a small energy efficiency education pilot project to educate as many as 2,000 students and to encourage them to improve the energy efficiency of their homes. CESC continues its successful collaboration with Colorado Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) to provide access to 120 schools throughout the state. The project provides education for students, economic benefits for homeowners and the community, and reduced air pollution.

Denver Zoological Foundation   $100,000
Sharon Schonhaut, 2300 Steele Street, Denver, CO 80205
Community Leadership Project: Teaching Urban Elementary Students about Nature
The Wonders in Neighborhoods program is created by the Denver Zoo and the Colorado Division of Wildlife as an outgrowth of the successful Wonders in Nature program. The project works with volunteer elementary schools to implement environmental service learning projects either on school grounds or in the community surrounding the school. The project encourages elementary school students to work with parents, businesses, and local agencies to define issues of importance to their local community and to put into practice what they learn in wildlife conservation education classes and visits to environmental education sites. The overall goal of the project is to reach low-income urban children and families who have had little or no access to environmental science education and who lack exposure to wildlife and natural places. Key partners for the project are the Colorado Division of Wildlife, the Colorado Department of Education, the National Wildlife Federation, 25 elementary schools in 10 school districts, and 29 environmental education visitation sites.

Friends at Ridgeway State Park   $5,000
John Young, P. O. Box 149, Ridgeway, CO 81432
Interactive Education: Ecosystem Outdoor Classroom
The park provides a landmark outdoor classroom with fully handicap-accessible facilities at which thousands of rural students can experience nature first-hand. A 2-person environmental education team coordinates programs while extending the environmental education season by 2 months in both the spring and fall. The environmental education team increases the park’s capacity to develop and deliver environmental education. This allows a larger, more diverse audience to participate in age-appropriate activities that challenge students to observe and investigate ecosystems, apply skills such as critical thinking, and reflect on the use of stewardship of the park’s natural resources. The ultimate outcome is to create knowledgeable and skillful students who demonstrate improved academic achievement and who become stewards of the area’s natural resources as lifelong learners.

Front Range Earth Force   $9,975
Lisa Bardwell, 2120 West 33rd Avenue, Denver, CO 80211
Service-Learning Training on the Front Range
Through Community Action & Problem Solving (CAPS), middle-school aged youth and their adult leaders identify local environmental issues and work to create sustainable solutions to environmental problems. The program is aligned to state and national standards and incorporates best practices of service-learning, environmental, and civic education. The success of CAPS is the result of intensive training and local support provided for educators who implement the program in school-based or community-based settings.

National Audubon Society of Colorado   $5,000
Susan Kirkpatrick, 3107B 28th Street, Boulder, CO 80301
Important Bird Area Youth Stewardship Project
This project provides at-risk youth a quality, environmental program in which the youth learn about habitat awareness through the conduct of hands-on activities that meet and supplement the stewardship needs of Fossil Creek Reservoir. The goal of the project is to introduce at-risk youth to ecological concepts and broaden their understanding of the role people play in caring for wildlife and habitat. The site of the project, Fossil Creek Reservoir, is an "Important Bird Area," as designated by the Audubon Society, and serves as a vital breeding, migrating, and wintering habitat for local birds.

Roaring Fork Outdoor Volunteers   $4,000
J. David Hamilton, P. O. Box 1341, Basalt, CO 81621
Nature Field Trips, Trail Hikes and Fish Hatchery for Schools
This project provides additional staffing for environmental education field trips for various school groups in the Roaring Fork/Colorado River Valley. A secondary aspect of the program is to improve the condition of the Riparian Nature Trail through limited re-routing and additional signage.

Rocky Mountain Youth Corps (RMYC)   $4,600
Gretchen Van De Carr, 2464 Downhill Drive, P. O. Box 775504, Steamboat Spring, CO 80477
Expansion of Environmental Education Programs
This program increases the number of youth participants served by existing successful environmental education programs. The Rocky Mountain Youth Corps (RMYC) serves an additional 40 conservation corps members by expanding to the local community youth corps programs. Fifty sixth graders and 10 high school students in the Yampa Valley Science School program are served with the addition of two school districts, Moffat County and Routt County.

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2001 Grants

FrontRange Earth Force   $5,000
Lisa Bardwell, 2555 West 34th Avenue, Denver, CO 80211
Training and Support Program
The FrontRange Earth Force Training & Support Program is a professional development and training strategy that helps educators support their students in exploring urban environmental issues.

Ignacio Unified School District   $4,980
Julie Somers, 315 Becker, P. O. Box 460, Ignacio, CO 81137
Stream Protection
The project addresses an issue that affects the community: the degradation of a stream and the exposure of the roots of trees along the stream bank in the only park in the community, Shoshone Park. The purpose of the project is to research, design, and implement a plan to remediate a section of the stream bank and to design vegetative protection for the entry to the park located next to the stream. The design of the vegetative cover emphasizes plants native to Colorado and provides protection for the trees along the stream bank.

Meet the Wilderness   $5,000
Tom McCalden, P. O. Box 4359, Edwards, CO 81632
Wilderness Youth Education
The project uses immersion in the wilderness environment to educate youth in the Eagle River Valley so that they may become informed future leaders in addressing the issue of growth and its effect on the environment. The Ecological Leadership School will be conducted in summer 2002 for disadvantaged and minority youth from Battle Mountain High School.

Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory   $5,000
Shelly Morrell, 13401 Piccadilly Road, Brighton, CO 80601
Migratory Birds
The Migratory Birds project provides thousands of students and teachers a hands-on opportunity to learn about migratory birds at an educational bird-banding station.

Rocky Mountain Youth Corps   $15,000
Gretchen Van De Carr, 2464 Downhill Drive, Unit W06, P. O. Box 775504, Steamboat Springs, CO 80477
Environmental Education Mentors
The 18- to 25-year-old members of the environmental education mentor group coordinate and implement environmental education curricula for the Conservation Corps and Science School groups under the direction of an education coordinator. The goals and objectives of the effort include encouraging the members of the two mentored groups to develop a sense of environmental stewardship and explore environmental careers through experience in environmental projects and examination of opportunities for higher education. The project links generations through mentoring, education, and the development of a sense of place and ownership.

Summit Recycling Project   $4,750
Kay Beaton, P. O. Box 4506, Frisco, CO 80443
Recycling and Waste Reduction Issues
The Eco-Cycle one-week lesson plan includes slide shows, overhead transparencies, experiments, games, and extension activities. It addresses issues related to recycling and waste reduction, both in the community and worldwide. The project is provided to students in grades 4, 5, and 6 at Summit County’s six elementary schools. The project reaches 1,050 students and 36 teachers. The curriculum materials are available in both English and Spanish.

The University of Colorado   $5,000
Susan Buhr, Campus Box 572, Boulder, CO 80309-0572
Earthworks 2001: Earth System Science for Teachers Workshop
Financial assistance from EPA is used to pay a portion of the cost of implementing Earthworks 2001: Earth System Science for Teachers Workshop. The funds are used to cover transportation costs for one out-of-state participant; the cost of renting vans to transport participants and equipment to and from Calwood Center and on field trips; mileage costs for workshop leaders, scientists, and local participants; and certain operational costs for the workshop.

Thorne Ecological Institute   $5,000
Pat Comeux, 5398 Manhattan Circle, Suite 120, Denver, CO 80303
Science-Based Environmental Education
The program addresses capacity-building with local area organizations; provision of hands-on environmental education, both in the classroom and on field trips; improvement of teachers’ skills in the delivery of science-based environmental education; and promotion of educational reform by ensuring that all elements of the program meet state standards for science education. A total of 4,200 contact hours are served, with a minimum of 10 hours per teacher. The program reaches low-income families and communities in which the populations are approximately 90 percent African-American or Latino.

Two Ponds Preservation Foundation   $5,000
Janet Torma-Krajewski, 5400 Ward Road, Suite 100, Arvada, CO 80002
Native Vegetation Project
The purpose of the project is to promote the value of native vegetation in a semi-arid climate. School groups complete environmental lessons that focus on native vegetation, and special programs on native vegetation are provided to homeowners and local organizations.

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2000 Grants

Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education   $20,000
Mike Way, 15260 South Golden Road, Golden, CO 80401
The Colorado Environmental Education Liaison Network
The project seeks to bolster the Colorado Environmental Education Liaison Network and greatly enhance its effectiveness and value as an environmental education capacity-building mechanism. An environmental education expert or a two-person team of such experts provides leadership in each of the state's school districts. The experts provide training in various components of environmental education, including how environmental education can be used to meet state education reform goals and what constitutes good, quality environmental education. The local team maintains closer and more consistent contact with the designated environmental education teachers, thereby improving access to and delivery of environmental education programs and materials.

Environmental Learning for Kids   $8,000
Stacie Gilmore, 14460 East 50th Avenue, Denver, CO 80239
Learning Environmental Activities for Families
The goal of the project is to educate culturally diverse families about environmental issues and provide the skills they need to make informed decisions. Training sessions, facilitated by natural resource professionals, are attended by children and parents of minority communities who learn about environmental practices and environmental sciences. The field activities, designed to empower the participants to assess the environmental and ecological conditions of their neighborhoods and to advance environmental justice issues, are conducted in urban settings. The project fosters a network of families who are working together to make tangible improvements in their urban environments and promotes intergenerational mentoring of the children which increases their motivation and improves their ability to develop critical-thinking and problem-solving skills. The participants also are being exposed to a variety of careers in the field of science that people of color traditionally have not entered.

Friends of Lake Bluff   $10,000
Sarah Mooney, 10230 Smith Road, Denver, CO 80239
Bluff Lake Bilingual Curriculum Project
The Bluff Lake area is a quarter-mile from a low-income, multiethnic neighborhood. It provides city residents the opportunity to experience a wild place in the midst of a densely populated urban area. For three years, Friends of Bluff Lake have been providing environmental education opportunities to more than 8,000 school children. The project is translating existing kindergarten through fourth-grade curriculum into Spanish because one quarter of the students visiting Bluff Lake cannot fully understand or appreciate ecological concepts because of a language barrier. The materials are available to school teachers and students from the public schools of Denver and Aurora, Colorado, as well as other environmental education programs in the Denver metropolitan area.

FrontRange Earth Force   $10,575
Lisa Bardwell, 2555 West 34th Avenue, Denver, CO 80211
FrontRange Earth Force Training and Support Program
Community Action and Problem Solving (CAPS) is an environmental problem-solving program through which middle-school-age young people and their adult leaders identify local environmental issues and work to create sustainable solutions to those problems. CAPS educators and young people acquire environmental and problem-solving skills and experience by identifying and addressing an existing environmental problem in their community. The CAPS program provides a balanced, structured, age-appropriate framework for young people to create action projects that benefit the environment through changes in local policies or community practices. The success of CAPS stems from intensive training and local support for educators who implement the program in school-based or community-based settings. The funding strengthens the ability of both formal and informal educators to integrate environmental education into their classrooms or after-school and summer programs.

Green City Data Project of Colorado   $1,724
Linda Baggus, 300 East Hampden Avenue, #204, Englewood, CO 80110
Green City/Jefferson County Open School Project
Green City works with a team of students from the Jefferson County Open School to educate the students about environmental issues that affect the Bear Creek greenway. The purposes of the project are to develop the students' understanding of the plants, animals, and abiotic components of the Bear Creek ecosystem and to give the students the opportunity to learn from various professionals about numerous environmental careers, all of which are related to open-space lands. The hands-on interactive component of the project helps students connect to nature. Outcomes include enlightening the students about environmental career opportunities and developing in them of a sense of shared responsibility for the preservation of natural ecosystems.

San Juan Resource Conservation & Development   $5,000
Gary Jennings, P. O. Box 2021, Durango, CO 81302
Trash Terminators Recycling Exhibit
The recycling exhibit is a hands-on, interactive, and multi-disciplinary project originally created by the San Juan Basin Recycling Association (SJBRA) in late 1998 for the Children's Museum of Durango for students in kindergarten through grade 8. Trash Terminators also is designed to travel to schools and other venues throughout rural southwestern Colorado. The Silverton School District 1 in San Juan County has been added to the exhibit tour. There, high school students act as mentors and tour guides for middle school and elementary school children in the district. The collaboration between SJBRA and the school district serves as a pilot project for similar situations at both the regional and the state levels. SJBRA also seeks to bring a small-scale version of the exhibit to 12 schools in Archuleta, La Plata, Montezuma, and San Miguel counties during the same school year. The exhibit is revised and updated continually. It is SJBRA's intent to bring the full exhibit to those counties, as well as other areas of Colorado and northern New Mexico, northern Arizona, and southeastern Utah in subsequent years, incorporating the successes of the pilot program.

Southwest Youth Corps   $5,000
John Dey Jr., P. O. Box 2704, Durango, CO 81302
Conservation Corps Environmental Education Curriculum
In response to a recent community needs assessment, the San Juan National Forest, the Bureau of Land Management, Colorado State Parks, the Southern Ute Community Action Program, the Community of Learners Charter School, the San Juan Mountains Association, 9-R School District, and Southwest Open High School have formed a partnership with the Southwest Youth Corps. The focus of the partnership is to engage youth in the stewardship of public lands in the Four Corners area, while providing them with an environmental education curriculum that is linked to both Colorado state competencies and the projects they are completing. In the partnership, staff of the land management agency identify meaningful stewardship projects, provide technical support, and make available interpretive staff to Conservation Corps members who serve as stewards of public lands by completing ongoing service projects focused on the removal of non-native species, protection of wetland areas, maintenance of recreational opportunities, and improvement of wildlife habitat.

Thorne Ecological Institute   $5,000
Peri Chickering, 5398 Manhattan Circle, Suite 120, Denver, CO 80303
Project BEAR
The structure of the program includes four components: capacity-building with local organizations, creation of hands-on environmental educational experiences in the classroom and on field trips, work with teachers to increase their skills at delivering science-based environmental education, and work toward educational reform by designing all programs to meet state science standards. Thorne Ecological Institute offers three classroom programs and one field trip to each class. Before each school year begins, Thorne facilitates training sessions for teachers. Through those sessions, teachers learn how the environmental education concepts fit into their existing curricula. Teachers draw upon the ideas offered to create their own activities to be conducted both before and after field trips. The program integrates science and environmental education into daily lesson plans. Some of the programs that Thorne offers in the classroom are Birds, Bees, Reptiles, Amphibians, and Forestry. During the field trips, the children have the opportunity to see wildlife, such as eagles, hawks, deer, and prairie dogs. They learn about the ecosystems of prairies, wetlands, rivers, and forests. The young people begin to develop a sense of ownership of and responsibility for the preservation of these places.

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1999 Grants

Aspen Global Change Institute   $4,994
Susan Hassol, 100 East Francis Street, Aspen, CO 81611
Students Investigate Transportation Options
Students investigate transportation options by acquiring, analyzing, and synthesizing data to create their own assessment of existing conditions and to develop plans and identify alternatives. Once the pilot phase to be conducted in the Roaring Fork Valley has been completed and a teacher workshop has been held to refine the program, a teachers' guide will be produced and published on the Internet, so that other communities can replicate the program. The teachers' guide will include sets of activities, references to national education standards, information about data sources, a glossary, and a suggested course plan. Audiences for the project include middle school teachers and students, as well as policy makers and the general public in each participating community.

Boulder Creek Watershed Initiative   $9,760
Jeffrey Writer, 607 North Street, Boulder, CO 80304
WatershED: Summer Science Camp and Research
The Boulder Creek Watershed Initiative, the City of Boulder, and the Thorne Ecological Institute have joined in a partnership to develop environmental research camps for middle and high school students in the Boulder Creek watershed. Interacting with local scientists through tangible environmental projects, students participating in the project will become WatershED ambassadors to their schools and help continue the learning experience throughout the school year. Several teachers and citizens receive training, curriculum, and equipment to implement Stream Teams at their schools or in their neighborhoods. Water quality, riparian habitat, and environmental issues are evaluated at a local body of water. The Stream Teams share data with students in other schools and the community through Internet communication, newsletters, and community watershed forums. Eventually, the Stream Teams become involved with the River Watch program sponsored by the Colorado Division of Wildlife and develop databases of reliable baseline water quality data.

Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education   $22,850
Mike Way, 15260 South Golden Road, Golden, CO 80401
Colorado EE (Environmental Education) Correlations Project
This is the second phase of a project that builds state, local, and tribal capacity in environmental education (EE) by supporting enhancement of the Colorado EE Correlations Project. The current proposal reaches a new group of program providers, including the target audience of teachers as users of the correlations database who were not reached during the first phase of the project. The round of training in 1998 reached 190 EE program providers. Many more EE program providers in the state must be trained in standards-based education. Because response to the workshop was positive, with many participants commenting that they would have liked to have other members of their organizations attend, it was determined that another round of workshops was needed. The project is directed at Colorado's community of 2,000 EE providers with whom the Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education maintains contact through a variety of channels, including direct mail, a monthly information bulletin, telephone calls, facsimile messages, and various conferences. Also targeted is a key segment (15,000) of the state's 30,000 classroom teachers.

Durango Nature Studies   $5,000
Ann Rilling, P. O. Box 3808, Durango, CO 81302
Volunteer Naturalist Training Program
The in-depth, comprehensive Volunteer Naturalist training program ensures a quality experience for students, teachers, and informal educators participating in the program, Children Discovering Nature. Potential volunteers are reached through the efforts of past and current volunteers, staff, and board members and at outreach meetings conducted by the community coordinator. Volunteers are taught how to assist children in developing skills in scientific observation, so that volunteers and children discover nature together, learn to think about what they observe, and come to understand the complex relationships between humans and the environment. To date, 150 people have attended the training program, and three walks have been conducted with the Children Discovering Nature program. Since 1994, almost 6,000 school children have gained knowledge, inspiration, and problem-solving skills through their participation in Children Discovering Nature.

Environmental Learning For Kids   $5,000
Stacie Gilmore, 1960 Verbena Street, Denver, CO 80220
Denver Youth Naturally: Sand Creek Project
Through this project, the public, primarily urban youth, are educated about environmental issues in their communities. They apply field methods used by government agencies, universities, and biological professionals to conduct water quality analysis of Sand Creek, both upstream and downstream of Stapleton Airport. They also assess environmental and ecological conditions in that area of Northeast Denver. The program gives culturally diverse urban youth experience in applying scientific techniques and environmental practices and encourages them to explore careers in science, thereby enhancing their ability both to pursue higher education and become informed about the environment. The program also fosters mentoring relationships between students and professionals in natural resources fields through field activities designed for small groups. Students learn about environmental issues, educational and career goals, and the advancement of issues related to environmental justice.

Front Range Earth Force   $5,000
Lisa Bardwell, 2555 West 34th Avenue, Denver, CO 80211
Earth Force Community Action and Problem-Solving (CAPS) Program
The Community Action and Problem-Solving (CAPS) Program is an environmental education program that emphasizes environmental problem-solving, with a strong civic education component. Educators and young people acquire environmental and civic knowledge, skills, and experience by identifying, choosing, and addressing an existing environmental problem in their communities. The CAPS framework guides educators and their students through a problem-solving process that encourages a balanced investigation and consideration of long- and short-term effects, as the young people seek a responsible, sustainable solution to the problems they have selected. The program achieves success through sustained, quality training and local support for the educators who implement the program in school or community settings. The target audience for the project is the 40 formal and informal educators involved in Earth Force. Currently, 75 percent of the sites those educators serve are inner-city, low-income, or minority neighborhoods in metropolitan Denver. Approximately 25 percent of the students involved in Earth Force attend suburban or high-performing urban schools, with the remaining 75 percent from predominantly African-American or Latino neighborhoods. At least four of the sites reached through this funding are located in low-income communities in metropolitan Denver.

Green City Data Project of Colorado   $3,700
Linda Baggus, 3000 South Jamaica Court, Suite 100, Aurora, CO 80014
Green City/Oberon Project: Outdoor Exploration in a Local Ecosystem
Green City works with a team of students from Oberon Middle School to investigate habitat to create an outdoor, environmental classroom at their new high school, Ralston Valley, which will open in 2000. The Green City team, members of the Environmental Club at Oberon, are planning the outdoor learning center, which they will present to the district architect. Information is shared with others interested in creating outdoor classrooms. Green City also involves physically and mentally challenged students from the Cherry Creek transition program, who copy and assemble training guides.

Montezuma-Cortez School District (RE-1)   $5,000
George Schumpelt, P.O. Drawer R, Cortez, CO 81321
A One-Week Unit on Water and Land Use in the West for the Ute Mountain Discovery Camp
Discovery Camp is taught by teams of public school teachers and tribal educators and has developed a successful elementary school program over the past three years. With the help of an environmental education grant from EPA, the elementary component was completed in fiscal year 1998. A series of professional development courses for teachers was launched, and a pilot middle school session has been conducted. The goal of the project is to encourage public school teachers to use their own backyard teaching resources to engage youngsters in science and to create articulated lessons across grade boundaries. Students are offered an alternative science experience, rooted in local culture and connected earth systems. The project introduces both students and adult learners to environmental issues relevant to their communities and to the age-appropriate science content and social perspectives necessary to comprehend and address those issues. Beginning in the summer of 1999, the neighboring Southern Ute Tribe joins Ignacio School District 11 to launch a camp modeled after this project.

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1998 Grants

Clean Air Campaign of the Pikes Peak Region   $3,923
Barb Negley, 219 West Colorado Avenue, Suite 210, Colorado Springs, CO 80903
WHIFF Game Show to Educate Local Youth About Air Quality Problems
The primary goal of this project is to educate teachers, informal educators, and students about air pollution by providing a fun atmosphere through a short air pollution book and a game show. Skilled performers trained in child development and environmental issues dress up as Whiff the Clean Air Pup and Professor PureAir to invite students to participate in the Air is Right game show. The show is offered to middle and high school educators in the public school district, as well as to those in local private schools and other educational facilities. The game show and other materials focus on the components and characteristics of air, types of pollutants, causes and health consequences of air pollution, and solutions to such problems.

Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education   $23,000
Mike Way, 15260 S. Golden Road, Golden, CO 80401
Enhanced Volunteer Coordination for Colorado
This project builds capacity to deliver environmental education by forming networks of Colorado's business, agriculture, and higher education organizations and underrepresented populations in urban and rural communities. The project enhances coordination of volunteer efforts and establishes a statewide environmental education network through the World Wide Web sites of the various partners. The project relies on consistent and responsive contact among volunteer coordinators who encourage the development and use of on-line services, providers of environmental education, and target audiences.

Colorado Bird Observatory   $15,666
Michael Carter, 13401 Piccadilly Road, Brighton, CO 80601
Conserve Shortgrass Prairies and the Birds That Depend on Them
This project provides five workshops for residents of rural communities, primarily private landowners, to educate them about shortgrass prairies and the birds that live in their communities. The project uses education and community action to encourage community members to conserve their local prairies and the birds that depend on that land. Slides, schedules, and handouts are used during the workshops.

Colorado State University   $25,000
Frederick M. Stein, Ft. Collins, CO 80523-2002
Professional Development for American Indian Teachers
This project trains teachers of students in kindergarten through grade 12 about environmental issues to improve their environmental education teaching skills. A five-day, 40-hour, hands-on workshop for teachers and administrators, whose students are predominantly American Indians and Alaskan Natives, focuses on improving the school science curriculum. The workshop is based on environmentally friendly approaches through which chemistry can be taught easily at any grade level.

Denver Urban Gardens   $4,900
Jamie Douglass, 1110 Acoma Street, Denver, CO 80204
Grounds for Learning
This project assists South Middle School in developing its school grounds as a water conserving, environmentally friendly, visually attractive, and educationally rich landscape. The project introduces students to horticulture and gardening, as they care for newly planted beds and plant and maintain a small vegetable garden. One purpose of the project is to build interest among the students in exploring careers in horticulture. The school is located in a disadvantaged community where the school population is made up primarily of members of minority groups.

Golden High School - Jefferson County Schools   $4,900
Elaine M. Smith, 701 24th Street, Golden, CO 80401
Environmental Science Students Outreach Program
Golden High School environmental science students conduct an outreach program to educate all members of their community. The students collect data and conduct research to assess local air pollution and water quality. They then apply their knowledge and understanding of the environment to define such environmental problems as global warming, air pollution, and water quality as those problems affect their community. Students make presentations at city council meetings and for business organizations, using a videotape they produced and distributing pamphlets they developed. The students also make presentations at the city's elementary schools to educate younger students about environmental topics.

Lutheran Outdoor Ministries of the Rockies, Inc.   $5,000
Roberta Wentworth, P. O. Box T, 3056 County Road 198, Hillside, CO 81232
Rainbow Trail Lutheran Camp Family Project
This project is a year-round environmental education program designed to educate the public about reducing food waste and gardening organically through the composting method. An overview display of the purpose of the site's composting program, a composting unit, and additional materials are available to all visitors who use the site. The composting unit itself serves as a teaching tool used to explain the benefits of recycling waste materials and provides campers a means of recycling food waste and other compostable materials during their stay. The compost then is used in gardening projects. Since the Rainbow Trail camp currently serves more than 4,000 campers throughout the year, from families to community leaders, the project reaches a large and diverse audience.

Poudre School District   $4,950
2101 S. Taft Hill Road, Fort Collins, CO 80526
A Teacher Training Project for Ecosystem Field Studies
The primary objective of this project is to create a community-based teacher training program that helps teachers improve their environmental education skills to meet new state standards for science. Another component of the project increases students' awareness of and knowledge about ecosystems and other environmental issues. Middle school teachers and their students, who represent a variety of minority groups, benefit from the project.

San Juan Resource, Conservation, and Development   $4,770
Joe Arado, 31 Suttle Street, Durango, CO 81301
Educational Outreach Effort for Animas River Stakeholders
The goal of the project is to improve water quality and aquatic habitat throughout the Animas River watershed. Stakeholders in the Animas River area characterize existing conditions, assess sources of contaminants, determine the feasibility of various approaches to addressing environmental problems, and set priorities among sites for remediation. Monthly meetings and forums educate residents of the area about the quality of the watershed and about lead contamination and ways to clean up such contamination. A World Wide Web site distributes information about the watershed to those unable to attend the meetings and to others who have interest in such environmental issues.

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1997 Grants

Adams City High School   $4,927
Don Bruce, 4720 East 69th Avenue, Commerce City, CO 80022
Students as Catalysts for Pollution Prevention
The goal of this project is to increase the availability to students, teachers, and the public of pollution prevention strategies and resources that can contribute to a safer environmental future. The project involves more than 300 high school students, particularly 200 students at Adams City High School who live in a culturally diverse, low-income area and are challenged by residential and commercial pollution in their communities, which are in close proximity to five Superfund sites. The students produce multimedia presentations that highlight pollution prevention, environmental justice, and environmental health. In addition, the project makes available on the Internet a risk reduction curriculum, resources, and projects for schools and communities. The primary partners with Adams City High School in the project are Front Range Community College, the Northwest Metro Pollution Prevention Alliance, the city of Commerce, the Tri-County Health Department, ENVIR-MGMT, MAACO, and Conoco.

Clean Air Campaign of Pike's Peak Region   $2,000
Barb Negley, 219 West Colorado Avenue, #210, Colorado Springs, CO 80903
Clean Air for High School Classrooms
The goal of the Clean Air for High School Classrooms project is to educate the community to solve air quality problems through pollution prevention activities. The project is designed specifically to educate teachers and students about the properties of air and the effects of air pollution, as well as the development of intellectual skills that support pollution prevention efforts. Under the project, 25 educators in the 13 public-school districts in the Pike's Peak region educate 750 students; through those students, the project reaches 2,250 people, members of the students' families. Hands-on workshops for educators make use of a variety of educational materials, including the Clean Air for the High School Classroom resource packet, air quality monitors provided by the Environmental Services Division of Colorado Springs Utilities, and curricula provided by local environmental organizations. The project also focuses on educating teachers in environmental issues and pollution prevention. The primary partners in the project are Clean Air for the High School Classroom, the Environmental Services Division of Colorado Springs Utilities, and such local environmental organizations as Keep Colorado Springs Beautiful and Wecycle.

Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education   $16,100
Mike Way, 999-18th Street, #2750, Denver, CO 80202
Colorado Environmental Education Correlations Project
This project provides training to educators in curriculum content standards and provides a comprehensive, cross-referenced list of environmental education programs that can be used to meet the requirements of the statewide curriculum content learning standards. The project targets the state's 50,000 educators, with emphasis on the 1,500 individuals designated to serve as environmental education liaisons under the Conservation Education Section of the Colorado Department of Education. In addition, some 2,300 providers of environmental education have been invited to participate in the project, which is intended to help educators become aware of state curriculum content standards through workshops and a compendium of environmental education programs. Under the project, 10 training workshops for environmental education providers are being conducted through community-based environmental education networks. Among the issues addressed during the workshops are development and delivery of environmental education and reform of education. The primary partners in the project are the Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education, the Colorado Department of Education, and educators throughout the state.

Colorado Wildlife Federation   $8,471
Diane Gansauer, 445 Union Boulevard, #302, Lakewood, CO 80228
Urban NatureLink
This project focuses on awareness among families in Denver of the wildlife, habitat, and environmental issues that affect their neighborhoods. It provides resources families can use as they see fit to protect or improve their environment. The target audience of the project is 15 to 20 urban families, totaling an estimated 30 to 70 participants of all ages, who live in underserved minority or low-income communities. The Urban NatureLink project includes the current programs of the Colorado Wildlife Federation and five other educational programs, which educate culturally diverse, low-income audiences about environmental issues, thereby advancing environmental justice. The primary partners in the project are the Colorado Division of Wildlife, the Colorado Bird Observatory, Denver Parks and Recreation, and the Thorne Ecological Institute.

Electronic Pathways   $5,000
John Hoover, 3215 Marine St/CU, Box 456, Boulder, CO 80309
Environmental Science Career Communications Network
This project is expanding the Electronic Pathways World Wide Web site called Career Communications Network for Women and Girls. The project provides equal access and opportunity to participate fully in today's information age to underserved and underrepresented populations. It involves 50 to 70 women's and girls' organizations in Colorado that have access to the Internet. The product reaches its audience through a needs assessment survey and the Career Communications Network, as well as through a Web site that provides career information in several categories, including health occupations, science, and nontraditional occupations.

Friends of Bluff Lake   $4,750
Sarah Mooney, 3051 South Elm Street, Denver, CO 80222
Kindergarten Curriculum
This project provides the first environmental education curriculum specifically geared to kindergarten students in the Denver metropolitan area and involves that target audience in environmental education programs. The target audience is traditionally underserved, racially-mixed, low-income schoolchildren, involving approximately 700 students and their teachers. The environmental education curriculum and life experiences for students reach that audience through two-hour environmental education field trips, reinforced by pre- and post-visit activities. The project provides city children an opportunity to experience a wild place in the midst of a densely-populated urban area. Partners in the project are the Friends of Bluff Lake, the Denver Public Schools, and the Aurora Public Schools.

Grand Valley Earth Coalition   $6,064
Sandi Sturm, P. O. Box 4758, Grand Junction, CO 81502
Community Environmental Education Project
The Community Environmental Education Project enables students, educators, and residents in Grand Valley to make informed decisions based on an understanding of environmental systems and to assess the effects of human activity on those systems. It involves teachers in the work of local environmental agencies; the teachers then bring the knowledge they have gained back to the classroom, and both teachers and students increase their environmental awareness through direct experience. Three government agencies provide teacher training and capacity-building through internships. Public outreach, an environmental lecture series, and roundtable discussions with high school and college students, along with an Internet Web site created under the project, round out the educational effort.

Hygiene Elementary School   $4,900
Billie Pett, P. O. Box 300, Hygiene, CO 80533
Aquatic Discoveries
The Aquatic Discoveries project, conducted solely by Hygiene Elementary School, teaches students about environmental issues that affect water, such as conservation, quality, and aquatic ecosystems. It also increases awareness of such issues, engages students in the development and application of critical-thinking skills and problem-solving strategies, and encourages them to take positive environmental action and become involved in the concerns of their communities. The project involves all staff and students at Hygiene Elementary School, which has a primarily Caucasian population, with a minority of African American and Hispanic students, and works to involve parents and other members of the community, as well. During the school year, students conduct numerous projects to be featured at the Aquatic Discoveries environmental festival. Newsletters, classroom participation by students, after-school programs, and communication with the media, as well as the environmental festival itself, promote the project and build public awareness of environmental issues that affect water.

Ignacio School District   $5,000
Julie Somers, 315 Ignacio Street, Ignacio, CO 80309
Ignacio Water Quality
This project builds awareness of environmental issues and ethics, teaches research techniques, explores technologies, strengthens teamwork and communication skills, and examines career options in environmental fields in an applied, hands-on manner. Each semester, 20 students, a majority of whom are Hispanic or Native American, take part directly in the program, with the entire school population, as well as members of the community, also reached by the effort. Another goal of the project is to combine an Environmental Science class with a new class in Field Techniques and Science Technologies. The project aims to stimulate interest in environmental careers through increased environmental awareness, improve skills in environmental sampling techniques and communication, strengthen teamwork, and generate better use of technology and application of the scientific method. The primary partners in the endeavor are the Ignacio School District, the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, and the River Watch Program of the Colorado Division of Wildlife.

Project Food, Land, and People   $66,700
Roxanne Brickell, 635 Iris Avenue, Boulder, CO 80304
     Project Food, Land, and People
Project Food, Land, and People fills a gap by addressing the interrelationships among agriculture, the environment, and society. The goals of the project are to build educational capacity in various states to train educators to use existing curriculum materials related to those issues; to implement an improved training workshop model; to meet the need for environmental education materials in Spanish; and to serve a culturally and geographically diverse cross-section of educators in states in six EPA regions - California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio, and Texas. The project trains more than 150 facilitators, who in turn conduct workshops for several thousand educators. The educators reached through the project include teachers in bilingual classrooms in which curricula are taught in Spanish and English. The project also serves organizations that work in environmental education, natural resources, and agriculture. In addition, the project provides additional lessons in Spanish in response to needs expressed by educators in bilingual classrooms.

William Marsh Rice University   $18,894
Robyn Wright-Dunbar, Mancos, CO 81328
Mancos Canyon Discovery
This project develops correlations between environmental education programs and state standards for curriculum content. Students in grades three through five at the Ute Mountain reservation and public school teachers in the two-county region neighboring the reservation are involved in the environmental education effort that is designed to be a catalyst to advance education reform on the state, local, and tribal levels. The target audience is a diverse population that is 9 percent Hispanic and more than 16 percent Native American. In 1999, students in grades six to eight will join the project, increasing the number of participants to more than 100 students per summer. The project is developing a locally organized, self-sustaining, backyard learning resource. The primary collaborators in the project are the Ute Mountain Tribe, RE-1 Independent School District, and The Four Corners Coalition.

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1996 Grants

City & County of Denver, Colorado   $120,000
Steve Foute, Denver Environmental Protection Division, Department of Health and Hospitals, Public Health, 605 Bannock Street, Denver, CO 80204-4507
Denver-CONNECT Environmental Education Teacher Training Project
The City & County of Denver project improves environmental education training skills for teachers using a training and teaching site in the metropolitan area. Denver-CONNECT Environmental Education Teacher Training Project--Stapleton Site establishes and operates an environmental education site centered around a retired National Weather Service Station at decommissioned Stapleton International Airport. The project builds school district capacity to deliver and improve environmental education programs for teachers and students and provides education on the impact of pollution on public health. The project partners are upgrading the site and instruction modules, which will be used to train teachers on hands-on/minds-on observation, investigation, and analysis of real world environmental conditions and problems to teach students critical-thinking and problem-solving skills. Several hundred teachers and 70,000 students are being reached. These students are: 44% Hispanic, 30% White, 20% African American, and 6% other.

Colorado State University   $11,285
Marcella Wells/Betty Eckert, Sponsored Programs, Fort Collins, CO 80523
Infusing Environmental Education into Math Curriculum
The Infusing Environmental Education into Math Curriculum project determines if an experiential outdoor approach to teaching math skills is more effective than traditional methods and if the Colorado Board of Education State Standards are being met. The project involves students and teachers at a middle school in Loveland, Colorado.

Green City Data Project   $5,000
Linda Baggus, 3800 S. Glencoe, Denver, CO 80237
Green City Data - Teacher Training
The Green City Data project focuses on teacher training in outdoor education for middle and high school students. The students collect data for planning and management of urban natural areas. Low income, minority students examine ecosystems in their own neighborhoods as part of the project.

The Keystone Science Center   $5,000
Chris Chopyak-Minor, P. O. Box 8606, Keystone, CO 80435
Wilderness Box
This urban outreach environmental education program, through the use of the Wilderness Box teaching curriculum, provides a hands-on educational curriculum to inner-city and urban teachers in Denver. The project focuses on wilderness values and preservation of wild lands. It is used with students from kindergarten through eighth grade.

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1995 Grants

City of Steamboat Springs, Colorado   $5,000
Gretchen Schell, P. O. Box 775088, Steamboat Springs, CO 80477
Project Seed
This project will assist youth who are 14 to 19 years old in acquiring the skills necessary to analyze, assess and resolve environmental issues. Specialists in multidisciplinary fields and a wilderness course curriculum will be used to instruct the youth on current local and global environmental issues.

Clean Air Campaign   $3,375
Christine D. Regan, 219 W. Colorado Avenue, #210, Colorado Springs, CO 80903
Clean Air Campaign of the Pikes Peak Region
The purpose of this project is to educate the community to solve air pollution problems through pollution prevention activities. Workshops will be held for educators who will teach approximately 30 students who will take the information home to their families. Hands-on education through the WHIFF curriculum and accompanying kits will reach members of the community.

Colorado Hospitals for a Healthy Environment   $5,000
Patricia B. McClearn, 2140 South Holly Street, Denver, CO 80222
Colorado Hospitals Campaign for a Blue Sky
The purpose of this project is to motivate people in the Denver metropolitan area to be more aware of air pollution, its effects on their health, and what they can do about it. Approximately 100 to 150 hospital employees, volunteers, physicians, visitors, and the general public will attend a seminar with the objective of increasing knowledge and awareness of air pollution and its health effects.

Eco-Cycle, Inc.   $3,900
Cyndra Dietz, Eco-Cycle, Inc., P. O. Box 19006, Boulder, CO 80308
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: A Waste Reduction Activity Kit
The proposed Solid Waste Teaching Training Institute will be held for 60 participants chosen from every district in Colorado. The purpose of the project is to improve educators' environmental education teaching skills through curriculum entitled "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: A Waste Reduction Activity Kit." The kit will provide hands-on activities and all of the necessary materials for implementing a program to encourage various forms of waste reduction, including collection and recycling of materials.

Environmental Component of Young AmeriTowne   $4,865
Barbara Berv, 311 Steele Street, Denver, CO 80206
Young Americans Education Foundation
Funding from this grant will be used to cover the cost of the environmental component of the Young AmeriTowne program. The project involves teacher education on recycling and other environmental issues that will demonstrate to 5th and 6th graders throughout the greater metropolitan area that participation in commerce can and must involve environmentally sound decisions and practices.

Environmental Science and Technology   $4,965
David Boon, 3645 West 112th Avenue, Westminster, CO 80030
Front Range Community College
The purpose of the Pollution Prevention (P2) Education and Training project is to develop, test, and disseminate a comprehensive P2 instructor manual, and conduct two P2 instructor workshops. The audience targeted will be students, and the workshop is designed to enhance teaching strategies for teachers in colleges and universities. Project organizers expect to reach more than 500 faculty with diffusion to thousands of students through EPA Region 8 and the Partnership for Environmental Technology Education (PETE).

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1994 Grants

Bauder Elementary School   $4,970
Mary Joyce Fink, 2345 W. Prospect Rd., Fort Collins, CO 80526
Environmental Literacy for Families (ELF) Program
This project involves the development and implementation of an Environmental Literacy for Families (ELF) program. The overall purpose of this project is to target environmental education at the family level, focusing on air pollution, land management, water pollution, energy conservation, solid waste management, and human co-existence with other animal species.

Biological Sciences Curriculum Study   $25,000
James Ellis, 830 N. Tejon Suite 405, Colorado Springs, CO 80903
Improving Teaching Skills in Science
This program is part of a five-year project that will improve the background in science content and teaching skills of teachers of 4th through 6th grades and will support the implementation of effective instruction in science, with an emphasis in environmental education.

Bookcliff Middle School   $2,698
Teri Lindauer, 2935 Orchard Ave., Grand Junction, CO 81504
Ecology Community Service Projects
This project is designed to motivate students to be more environmentally conscious and to make informed decisions through hands-on involvement in environmental education. The school will conduct ecology-based community service projects by converting the campus into an environmentally sensitive recreation area and developing it as a learning environment.

Clean Air Campaign of the Pikes Peak Region   $3,450
Linda Lewis, 219 W. Colorado Ave. Suite 210, Colorado Springs, CO 80903
Workshops and Curriculum for Air Pollution
This project proposes to improve environmental education teaching skills by conducting educator workshops and distributing the curriculum and accompanying kits to each participant for classroom use. The overall purpose of the project is to educate the community to solve air pollution problems through pollution prevention activities.

Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education, Inc.   $5,000
Walt Blackford, P. O. Box 101744, Denver, CO 80250
Database for Environmental Education Training
The overall purpose of the project is to significantly improve a statewide database and clearinghouse service of environmental education training, curricula, materials, and other resources. This project will develop more capacity for the dissemination of environmental curricula and resources to a statewide network of environmental education organizations and individuals.

Colorado Bird Observatory   $24,910
Michael Carter, 13401 Piccadilly Rd., Brighton, CO 80601
Birds Beyond Borders
This program will develop Birds Beyond Borders, an international educational program designed to link teachers and students from different countries and cultures through shared environmental issues and natural resources, using migratory birds as the focus. Workshops will be offered in Colorado and in Jalisco, Mexico, that will equip teachers with information they need to encourage government support of environmental education.

Colorado Division of Wildlife   $5,000
Karen Hardesty, 6060 Broadway, Denver, CO 80216
Workshops for Inner City Teachers
The project seeks to improve environmental education teaching skills through a series of advanced workshops for teachers who use inner city places and people to enhance environmental awareness. It will target teachers of urban student populations to develop an increased self-confidence in their abilities to teach environmental education in any neighborhood setting.

Colorado Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (CHHE)   $5,000
Patricia McClearn, 2140 S. Holly St., Denver, CO 80222-5607
Workshops on Recycled Paper and Soy Ink
Using these grant funds, CHHE will hold three workshops in Denver, Pueblo, and Grand Junction to educate participants about recycled paper and soy ink to promote their increased use for hospital print materials. This project has the potential to become a model for other industries in helping them to participate in source reduction to solve the solid waste problem.

Colorado State Forest Service   $4,800
Mike Way, Project Learning Tree, Fort Collins, CO 80523
Demonstration and Dissemination of Project Learning Tree and Project Wild
The overall purpose of this project is to enhance the demonstration and dissemination of Project Learning Tree and Project Wild (PLT/PW) environmental education curricula materials. This project will recruit and train a group of PLT/PW workshop trainers and facilitators from the ethnic minority community in the Denver area, with special attention on cultural diversity and at-risk students.

Food, Land, and People   $35,000
Roxanne Brickell, National Steering Committee, Project Food, Land, and People, 643 Jackson Street, Denver, CO 80206
Environment and Agriculture
This project will teach students in kindergarten through 12th grade about the interdependencies between the environment and agriculture. It will emphasize a holistic learning of environmental and agricultural issues, such as relating to water quality, solid waste management, natural resource management, soil conservation, pest management, food production, sustainability, biotechnology, and land use. Participants in the project will use existing materials, complete the development of new materials, and translate key lessons into Spanish.

Hallett Elementary School   $5,000
Cynthia Kahns, 2950 Jasmine St., Denver, CO 80207
Eco-Urban Sensory Garden
The Eco-Urban Sensory Garden project will be an outdoor science laboratory for teachers and students in an urban neighborhood of Denver. This project is part of the school renewal program, and is designed to improve the teaching of elementary science to students and their families through a hands-on approach in ecology, plant growth, and habitat development in the urban environment.

The Keystone Center   $18,031
Jon Thompson, P. O. Box 8606, Keystone, CO 80435
Training for Rural Educators
The goal of this project is to develop an institute that will provide a six-day, intensive training program to educators from rural communities about environmental issues. The institute will provide a scientific framework for the teachers to use in diverse issues investigations, will offer specific hands-on activities, and will instruct educators on methods to develop and implement their own classroom plans. The participants also will conduct a mediation role-play to demonstrate the public policy process.

Thorne Ecological Institute   $18,750
Susan Foster, 5398 Manhattan Circle Suite 120, Boulder, CO 80303
Guidebook on Chatfield State Park's Ecology
This program will improve efficiency in educational outreach and increase participation by educators and children through trained volunteers. A guidebook will be developed to provide background on Chatfield State Park's ecological setting. Human history and critical environmental issues will be addressed during hands-on workshops that can serve as a model for replication elsewhere.

Woodland Park School District RE-2   $2,191
Fred Wall, P. O. Box 1808, Woodland Park, CO 80866
Wetlands Learning Environment
The purpose of this project is to provide a wetlands learning environment for students and to control the flow velocity of the water downstream from the school property. Controlling this flow of water will provide a hands-on study experience for science students and help to create a wetlands environment.

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1993 Grants

City of Englewood, Environmental Services   $3,000
Dana C. Glazier, 3400 South Elati Street, Englewood, CO 80110
Environmental Law
The purpose of this project is to conduct an environmental education seminar that educates small- to medium-sized businesses about environmental laws and issues, as well as ways to reduce pollution.

City of Northglenn   $3,804
Kipp E. Scott, 11701 Community Center Drive, Northglenn, CO 80233
Water Education Program, Department of Natural Resources
This program will expand the education program of the Water Festival program from one secondary school to three. It will include class presentations by various water agencies designed to cover areas such as groundwater pollution, water quality, wastewater treatment, water rights, aquatic habitats, endangered species, and others.

Colorado Creative Education   $10,555
P. O. Box 1383, 120 Grand Avenue, Paonia, CO 81428
Science Curriculum that Makes a Difference
This project will establish Public Interest Research Projects (PIRP) where students work with local community groups and experts to collect data or disseminate environmental information that will be of use to the community at large.

Denver Audubon Society   $4,890
Jan White, 8751 East Hampden Avenue, Suite A-1, Denver, CO 80231
Urban Education Project
This grant funds an outdoor, hands-on environmental education program for children 8 to 12 years old in three schools with high minority populations. The project emphasizes environmental awareness and respect for natural surroundings, recruiting minority adult and teen volunteers for training as role models.

Eco-Urban Habitat Project   $24,840
Carol Bylsma, 6060 North Broadway, Denver, CO 80216
Urban Environment Education Program - Eco Urban Habitats Program, CDOW-CWHF-CDOE COLORADO
This program will design and target urban populations with hands-on projects applying natural resource concepts to improve and sustain environmental quality and awareness and to serve as a national model in the field of environmental education. The project also will establish lasting collaborations and liaisons between the urban communities.

E-Town   $120,000
Nicholas Forster, 1729 Spruce Street, P. O. Box 954, Boulder, CO 80306
Support for a National Public Radio (NPR) Program Promoting a More Informed and Environmentally Responsible Citizenry
This grant will fund the second year of a program titled "Support for a National Public Radio (NPR) Program Promoting a More Informed and Environmentally Responsible Citizenry." The project will provide NPR radio listeners with a weekly, hour-long message of community and environmental responsibility on such topics as pollution prevention, sustainable development, energy efficiency, waste minimization, and public health with an emphasis on personal responsibility and action.

Hygiene Elementary School   $4,850
Billie G. Pett, 11698 North 75th Street, Longmont, CO 80503
Project S.O.S - Save Our Species
This project will consist of a complex, year-long study of important environmental issues and conservation methods with the core focus on endangered species and habitat destruction. The project is designed to provide the school with an environmental education model that teaches the students about the vital link between habitat interference within an ecosystem and the resulting species endangerment.

Pitkin County Resource Recovery   $5,000
Chris Hall, 76 Service Center Road, Aspen, CO 81611
Regional Roaring Fork Recycling and Household, Hazardous Waste Educational Program
The goal of this project is to provide the public with a means of targeting manufacturers to encourage them to recycle by reducing packaging. The grant will fund the development of a brochure to educate the public and the production of a slide show, both of which will be designed to reach the local Spanish-speaking community.

Regents of the University of Colorado   $5,000
Carol McLaren, Campus Box 19, Boulder, CO 80309-0019
Science Discovery Program, School of Education
The Science Explorers program will focus on the topic of water and the Colorado environment, using activities from existing resources and water curriculum in a unique method of teacher training.

Rocky Mountain Nature Association   $5,000
Mark De Gregorio, Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes Park, CO 80517
Heart of the Rockies Adventure Guide
This grant funds production of a curriculum guide. The purpose of the guide for grades 6 through 9 is to provide interactive opportunities that weave multi disciplinary environmental themes into an existing school curriculum to help teachers structure a learning experience that provides continuity for students visiting Rocky Mountain National Park.

San Juan National Forest Association   $3,500
Laurie Gruel, P. O. Box 2261, Durango, CO 81302
ForestWorks
The goals of this project are to bring nature back into the lives of youth and to emphasize the importance of community involvement in public land management. Four one-day sessions will be held discussing evaluating current environmental issues facing southwestern Colorado, installing birdhouses, river and campsite cleanup, and reseeding disturbed areas.

Thompson School District R2-J   $16,255
Rob R. Buirgy, 535 North Douglas Avenue, Loveland, CO 80537
Thompson River Project
This grant funds a watershed-based environmental studies course that has students examine the quality and character of the Big Thompson River and its watershed by studying specific aspects such as plant and animal communities, and water quality. The goal of the project is to determine how to manage that quality and character into the future.

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1992 Grants

Educational Resources Association   $4,500
Longmont, CO 80503
Materials and Training for Conservation Education
This grant funds an expansion of a nationally-validated science program which will provide materials and training in conservation education to students and teachers nationwide.

E-Town   $25,000
Boulder, CO 80306
Radio Broadcasts of Environmental Education
This project consists of a radio station broadcasting environmental education in-between music segments.

Putnam-Fullana Elementary School   $4,482
Fort Collins, CO 80521
Students Assess Local Ecological Conditions
This program will teach 3rd and 4th graders to use science tools to assess local ecological conditions.

San Luis Valley Board of Cooperative Services   $5,000
Alamosa, CO 81101
Outdoor Environmental Education Program
This project is an outdoor environmental education program that will increase the opportunities for teachers and students to experience and learn about their environment.

Transportation 2000   $5,000
Boulder, CO 80301
Educational Video Series
This grant funds an educational video series for classrooms, public television, and for individual and institutional use.

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