Profiles of Environmental Education Grants Awarded to Organizations in Delaware
-Indicates a Headquarters grant
2010 Grants
Delaware Division of Parks and Recreation $26,934
Ray Bivens, 89 Kings Highway, Dover, DE 19901
Achieving Environmental Stewardship through Educational Enhancement
This project intends to improve student academic achievements through a two-fold method: implementation of a statewide comprehensive education curriculum resource guide for kindergarten through grade 12 science teachers; and refinement and revision of existing environmental education curricula. One objective of this project is to connect teachers statewide to the current standards-based environmental education programming available through the Delaware State Park. Another objective of the project is to publicize the environmental education curricula within the Delaware State Parks system, increasing participation in both on-site and outreach programs. With the expanded programming and the ability to publicize the scientific and cultural resources, the parks can promote environmental stewardship statewide by complementing the classroom experience with a multi-disciplinary approach to learning. The proposed project enhances the opportunities for schools to participate in existing and emerging environmental programs offered by Delaware State Parks by providing teachers with a comprehensive resource guide. There is currently no statewide resource guide for science teachers to complement the classroom experience, and studies indicate that when environmental education has an outdoor learning component, it dramatically improves overall student performance.
2009 Grants
Partnership for the Delaware Estuary Inc. $16,001
Karen Johnson, One Riverwalk Plaza, 110 South Poplar Street, Suite 202, Wilmington, DE 19801
The Delaware Estuary Teacher's Watershed Workshop
The Delaware Estuary Teacher's Watershed Workshop initiative educates teachers of kindergarten through grade 12 students about environmental issues that affect the Delaware Estuary. Through a mixture of laboratory and field experiences, teachers are provided with the opportunity to explore the difference between urban and rural watersheds and compare the upper portions of the Delaware Estuary with the mouth of the bay. Teachers gain hands-on experience in using water chemistry tests, identifying macro-invertebrates, sampling fish populations, and studying wetland functions. The ultimate audience for the workshop is the students whom teachers educate by drawing on the lessons learned in the workshops.
2008 Grants
Delaware Center for Horticulture, Inc. $17,580
Joseph Matassino, 1810 North Dupont Street, Wilmington, DE 19806
Youth Environmental Stewardship Program
This project provides technical support for community gardeners throughout the city to beautify Delaware’s roadsides with native vegetation; maintain many of Wilmington’s gateways, corridors, and streetscapes; lead regional conservation stewardship projects to enhance the urban forest in public green spaces; and provide educational programs for children, teens, and adults. The students participate in tree planting, perennial and bulb plantings, a park cleanup, and hands-on learning, and engage in programming with professionals in the environmental field. Urban residents, particularly from low- to moderate-income neighborhoods, are often exposed disproportionately to negative environmental conditions that are more serious than litter. The problem is worsened because there are only a few leaders in the urban neighborhoods who have the background to speak up about environmental concerns. Specifically, this project provides community stewardship by building a consensus regarding neighborhood revitalization efforts and park enhancement. The goal is to encourage continued involvement and volunteerism by youth and cultivate the community’s future environmental leaders. Specifically, this project will provide community stewardship by building a consensus regarding neighborhood revitalization efforts and parks' enhancement activities. The goal is to encourage continued involvement and volunteerism by youth and cultivate the community's future environmental leaders.
2007 Grants
Delaware Ecumenical Council on Children and Families $9,375
Rev. Robert P. Hall, 240 North James Street, Suite B1B, Wilmington, DE 19804
Environmental Education through Parent Leadership
The Delaware Ecumenical Council provides environmental education through programs that serve parents and other caregivers of children, on critical environmental issues, including home safety, habitat preservation, and other problems related to land use and industrial pollution. The Delaware Ecumenical Council educates its constituents about the dangers of pollution and strategies to address its effects. The project emphasizes the educational priority of health, along with a focus on reaching parents, counselors, health care workers, and clergy on the negative impacts of environmental pollution on the health and well-being of children and those who care for them. Several workshops are designed to address several key environmental issues, including (at a minimum) air quality, especially the problem of ozone, and particulate pollution; water safety, especially for homes with wells; and home environmental protection, especially lead and radon contamination and mold.
2006 Grants
Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, Inc. $15,000
Kathy Klein, One Riverwalk Plaza, 110 South Poplar Street, Suite 202, New Castle, DE 19801
Teachers & Trees
Teachers & Trees is a pilot program to help teachers in kindergarten through grade 12 understand the importance of native tree restoration and the critical environmental role they play in the Delaware Estuary ecosystem. The program provides participants of the Delaware Estuary Teachers Watershed workshops the opportunity to work with scientists to learn research methods. Teachers learn about available educational resources and work toward including what they have learned into the school districts’ curriculum. The program increases awareness and develops environmental stewardship in students, parents, community landowners, and elementary, middle, and high school teachers in the estuary.
2005 Grants
Delaware Center for Horticulture, Inc. $9,267
Pam Sapko, 1810 N. Dupont Street, Wilmington, DE 19806-3308
Strong Roots to Strong Shoots Program
Strong Roots to Strong Shoots is an 8-week intergenerational garden pilot program with an organized curriculum for children ages 10 through 13 that is centered around a community garden. The program explores gardening, environmental issues, and community stories. It also provides opportunities for adults and youth to engage in environmental and ecological activities in an urban setting through efforts that involve edible landscapes, soils and compost, and building raised beds and window boxes. This program will be used as a model for current and future community gardens in Wilmington, especially for the Boys and Girls Club in Hedgeville, and for the Latin American Community Center in Hilltop.
2004 Grants
Delaware Ecumenical Council on Children and Families $9,870
Robert P. Hall, 240 North James Street, Suite B1B, Wilmington, DE 19804
Environmental Education in Faith-Based Communities
The Delaware Ecumenical Council on Children and Families works through faith-based community organizations to educate people about critical environmental issues, including air quality, water quality, and problems related to land use and industrial pollution. By disseminating educational materials to congregation and community leaders and conducting workshops for parents of small children, caregivers for elderly relatives, and the elderly themselves, the Council educates people about the dangers of pollution and offers strategies to address its effects.
2003 Grants
Delaware Center for Horticulture, Inc. $8,000
Pamela Sapko, 1810 N. Dupont Street, Wilmington, DE 19806-3308
Horticultural and Environmental Leadership Program
The Horticultural and Environmental Leadership Program (HELP) is a community-based, cross-cultural environmental education and outreach program that teaches middle school students in Wilmington, Delaware, about prevalent environmental issues in their communities. HELP, which is conducted over 4 weeks during the summer, also seeks to develop the students' leadership skills through activities focusing on diversity and cultural competence, job expectations, self-esteem, team building, community activism, leadership, and personal and civic responsibility.
2002 Grants
Delaware Center for the Inland Bays $20,000
Edward A. Lewandowski, 467 Highway One, Lewes, DE 19958
Integrating Inland Bays Education with Delaware Science Content Standards
The project provides local students an opportunity to participate in outdoor learning activities at the James Farm Ecological Preserve, a 150-acre, county-owned property situated on the Indian River Bay near Ocean View, Delaware. The property has been under lease by the Center for Inland Bays since Fall 1998 for development as an ecological preserve. Educational programs offered at the James Farm target the Delaware Science Content Standards for seventh and eighth grade. This project intends to expand these programs to accommodate the demand for an increase in program capacity at the James Farm Ecological Preserve.
2001 Grants
Indian River School District $11,300
Connie Fannin, Route 2, Box 292G, Millsboro, DE 19966
Outdoor Education Center at Ingram Pond
The goal of the project is to provide students with field experience that will enhance and expand upon science instruction in elementary and middle school classrooms. Students study ecosystems in and around Ingram Pond, collect data to determine the ecological health of the pond, and identify the effects of human behavior on the quality of waterways.
2000 Grants
Delaware Academy of Science/Iron Hill Museum $4,483
Laura Mackie Lee, 1355 Old Baltimore Pike, Newark, DE 19702
Exploration Stations
Transforming land unsuitable for construction into a community-based outdoor learning center facilitates the goals of the Iron Hill Museum to educate the public about environmental issues related to mining. Under the project, an abandoned pit mine and a 0.5-mile outdoor trail serve as teaching facilities for science and mathematics teachers in kindergarten through grade 8 in low-income, inner-city areas. Each stop along the trail is a self contained mini-science laboratory, each focusing on a particular factor that affects the environment or environmental stewardship, such as mining, weather, water quality, soil testing, topographical maps, entomology, and botany identification. The project reaches more than 250 schools in low-income, inner-city areas.
Delaware Ecumenical Council on Children and Families $9,385
Robert Hall, 240 North James Street, Suite B2, Wilmington, DE 19804
Environmental Education Through Partnerships with the Faith Community
Building upon the link between faith communities and public health systems, the project mobilizes faith communities by educating leadership on key air quality and climate-related issues. Clergy, health workers, parish nurses, religious educators, and youth leaders gather for a statewide conference to learn about the harmful effects of environmental pollution on the health and well-being of children in the area. The program generates commitments to action on the part of participants. Educational materials are provided to local congregations to enable them to work with and educate children about the dangers of air pollution and related environmental issues emphasizing health.
University of Delaware $5,000
Susan Truehart, Office of the Provost for Research, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716
Soil, Water, and Nutrient Management
A nutrient management curriculum for youth that is specific to the unique climate and conditions of the Delmarva Peninsula defines the project. The curriculum includes lessons, hands-on activities, and community projects. Under the project, 50 teenagers and 25 adults serve as trained volunteer leaders who educate 500 children, ranging in age from 8 through 12 years. The youth benefit from a learning experience that includes enriched decision-making, problem-solving, and critical-thinking skills. Nutrient management training serves the community well since the community is home to more than 5,600 chicken houses that produce more than 6,000,000 birds each year.
1999 Grants
University of Delaware $13,195
Susan Whitney, Townsend Hall, Newark, DE 19717-1303
Pesticide Safety Workshops
This project is intended to increase the effectiveness of training in pesticide safety provided to homeowners through an active learning technique. The project motivates individuals to adopt new pesticide safety practices at home that protect the environment. Members of the Master Gardeners Speakers Bureau conduct workshops based on a train-the-trainer manual developed for their use. The manual will be made available on the Internet.
1998 Grants
Center for Inland Bays $3,714
Brice Richards, P. O. Box 297, Nassau, DE 19969
Public Service Announcements About Delaware's Inland Bays
The Center for the Inland Bays, in partnership with the Delaware Audubon Society, provides eight 30-second public service announcements (PSA) for television and radio. The announcements cover topics related to the environmental concerns that affect the residents of the inland bays' watershed. Overenrichment by nutrients, protection of wildlife habitats, and the effect of human activities on the environment of the watershed are among the topics spotlighted. Specific environmental topics, such as the effect of dredging on shore birds and the cause of the occurrence of excessive amounts of sea lettuce in the bays, also are addressed.
Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control $5,000
Marjorie A. Crofts, 89 Kings Highway, Dover, DE 19901
Air Curriculum for Delaware (The Three R's for Today and Tomorrow)
This program, called The Three R's for Today and Tomorrow... a Waste Minimization/Pollution Curriculum, Waste and Air Section, combines information from the 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act; state implementation plans; and ozone standards with curriculum activities that meet educational standards under the New Direction for Education in Delaware Program. The program includes teacher workshops and a tour of an air quality monitoring station. The curricula focus on activities for students in kindergarten through grade 12.
Kalmar Nyckel Foundation $5,000
Andrew McKnight, 1124 East 7th Street, Wilmington, DE 19801
Challenge Program - Building Awareness of the Environment and Environmental Justice for At-Risk Youth in Wilmington
Students participate in a boat-building class that helps them to develop an understanding of marine environments and learn more about the environmental factors that affect the Christiana River and its watershed, including sewage outflows, commercial shipping, runoff, and recreation. The students canoe, take water samples, and use microscopes to compare samples from various bodies of water in a specific region. The class also has the opportunity to sail on an oyster schooner on the Delaware Bay. The Challenge Program helps students understand how the quality of the river's water affects them and the many Wilmington industries that are located on the river.
1997 Grants
Center for Inland Bays $4,950
Bruce Richards, P. O. Box 297, Nassau, DE 19969
Aquaculture Education Initiative
This initiative focuses on priority areas and uses environmental education as a catalyst for expanding inland bays aquaculture programs to encourage improvement in public policy, influence future research, and encourage economic aspects of aquaculture. The project also educates the public about environmental issues that affect their communities through community-based organizations or through print, film, broadcast, or other media. The study area is the inland bays watershed that encompasses eastern Sussex County. The area has a unique diverse population of primarily European ancestry, along with African Americans, Hispanics, American Indians, and Asians. The target audiences are local organizations, the Citizen's Advisory Committee, the Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee, and Business People for the Bays.
1996 Grants
Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control $10,500
Nancy Rolli, 89 Kings Highway, P. O. Box 1401, Dover, DE 19903
Statewide Telecommunications for Delaware Educators
This project will train educators to integrate environmental education into existing curricula developed by Project WILD, Project Learning Tree, Aquatic WILD, and Project WET. The project will emphasize critical-thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
University of Delaware $5,000
Jo Mercer, 210 Hullihen Hall, Newark, DE 19716
Building Wild Life Habitat
This project will build wildlife habitat on school grounds to enhance environmental knowledge and commitment of elementary school students and teachers. Participants include 620 students and 56 teachers and assistants.
1993 Grants
Delaware 4-H Foundation $5,000
Ted Palmer, 122 Townsend Hall, Newark, DE 19717-1303
University of Delaware Cooperative Extension's 4-H Program
Through this grant, volunteers will teach younger students about environmental issues and how to take action to resolve them. Partnering with state agencies, the University of Delaware Cooperative Extension's 4-H Program will develop a curriculum from existing materials which is tailored to students involved in the statewide environmental network, 4-H programs, and other student leadership programs.
1992 Grants
Cape Henlopen High School $5,000
Lewes, DE 19958
Teen Environmental Network
The "Teen Environmental Network" project develops a grassroots link among all of the high school environmental clubs in Sussex County, Delaware.
Delaware Academy of Science $4,995
New Castle County, DE 19702
Habitat Enhancement Education Project
The "Habitat Enhancement Education Project" is designed to help landowners and community groups enhance wildlife habitat with the use of recycled garbage and organic sludge while developing a curriculum for educators.