Profiles of Environmental Education Grants Awarded to Organizations in Maryland

 - Indicates a Headquarters grant

2015 Grants

Izaak Walton League of America  $91,000
Leah Miller, 707 Conservation Lane, Gaithersburg, MD 20878
www.iwla.orgExit
Creek Freaks Camps and Afterschool Program
The Creek Freaks program addresses each of the components of the environmental education continuum. For example, lessons are designed to create awareness of and communicate knowledge to children. The children participate in hands-on activities that require them to evaluate and create innovative solutions to environmental issues using critical thinking, problem solving and decision making skills. Activities are focused on engaging the participants in outdoor, place-based and experiential learning activities that teach the children about stream ecology and conservation, which in turn, increases public stewardship of America’s waters. The students also learn about careers in environmental fields. The project increases the capacity of camps and after-school programs to provide quality environmental education programming.

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2013 Grants

Living Classrooms Foundation     $75,000
Christine Truett, 802 S. Caroline St., Baltimore, MD 21231
Livingclassrooms.org
Living Classrooms Foundation
The goals of the program include: providing meaningful watershed educational experiences for approximately 600 Baltimore City students throughout the academic school year; enhancing students’ academic achievement through administration of periodic, standards-based assessments that will identify areas of need and shape classroom instruction; creating public awareness in the schools’ communities about storm water runoff pollution issues and solutions; and attaining a positive change in attitudes towards their environment for both students and adults in the community.

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2011 Grants

Alice Ferguson Foundation, Inc.   $80,677
Elizabeth Campbell, 2001 Bryan Point Rd, Accokeek, MD 20607
Alice Ferguson Foundation
The Alice Ferguson Foundation (AFF) Schoolyards as Classrooms Project (SCP) will address Educational Advancement by implementing a model that will train teachers across grade levels and subject matters and by providing professional development for teachers and resources for teachers. This project will provide field studies and reflective activities that will help students observe the natural world and become empowered to take action. SCP will provide outreach at schools and site specific training to empower teachers to use their own schoolyards as outdoor classrooms. The SCP was created as a way to expand outdoor experiences to schools, teachers and students by adapting existing curricula to incorporate environmental and outdoor lesson plans to correspond with their grade-specific curricular and site needs.

Chesapeake Bay Trust  $149,904
Kacey Wetzel, 60 West Street, Suite 405, Annapolis, MD 21401
Chesapeake Bay Trust Grant Program
The Chesapeake Bay Trust Grant Program is a two-year project that is designed to build capacity of the environmental education (EE) community in EPA’s Region 3. Sub-grants awarded under the program address all of the educational priorities of the EPA request for proposal (RFP) with an emphasis on capacity building and enhancing educational advancement to improve student academic achievement through EE, community projects, and EE teaching skills. Applicants for the sub-grants are also encouraged to address the human health and career development priorities of the EPA RFP. The sub-grants are building capacity of non-profit and governmental organizations in the region by creating and supporting high-quality programs based on the best available educational science.

City Blossoms, Inc.   $37,500
Rebecca Lemos, 3616 Malden Ave., Baltimore, MD 21211
City Blossoms, Inc.
The Community Green Spaces program will teach environmental stewardship starting with the youngest participants; this program will also teach adults from the neighborhood how to become stewards of their Community Green Spaces. City Blossoms Green Space program will also provide increased opportunities for youth in the area to receive hands on environmental education workshops after school and during the weekends in their own neighborhoods. City Blossoms Community Green Space (CGS) program will on a continuous basis provide youth with instructions in the garden about pollination, soil erosion, insects, water run-off, cultivation along with structured lessons in specific environmental knowledge. Participants will also learn about nutrition, healthy living and community stewardship.

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2010 Grants

Audubon Naturalist Society of the Central Atlantic States Inc.   $31,667
Diane Lill, 8940 Jones Mill Road, Chevy Chase, MD 20815
The GreenKids Project
GreenKids is an innovative, on-site school program designed to build enduring environmental learning and stewardship experiences for students in public schools who meet the unique needs, goals, and resources of each participating school. GreenKids provides schools with a dedicated naturalist who delivers teacher training; leads hands-on environmental activities for students; and coordinates development of environmental infrastructure projects such as habitat gardens, nature trails, recycling, and energy conservation programs. The core lessons address projects that include Energy Conservation and Recycling, Watershed Conservation, Schoolyard Stewardship, and Habitat Restoration. GreenKids aims to serve as a model for the communities throughout the region by integrating mandated public school curriculum requirements with hands-on environmental activities that match the unique needs, goals, and assets of individual schools and school systems.

Baltimore County Public Schools   $12,897
Patricia Ghingher, 9611 Pulaski Park Drive, Suite 307, Baltimore, MD 21220
Baltimore County Public Schools Outdoor Science Team Leader
Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS) Outdoor Science staff work in cooperation with classroom teachers, the Office of Science, BCPS grounds staff, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Forest Service, and the Baltimore County Forestry Board to provide the Forest Restoration and Maintenance and Environmental Science Stream Study Projects as part of a comprehensive environmental education program. The goal of the BCPS Office of Outdoor Science is to promote environmental stewardship by providing an outdoor learning experience that addresses student awareness, knowledge, and action. Coupled with the existing Environmental Science Stream Study Projects, this project engages students in the necessary steps and activities required to reflect all of the essential elements along the Environmental Education Continuum model. Specifically, the goal of this program is to increase student environmental stewardship and civic responsibility for local environmental protection.

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2009 Grants

NorthBay LLC   $49,846
Keith Williams, 11 Horseshoe Point Lane, North East, MD 21901
Estuarine Issues Investigation and Action
The Estuarine Issues Investigation and Action project trains middle school teachers through week-long immersion sessions to encourage them to use estuarine issue investigation as an engaging vehicle for teaching core curricular subjects. This method ultimately produces environmentally and estuarine literate students, in turn producing environmental and estuarine stewards. The project trains teachers in estuarine issue investigation techniques focused on the Chesapeake Bay region. Among its four main objectives, teachers: (1) realize the benefit of using the Investigating and Evaluating Environmental Issues and Actions (IEEIA) curriculum model in their classrooms; (2) understand the IEEIA process; (3) implement IEEIA approaches in the classroom; and (4) learn how to implement student-led estuarine investigation and stewardship projects.

Prince George's County Board of Education   $8,360
Margaret Lynch, 6001 Good Luck Road, Riverdale, MD 20737
Project Teaching and Learning with Monarchs
The purpose of Project Teaching and Learning with Monarchs is to train educators of kindergarten through grade 12 students in Prince George's County, Maryland, about the biology, history, and ecology of the monarch butterfly. A workshop approach is used to achieve this training. The growing Monarch Teacher Network trains teachers to use monarch butterflies to teach a variety of concepts and skills, including the need to be responsible stewards of the environment. The workshop provides teachers with the skills necessary to facilitate raising monarch butterflies in their classrooms with their students, develops student interest in environmental education through hands-on engagement with monarch butterflies, contributes to successful protection of monarch butterfly habitat through environmental education, and encourages teachers and students to become stewards of the environment.

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2008 Grants

 Garrett County Board of Education   $64,888
Barbara Baker, 40 South 2nd Street, Oakland, MD 21550
Explorers - Environmental Education and Stewardship Development Program
The pilot Explorers-Environmental Education and Stewardship Development Program is implemented by Garrett County Schools to excite students about environmental education and provide teachers with the necessary skills to integrate environmental education into the regular classroom instruction. The program consists of an after-school science club that focuses on the local watershed and uses it as an organizing principle to integrate disciplines while providing a meaningful context of learning. The program involves various school sites that teach about schoolyard ecosystems as well as the people and communities of the watershed. During the program, fourth-grade students meet on a regular basis after school and for a 4-day summer workshop. In addition, there are three field trips, including a trip to the Canaan Valley Institute research watershed. Teachers receive additional professional development workshops for content and curriculum design. Through this program, students address topics on the sustainability of natural resources, including watershed concepts, human impacts, sustainable communities, and civic action. The goal is to produce high-performing, environmentally literate students and to create schools that model best environmental practices. Partners on this project include the Maryland State Department of Education’s Environmental Education Program (MEEP), Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the University of Maryland’s Center for Environmental Science Appalachian Laboratory, the Youghiogheny River Watershed Association, and the Hickory Environmental Education Center.

National Aquarium in Baltimore   $21,934
Carl Hackerman, 501 East Pratt Street, Baltimore, MD 21202
Community-Based Restoration of Atlantic White Cedar Habitat
Through live exhibitory, education programs, and community-based habitat restoration, the Baltimore Aquarium seeks to instill in both adults and children an appreciation for and an awareness of the Earth’s marine ecosystems. The National Aquarium in Baltimore proposes to build partnerships with local schools in Worcester County, Maryland, to provide a unique, hands-on experience for students to restore critical Atlantic white cedar (AWC) habitat in Bishopville, Maryland. This project restores and enhances the ecosystem in the upper St. Martins River, currently regarded as the most degraded river in the Coastal Bays. The proposed project creates a compelling pathway for scientific investigation and stewardship over the year. The project provides teachers and students with hands-on education experiences in the Coastal Bays using the Schoolyard Spartina model. It supplies practical investigative experience using horticultural experiments to grow AWC for the community-based project. A workshop introduces teachers to the project and the role students and teachers play. In addition, 900 AWC are monitored, maintained, and then planted at the Bishopville restoration site. Finally, an environmental education program that meets the Maryland and National Science Content Standards is implemented, along with three safe and effective restoration field events.

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2007 Grants

Irvine Natural Science Center Inc.   $22,838
Ilene Briskin, 8400 Greenspring Avenue, Stevenson, MD 21153
The Urban Education Program at Irvine Nature Center: Schoolyard Discovery
Irvine Nature Center is a hands-on environmental urban education program serving Baltimore City’s most economically and educationally challenged neighborhoods. This program provides curriculum-based environmental education to high school students who, in turn, become teachers and mentors to younger students in a partner elementary school. The Irvine Nature Center brings students, teachers, administrators, parents, and community agencies together to develop schoolyard habitats that restore and revitalize school grounds. The Irvine Natural Science Center develops leadership and vocational skills among high school students through a 6-week summer fellowship program.

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2006 Grants

Anne Arundel Community College   $9,440
Martha Smith, 101 College Parkway, Arnold, MD 21202-1895
StreamWaders Program
Students investigate the relationship between land cover and water quality in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The activity is integrated into the existing Environmental Science curriculum at the community college, which includes segments on bay ecology and threats to water quality. The project provides a hands-on, field-based approach to learning the importance of tributary management and land use planning in protecting the Bay. Students participating in the project are given a broad overview of the Chesapeake Bay and learn what they can do to improve the quality of the Bay. By learning first-hand how their individual actions can positively affect the water quality, the students are on their way to becoming environmental stewards in protecting the health of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.

Audubon Society   $6,388
Rick Leader, 23000 Wells Point Road, Bozman, MD 21612
Women in Science Institute
The Women in Science Institute addresses career development by introducing girls ages 11 through 14 to the various careers in science. Students are exposed to various scientific disciplines and participate in three days of intensive science exploration through investigations, such as exploring the tributaries by canoe, conducting water quality experiments, using nets and fishing rods to identify the type of organisms that live in the Chesapeake Bay, and attending lectures by marine biologists and ornithologists on conservation and ecological issues. Students investigate various environmental issues on the health of the bay, from restoration of wetlands to chemical waste removal. In addition, students participate in a field visit to the Shehan Audubon Sanctuary to develop an understanding of the process that leads to environmental stewardship. The program culminates in an annual gathering of participants, mentors, and the public in celebration of student achievement. Graduates are tracked for 10 years to follow academic and professional choices and successes.

Maryland Zoological Society, Inc.   $4,800
Elizabeth Grieb, Druid Hill Park, Baltimore, MD 21217
Conservation Interpretation in the Maryland Wilderness
The Conservation Interpretation in the Maryland Wilderness project, sponsored by the Maryland Zoological Society, Inc., provides a conservation-themed “outpost” education program for students and the public at the Zoo’s Maryland Wilderness exhibit. Volunteers, using a variety of interpretive tools that include “biofacts,” playing environmental games, or conversing through questions, encourage guests to think critically and problem solve environmental issues that lead to good environmental stewardship on local Maryland topics.

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2005 Grants

National Aquarium in Baltimore   $40,000
Laura Bankey, 501 East Pratt Street, Baltimore, MD 21202
Student Conservation Work-Study Program
The initiative encourages underserved college students to experience hands-on coastal ocean and conservation sciences that will lead to future career development in those fields. The Student Conservation Work-Study Program focuses on underserved undergraduate students because of their historical under-representation in the field of conservation sciences. College students from 15 regional underserved institutions are influenced through the recruitment process, where career participation in the conservation sciences is encouraged and promoted. Underserved undergraduate students participate in an 8-week work-study program consisting of two tracks: Wetland Ecology, and Marine Mammal Conservation. The Wetland Ecology track (Chesapeake Bay) provides students with hands-on experience in planting, monitoring, and identifying typical wetland species in the Chesapeake Bay area. Through the Marine Mammal Conservation track (Ocean Health), students study and experience the human impact on healthy oceans by working with the most affected species in that environment. The impact of marine debris, pollution, increased boat traffic and their effects on ocean health, along with the resulting consequence to marine mammals and their habitats, are studied. This initiative will be presented as a model to other conservation, education and scientific organizations. The initiative also includes visits to local area high schools to introduce students to careers in coastal ocean and marine science before they enter college.

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2004 Grants

Anacostia Watershed Society    $5,000
Robert R. Boone, The George Washington House, 4302 Baltimore Avenue, Bladensburg, MD 20710
River of Words 
With this grant, the Anacostia Watershed Society supports coordination, outreach, and educational efforts associated with the River of Words Poetry & Visual Arts Competition. River of Words is an acclaimed international poetry contest for children that is organized in affiliation with the Library of Congress Center for the Book and the International Rivers Network. River of Words is designed to help young people explore the natural and cultural history of the places where they live and express their discoveries in poetry and art. River of Words encourages students to visualize their connection to the river and express it through words and art. Students are encouraged to explore and understand their watershed using art literature to discover their place in the wider community while learning about regional history and local flora and fauna. The young people who participate represent a low-income neighborhood comprised of African-American and Hispanic residents.

Environmental Concern, Inc.    $4,942
Suzanne Slear, P.O. Box P, Talbot Company, St. Michaels, MD 21663
Wetland Youth Leadership Program
The Wetland Youth Leadership Program empowers young people to take control of their future. By linking theory with practice while addressing important community issues, the program enhances student learning and civic awareness. The program uses hands-on, community-based learning to connect classroom and co-curricular experiences. In a 3-day course, students learn about wetlands through field explorations and activities drawn from a nationally respected wetland curriculum guide, “WOW! The Wonders of Wetlands” (WOW!). The students also learn visual presentation, speaking, and teaching skills, including how to organize a presentation, make it audience-specific, and handle challenging audiences. The students must organize and give a presentation about wetlands based on activities from “WOW!”

 Living Classrooms Foundation   $53,110
Christine Truett, 802 S. Caroline Street, Baltimore, MD 21231
C2K Bay S.T.A.R.
The Students, Teachers, Academics, Restoration (S.T.A.R.) project involves approximately 10 teachers and 400 students in grades 4 through 8 in the restoration of Maryland’s tidal wetlands to support the Chesapeake Bay 2000 (C2K) Agreement. The C2K Agreement, an important element of Maryland’s educational reform initiatives, engages students and their teachers in protection and restoration of the Chesapeake Bay. Teachers participate in a 2-day workshop to learn more about the educational requirements of the C2K Agreement and how to incorporate Chesapeake Bay watershed issues into their curricula. The students, who represent an at-risk and low-income community, participate in land and sea programs both at a maritime museum and on an historic skipjack, where they conduct experiments, explore Chesapeake Bay ecology, discover the history of the area, and use teamwork to crew the sailboat. In the classroom, students grow and care for native wetland grass seedlings that they later plant as part of a local restoration project. Project partners include the Maryland State Department of Education, the EcoLogix Group, Environmental Concern, the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

Parks & People Foundation    $21,377
Jacqueline Carrera, 800 Wyman Park Drive, Suite 010, Baltimore, MD 21211
The KidsGrow Urban Ecosystem Education Program 
The KidsGrow Urban Ecosystem Education Program (KidsGrow) is being implemented in a low-income, underserved community with serious environmental problems. KidsGrow gives students the tools they need to help address environmental issues in their community, including illegally dumped trash, lead poisoning from lead-based paint consumption, contaminated rainwater runoff, and lack of trees and native plants. Rather than focusing on one environmental issue, KidsGrow attempts to provide students with a full understanding of urban ecology through integration of the social, physical, and biological sciences with examination of issues affecting air, water, soil, vegetation, and wildlife. The students participate in field trips, gain first-hand experience on the Chesapeake Bay, monitor local water quality, and partner with teacher and other school officials to promote mixed paper recycling.

Salisbury University    $9,890
Betsy C. Corley, 1101 Camden Avenue, Salisbury, MD 21801
Lower Shore Child Care Resource Center 
The goal of this project is to minimize childhood exposure to environmental contaminants. The project offers childcare providers a comprehensive training program to help them better understand environmental contaminants, the contaminants’ health effects on children, and ways to minimize exposures. The project also equips the providers with environmental health curricula and resources that they can use to educate children. By helping to minimize children’s illnesses, the project aims to reduce the number of workdays lost by parents caring for ill children.

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2003 Grants

 Catonsville Campus of the Community College of Baltimore County   $89,379
Christopher Fox, 800 South Rolling Road, Building M, Baltimore, MD 21228
Community Education and Technology Initiative
The Community Education and Technology Initiative (CETI) addresses climate change and its potential effects on communities. This project is intended to educate high school students and teachers, community college students and teachers, and members of local communities throughout Maryland. The CETI includes two integrated activities designed to enhance understanding of climate change at the local level. The first activity, the "Beat the Heat!" competition, involves high schools and communities working in partnership to develop emission reduction or emission sequestering strategies. The second activity, the "Nine Lives" community forums, includes presenting 18 community-focused climate change education workshops at Maryland's community colleges. The CETI is sponsored by the Community College of Baltimore County Environment Project in partnership with the Maryland State Department of Education and the Maryland Association of Community Colleges.

Harford County, MD    $10,065
Mary Moses, 220 South Main Street, Bel Air, MD 21014
Household Chemical Safety Program for Youth 
This program is providing 4,000 fourth-grade students with instruction in household chemical safety. The program’s focus is on identification, safe use, and proper disposal of common household chemicals. Through this project, students develop critical thinking skills and important life skills by solving problems, making decisions, and creating presentations that showcase the knowledge they have gained.

Rachel Carson Council    $5,000
Diana Post, 10711 Berwick Road, Silver Spring, MD 20904
Rachel Carson: A Real American Hero
This project is a training program that provides teachers with the necessary resources to educate their students about ecological issues such as the web of life, bioaccumulation, and integrated pest management. The program uses examples from Rachel Carson's life along with science, math, and writing lessons to develop each student's knowledge of ecological sustainability. The program also is designed to inspire students to become involved in environmental protection.

The Maryland Association of Environmental and Outdoor Education    $4,950
Kate Clavijo, P.O. Box 71034, Chevy Chase, MD 20813
Environmental Education Fellowship Program 
The Environmental Education Fellowship Program conducts research related to the impact of comprehensive environmental education on student learning in “green schools.” The research findings provide insight into the role of environmental education in achieving the goals of educational reform. The research serves as a foundation for establishing the long-term sustainability of environmental education in Maryland schools and provides a model for examining the relationship between environmental education and student achievement.

The Maryland Association of Environmental and Outdoor Education    $4,560
Kate Clavijo, P.O. Box 71034, Chevy Chase, MD 20813
Environmental Education Research 
This project involves conducting research related to the impact of comprehensive environmental education on student learning in Governor's Green Schools. The research findings provide insight into the role of environmental education in achieving the goals of educational reform. The research serves as a foundation for establishing the long-term sustainability of environmental education in Maryland schools.

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2002 Grants

Middle Patuxent Environmental Foundation   $14,240
Cheryl Farfaras, 7120 Oakland Mills Road, Columbia, MD 21046
Linking Biodiversity and Urbanization in the Middle Patuxent Environmental Area
The project helps residents of Howard County, Maryland become better informed about the effects of critical land-use decisions on habitats and native species in the county. The objectives are to solicit community input about environmental issues of concern and to assess current community understanding of the issues.

Ward Foundation, Inc.   $3,940
Tod Hall, 909 South Schumaker Drive, Salisbury, MD 21804
Maryland Summer Center for the Lower Eastern Shore
The Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art at Salisbury State University is dedicated to exhibiting wildfowl art and reflecting the heritage of the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The program is centered on educational reform, and targets selected fifth-, eighth-, and 12th-grade environmental science classes, as well as math performance standards for third- through eighth-grade students.

Wildlife Habitat Council   $14,000
Mandy Chestnut, 1010 Wayne Avenue, Suite 920, Silver Spring, MD 20910
Wings of Wonder
The Wings of Wonder program educates students, teachers, employees, and community members about the conservation of migratory species through an inquiry-based curriculum on corporate habitats. Employee wildlife teams unite with local schools, as well as with corporate sites and schools in Latin America to study migratory birds and butterflies. The project also addresses capacity building and community issues.

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2001 Grants

Calvert County Public Schools - Chesapeake/Patuxent   $17,250
Thomas Harten, 1305 Dare's Beach Road, Prince Frederick, MD 20678
Wild Beaches: A Performance-Based Unit
The goal of the project is the development of a third-grade curriculum on wild beaches. The students learn about the important types of habitat in the natural beach ecosystem of the Chesapeake Bay and learn how to take action to protect those fragile environments. The program reaches approximately 1,130 students.

 Maryland Department of Natural Resources   $51,617
Thomas Parham, Resource Assessment Service, 580 Taylor Avenue, D-2 Annapolis, MD 21401
Bay Grasses in Classes
Developed jointly by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (MD-DNR) and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CDF), the project promotes stewardship of the Chesapeake Bay by increasing student involvement in the restoration of submerged aquatic bay grass in currently unvegetated areas. The target audiences, middle and high school students and their teachers, are learning about bay grasses as they grow the grasses in their classrooms, perform experiments, and ultimately plant the grasses in tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay. Participants include students from low-income families and physically and mentally challenged youth. They conduct experiments, submit the data for posting on the “Bay Grasses in Classes” web site, and engage in classroom activities that encourage the development of critical-thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills. At the end of the project, the students assist biologists from MD-DNR and CBF in planting grasses at designated restoration sites. Designed to be easily adaptable, the project can be used in other locations for similar audiences and has the potential for wide application.

Patuxent River 4-H Center   $8,220
Jeffrey Piatt, 18405 Queen Anne Road, Upper Marlboro, MD 20774
West Nile Virus Awareness Project
The project is intended to educate students and community groups in southern Maryland about the West Nile Virus. Participants learn about mosquitoes, including their life cycle, how they bite, how and where they breed, and how they spread the virus. By obtaining complete and accurate information about the potentially deadly virus, members of local communities can protect themselves against it.

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2000 Grants

Chesapeake Audubon Society   $3,962
Richard Leader, 11450 Audubon Lane, Easton, MD 21601
Pickering Creek Environmental Center
At-risk children from Baltimore visit the Pickering Creek Environmental Center for a series of four outdoor workshops. Field trips include a low-ropes challenge course and ecology and agriculture classes. The environmental education experiences broaden the children's understanding and appreciation of the natural world and expand their knowledge of environmental issues. Positive outdoor experiences enrich their lives and educate them about the differences they can make in the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. Experiences at the center increase the environmental awareness of students who have had only limited opportunity to experience the natural world.

 Council for Environmental Education/Project Wild   $49,900
Donna Asbury, 707 Conservation Lane, Suite 305, Gaithersburg, MD 20878
Science and Civics: Sustaining Wildlife
A training curriculum developed by Project WILD, Science and Civics: Sustaining Wildlife is a unique wildlife-based environmental education program for high-school students that aligns activities with national standards for science and social studies as well as national best practices for service learning. The project provides training to staff of the state wildlife agency, school administrators, university faculty, and classroom teachers on such topics as: (1) engaging students through service learning; (2) using the environment as an integrating theme for science and civics courses; (3) conducting educational activities that prepare students to select and implement environmental projects in their communities; and (4) seeking expertise and involvement from members of the local community. The primary audience includes high school teachers, future teachers, and high school students in urban and culturally diverse communities. Project WILD, sponsored and administered by the Council for Environmental Education in cooperation with the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, is an interdisciplinary conservation and environmental education program for teachers of kindergarten through high-school students that emphasizes hands-on learning. The project is supported by the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, Phillips Petroleum Company, and the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

Maryland Association of Forest Conservation District Boards   $5,000
Michael Grant, Tawes State Office Building, E-1, 580 Taylor Avenue, Annapolis, MD 21401
Awareness Week for Forestry & Natural Resources Careers
This project offers a one-week coeducational summer camp program for 48 high school students interested in pursuing careers in forestry or other natural resource management fields. Hands-on teaching is emphasized, and outdoor classrooms are used as much as possible. Most of the instruction takes place in the Savage River State Forest, parks, streams, and a fish hatchery. Students interact with professionals in natural resource careers and learn about environmental issues and how environmental problems can be solved.

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1999 Grants

Allegany County Board of Education   $5,000
Ken Baxter, 108 Washington Street, Cumberland, MD 21502
The Beall High Environmental Education Project
This project is enriching the study of environmental science by providing 75 science students at Beall Junior-Senior High School with rich field experiences in the area of water quality investigations relevant to their community. Students are learning laboratory techniques for water testing and management of data sets, as well as exploring the implications of measurements that differ and learning to interpret the results. A World Wide Web site displays data and information about the project and its participants.

Battle Creek Nature Education Society   $4,916
Linda Fadely, P. O. Box 122, Port Republic, MD 20676
Oyster Monitoring Program for Fourth Graders
In Calvert County public schools, 27 fourth-grade classes participate in the Oyster Monitoring Program. Students are helping to forward research and are participating in a public awareness effort related to recovery of oyster colonies in the Chesapeake Bay. Under the program, students examine the significance of the decline of the oyster colonies and assist scientists in identifying possible cause of the decline. The program provides students with a remarkable opportunity to contribute to restoration of the bay and discover for themselves the importance of protecting the ecosystem.

Calvert County Public Schools   $5,000
JoAnn Roberts, 1305 Dares Beach Road, Prince Frederick, MD 20678
Making the Classroom Connection: Real World to Real Science
Local and state environmental research scientists worked on the development of this mentorship program for teachers of grades one through five. The program provides an opportunity for teachers to work side by side with scientists searching for solutions to Maryland's key environmental problems. Teachers use the mentorship experience to connect learning about real environmental problems with real science and mathematics skills in the classroom. Under the program, 10 elementary teachers (two from each grade) work in a mentorship relationship with a scientist for one week to write a classroom performance task that connects what they have learned as the result of the mentorship with classroom instruction. The teachers then share their experience and learning activities with other teachers countywide.

The Academy of Natural Sciences   $4,096
Erin Strickland, 10545 Mackall Road, St. Leonard, MD 20685
Adopt an Oyster Bar
This pilot program is designed to expose 1,200 school children in two elementary schools to the importance of the oyster reef communities of the Chesapeake Bay. The project builds on an existing program in which every fourth grader in the school district studies the ecology of oyster reef communities. The goals of the program are to teach all students about the life cycles of oysters and similar animals and to provide to all fourth graders a greater breadth and depth of knowledge about Chesapeake Bay ecology.

Wicomico County Department of Recreation and Parks   $5,000
David Perry, 500 Glen Avenue, Salisbury, MD 21804
Pemberton Historical Park Summer Camp
This project is a six-week summer day camp program for school children ages 5 through 14. The camp, located on 247 acres on the Delmarva Peninsula, provides a program that addresses local and global environmental concerns. The camp program helps students, especially those from low-income or minority households, identify community issues through studies of historical land use, field studies, examination of resources, canoe trips, and other methods. A second priority is identifying how human interaction with the environment of the Eastern Shore has changed since the colonial period.

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1998 Grants

Charles County Community College   $4,350
Jonathan Bair, P. O. Box 910, La Plata, MD 20646-0910
Internet Workshop for Environmental Trainers
Funds support a one-day hands-on workshop for instructors at the Maryland Center for Environmental Training to improve their skills in using computers and the Internet to promote learning. The workshop provides an overview of software and hardware, Internet basics, and on-line resources. The local environmental protection experts who participate learn practical ways to perform research and gather information from the Internet and to encourage students to use the Internet for their own research. The training team is made up of operations specialists, engineers, electrical and instrumentation experts, microbiologists, utility managers, and financing professionals.

 Irvine Natural Science Center   $56,535
Joe Harber, 8400 Greenspring Avenue, Stevenson, MD 21153
Natural Connections Project
The Natural Connections Project trains high school students in Baltimore to lead elementary school students through a series of hands-on environmental activities that they carry out at schoolyards in the inner city. Teachers attend workshops during which they learn to build on those activities. The project focuses on the natural sciences and leads children to investigate plants, animals, and ecological relationships in their own neighborhoods. The project supports educational reform in Maryland by providing hands-on, performance-based activities that reinforce performance assessments mandated by the state, supplement the science curriculum of the Baltimore City Public Schools, and provide high school students opportunities to learn and develop leadership skills. The high school student volunteers are primarily African-American, and approximately 80 percent of the elementary school children are members of minority groups. Further, 65 percent of the students live in low-income communities. Partners in the project are the Maryland State Department of Education, Baltimore City Public Schools, and the Baltimore City Department of Recreation and Parks.

Patuxent River 4-H Center Foundation   $4,775
Bonnie Dunn, Queen Anne Road, Upper Marlboro, MD 20774
Environmental Career Launching Workshop
The Patuxent River 4-H Center is a 134-acre environmental education facility that provides programs for the Maryland-Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. In partnership with the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission and the Southern Maryland Cooperative Extension Service (CES), the foundation provides a public education program focused on issues related to health and the agriculture industry. The program includes environmental education sessions for students, teachers, and parents that provide two days of intensive, hands-on learning. Water education workshops also are offered to teachers and community leaders who work with the students. Fliers that provide information about the program are distributed to science teachers throughout southern Maryland.

Southern Maryland Resource Conservation and Development, Inc.   $4,985
Kenneth J. Hafner, 303 Post Office Road, Suite B4A, Waldorf, MD 20602-2702
Mitchell Elementary Schoolyard Habitat
This grant supports an environmental education program developed in partnership with the Mitchell Elementary School in La Plata, Maryland. The program involves the use of alternative groundcovers and natural plant species to create a schoolyard habitat that consists of a butterfly garden, a wetland nursery, organic gardens, a forested area, nature trails, and a stream monitoring station. Approximately 600 students of diverse ethnic backgrounds are involved in the project, which serves as a demonstration to the entire community of La Plata. The program is expected to result in actual reduction of non-point-source pollution in the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay.

Wildfowl Trust of North America   $12,000
Edward J. Delaney, P. O. Box 519, Grasonville, MD 21638
Tidewater Environmental Education In-Service Institute for Teachers
This training program provides elementary school teachers with a living ecological education experience. The goal of the program is to help teachers develop experiential-based curricula that meet the environmental education standards of the state of Maryland, while strengthening the role of the Wildfowl Trust of North America as an educational resource for Maryland's public schools. Participants in the program, a maximum of 20 teachers from different backgrounds and schools, are expected to reach approximately 600 students during the first year.

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1997 Grants

Center for Social Organization of Schools   $5,000
Alan Ruby, Johns Hopkins University, 3505 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218
Water Pollution Unit for 8th-Grade Science
This project works with several inner-city middle schools in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to address the issue of water pollution and health problems related to the quality of local drinking water. The curriculum conforms to new standards for science and environmental ecology programs established for Pennsylvania schools. Teachers learn, and then bring to the classroom, hands-on activities that examine issues related to urban water supplies, such as problems associated with older water treatment systems and old delivery systems and urban sources of water contamination. The curriculum also examines environmental careers and gives students an opportunity to explore ways to prepare for a future in environmental science.

Chesapeake Audubon Society   $3,799
Richard Leader, 11450 Audubon Lane, Easton, MD 21601
Environmental Education and Career Exposure for Adjudicated Youth
Pickering Creek Environmental Center works with a residential program for male adjudicated students, all from low-income families, to provide environmental education. The course provides the 24 students in the program with a positive introduction to the outdoors and builds their communication and teamwork skills. Through classroom programs, field trips, and schoolyard habitat programs, the project gives the students the opportunity to explore environmental careers and involves them in hands-on projects that directly improve the environment. Under the program, students earn credits toward their high school diplomas. The project is a partnership effort of the Chesapeake Audubon Society, which owns and operates the environmental center, and Bethany House.

 Living Classrooms Foundation   $165,850
Scott Raymond, 802 S. Caroline Street, Baltimore, MD 21231
Chesapeake Little Sheds Nitrate Net Project
This project involves hands-on education at shoreside facilities and in floating classrooms that complements the efforts of scientists to implement areawide pollution monitoring and to address the interactions between air and water. Under the project, students study technology to increase their scientific literacy and understanding of the complex environmental issues that affect the Chesapeake Bay. Students collect and analyze environmental data to be used by both the education and the scientific communities. The skills and knowledge students develop through the project are a crucial factor in meeting the challenge to improve the health of the Chesapeake Bay.

Maryland Forestry Board Foundation   $5,000
Michael Grant, P. O. Box 4205, Annapolis, MD 21403
Forest Conservation and Natural Resources Career Week
The Forest Conservation and Natural Resources Career Week program brings environmental education to 48 high school students attending a one-week summer camp. Applicants, two from each county in the state, are selected through a competitive interview process. The camp, developed for students interested in pursuing careers in forestry or other natural resource management fields, is located on 100,000 acres of the Savage River State Forest. Teams of eight students each use their newly acquired skills to perform an environmental analysis of an assigned tract of land and solve a complex environmental problem.

Montgomery County Government   $5,000
Boyd Church, 101 Monroe Street, 4th Floor, Room 410, Rockville, MD 20850
Clean Streets, Clean Streams Program
The Clean Streets, Clean Streams Program educates the community about the effects of non-point-source pollution, particularly the improper disposal of waste automotive fluids, on the region's public drinking water. Program materials, available in Chinese, Korean, Spanish, and Vietnamese, describe methods of catching leaks and spills, as well as proper cleanup and disposal of contaminated materials. They are displayed at the county's Ethnic Heritage Festival and at the county fair. In addition, the availability of the materials is announced on radio broadcasts, and they are distributed in educational packages.

Southern Maryland Resource Conservation and Development, Inc.   $364
Ken Hafner, 303 Post Office Road, Suite B4A, Waldorf, MD 20602-2702
Nanjemoy Creek Environmental Education Center Meadow Habitat
Under this project, 150 disadvantaged youth, grades five through eight, are establishing an improved meadow habitat at Nanjemoy Creek Environmental Education Center. The students also study aquatic, tidal marsh, river shoreline, upland woods, and meadow habitats to learn how the environmental quality of the creek affects the ecosystem of the Chesapeake Bay.

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1996 Grants

Calvert County Public Schools   $24,975
Jo Ann Roberts, 1305 Dares Beach Road, Prince Frederick, MD 20678
Workshop - Creating and Using a School Yard Habitat
This project involves the development of a teacher workshop prototype to create and enhance a wildlife habitat area on school grounds. Training will be provided by a team from state, federal, and local agencies.

Maryland Association of Soil Conservation Districts   $5,000
Lynn Hoot, 53 Slama Road, Edgewater, MD 21037
Envirothon
Maryland high school students will learn through competition at the annual statewide "Envirothon. The goal of the Maryland Association of Soil Conservation Districts is to expand the competition from 21 Maryland counties to all 24 counties. Also, this year they plan to start a noncompetitive summer program for middle school students.

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1995 Grants

Clean Islands International, Inc.   $5,000
8219 Elvaton Drive, Pasadena, MD 21122
Environmental Lessons on Video
"Environmental Lessons on Video is a U.S. Virgin Islands Education Project consisting of teacher workshops for Virgin Islands educators and a video for those unable to participate in the workshops. Goals of the project include development of methods to promote environmental awareness, conservation practices relevant to the resources and restrictions of island communities, and effective decision making for solid waste disposal alternatives.

Prince George's County Public School - Nicholas Orem Middle School   $3,975
Richmond Myrick, 6100 Editor's Park Drive, Hyattsville, MD 20782
Teacher Training Workshop-Courtyard Habitat
This project proposes a series of teacher workshops to inform and to plan a multi-disciplinary environmental curriculum for students. The project would result in a product of a wildlife habitat within an existing school courtyard. The initial audience would be 10 classroom teachers and 250 students. An additional 350 to 500 people would be invited to participate in adult education opportunities.

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1994 Grants

Alliance for Community Education   $5,000
Anne Pearson, 5103 North Crain Hwy., Bowie, MD 20715
Non-toxic Lawn and Garden Care
The Alliance for Community Education will start an adult education program, primarily for minority students, about non-toxic lawn and garden care. The goal of the project is to provide jobs and to launch "green gardens," which will treat lawns and gardens as an ecosystem. The environmental objective is to reduce non-point source pollution into the Chesapeake Bay.

Baltimore Metropolitan Council   $24,954
Jack Anderson, 601 N. Howard St., Baltimore, MD 21201
Reservoir Watershed Protection Project
With these grant funds, the Baltimore Metropolitan Council will launch a Reservoir Watershed Protection project that will result in staff training and curriculum development.

Baltimore School District (Sussex Elementary)   $4,955
Kathy Brauer, 515 S. Woodward Dr., Baltimore, MD 21221
Water Quality Project
For this project, the Baltimore County Public School System (Sussex Elementary) will fund a water quality project using the ChesNet forum on the Metnet bulletin board system. This project will create a network of teachers and students who have been trained in both environmental and telecommunications technologies.

The Loading Dock, Inc.   $15,900
Hope Cucina, 2523 Gwynns Falls Pkwy., Baltimore, MD 21216
Guide to Successful Building Recycling
The Loading Dock, Inc., a nonprofit building materials recycler, will publish A Guide to Successful Building Recycling and provide technical assistance, one-on-one, to improve methods of materials reuse, as well as alternative means to supporting the creation of low-income housing.

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1993 Grants

Baltimore City Public Schools, Booker T. Washington Middle School   $4,680
Mary Cherry, 1301 McCulloh Street, Baltimore, MD 21217
MISSION Possible
Through MISSION Possible (Maryland Inner-City Self-esteem enhancement, Skill-development, and Instruction in Outdoor Natural Sciences), middle school students from inner city public housing will learn about wetland ecology, and serve as mentors for next year's students. At the same time, their teachers will participate in classroom and field experiences from which they will develop a field study.

Environmental Concern, Inc.   $22,350
Mark Kraus, P. O. Box P, St. Michaels, MD 21663
Guidebook for Student Action Projects
This project involves the preparation of a guidebook for high school teachers to provide a single source of technical ideas and technical instructions for student action projects, addressing the functioning, hydrologic regime, and plant communities of North American wetlands.

Harford Day School   $5,000
Sandra A. Conway, 715 Moores Mill Road, Bel Air, MD 21014
Environmental Satellites in the Classroom
The purpose of this project is to learn how behavior influences the environment. An environmental satellite receiver, installed in the classroom, will enable students in pre-school through the 8th grade to participate in real scientific investigations by using data sets captured on a real time basis.

Maryland Environmental Trust   $4,798
Nick Williams, Maryland Land Trust Alliance, 275 West Street, Suite 322, Annapolis, MD 21401
Training in Conservation
For this project, training opportunities will be offered to Maryland local land trusts in conservation methods through lunch-time seminars, conservation conferences, and specialized training.

Queen Anne's Soil Conservation District   $5,000
Jeffrey Opel or Mary Ann Skilling, 505 Railroad Avenue, Centreville, MD 21617
Outdoor Curriculum
This project involves a week-long teacher training workshop to develop curriculum and teaching techniques for grades kindergarten through 8, expanding on the Queen Anne School District's Outdoor Classrooms.

University of Maryland System Cooperative Extension System, Baltimore City Office   $2,750
Jon Traunfeld, 17 S. Gay Street, Baltimore, MD 21202
Composting for Baltimore Residents
Residents of the City of Baltimore will be taught composting principles and techniques by on-site demonstrations at an arboretum and through traveling demonstrations at farmers' markets, major fairs, and festivals.

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1992 Grants

Hillcrest School District   $3,660
Catonsville, MD 21228
Environmental Education Curriculum
This project involves creating and implementing a comprehensive environmental education curriculum for students in kindergarten though 5th grade.

Howard B. Owens Science Center   $4,000
Lanham, MD 20706
Project Gain
This grant, titled "Project Gain," focuses on designing a composting project and curriculum that encourages food waste composting at three local schools and backyard composting at home. The project will be designed for high school, middle school and elementary school students, and other county residents of Prince Georges County.

Howard County Public School System   $22,440
Ellicott City, MD 21042
Building a Wetland
This project focuses on designing and building a wetland using recycled materials. The project also involves developing associated study areas and an educational curriculum for the community, including local departments and businesses, national companies, and scientific organizations.

Maryland Environmental Trust   $4,950
Annapolis, MD 21401
Land Preservation Education and Training
The "Land Preservation Education and Training" project focuses on educating Maryland local land trusts on the legal, technical, and financial aspects of land conservation.

Maryland Envirothon   $1,000
Annapolis, MD 21401
Natural Resource Problem Solving Competition
This project involves hosting a statewide student competition for high school students on natural resource problem solving.

 National 4-H Council   $50,000
Chevy Chase, MD 20815
Computer Simulation of Environmental Process
This grant funds a project on developing a computer-based simulation of environmental processes for 9 to 11 year-olds. The game will be part of a youth program called Environmental Stewardship that will focus on cultivating personal commitment to responsible resource management.

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