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Profiles of Environmental Education Grants Awarded to Organizations in Pennsylvania

Other States and U.S. Territories in EPA Region 3

- Indicates a Headquarters grant

2015 Grants

Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania   $90,166
Paul William Scanlon, 1 Morrow Way, Slippery Rock, PA 16057-1326
https://www.sru.edu/Exit
Healthy Planet, Healthy People Summer Camp and Community Project Incubator
Slippery Rock University (SRU) hosts a week-long “Healthy Planet, Healthy People” environmentally themed summer camp on a college campus. The camp is designed to not only provide high school students with fun and educational outdoor experiences, but also to act as a community project incubator by preparing the students to develop and lead environmental education and stewardship projects when they return to their local communities. Through this project, the students are gaining a better understanding of and enjoying the benefits of our natural environment. The project is intended to increase student awareness of local environmental problems, and it will also increase their awareness of the environmental organizations working within their local communities to solve environmental problems. Through a combination of formal leadership training and informal mentoring, the students become more knowledgeable about the scientific principles of ecological sustainability and enhancing their critical thinking, problem-solving and decision making skills.

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2014 Grants

Allegheny College  $89,693
Kerstin Martin, 520 N. Main St., Meadeville, PA 16335
http://allegheny.edu/Exit
Environmental Education in Agriculture’s Role in Human and Environmental Health for Public Middle School Students
Allegheny College provides educators with training to create and implement middle school-level science and Family Consumer Science (FCS) class modules that meet PA state standards and are focused on the environmental and human impacts of food and agriculture. This project installs teaching tools to offer place-based, experiential learning opportunities that promote a culture of environmental stewardship in growing food at the connected campuses. Educators create and deliver a pilot program of modules for 7th grade science and FCS classes focused on connecting the environmental and human health impacts of food and agriculture.

2013 Grants

National Nursing Centers Consortium     $175,000
Tine Hansen-Turton, 1500 Market St., Philadelphia, PA 19102
http://nncc.us/Exit
Asthma, Climate Change and Health Environmental Education Model Grant Project
The National Nursing Centers Consortium (NNCC) project is a replicable model that will encourage behavioral change and strengthen the field of Environmental Education.  NNCC expands its existing Healthy Homes curriculum to include information on how climate change will affect those with asthma.  A primary audience reached in this project is health and social service providers serving low-income, minority, and vulnerable populations, as well as nursing students.  The goals of the project are to: 1) increase knowledge and awareness of the issues inherent in 3 out of the 5 EPA environmental priorities; 2) build the skills formal and informal educators such as health and social service providers need to offer environmental education to others; and 3) encourage active environmental stewardship across the Region.

2012 Grants

Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts     $205,305
Stephen Bishop, 225 Market St., Second Floor, Harrisburg, PA 17101
http://www.whitakercenter.org/Exit
Expedition Chesapeake
The primary goal of the Expedition Chesapeake project is to broadly disseminate and implement a new series of educational experiences in structured learning modules that engage middle school and high school students in the exploration and analysis of the health of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, its ecosystem, and its inhabitants.  The project-based nature of student learning experiences within each module promotes an understanding of the local and regional watershed issues and their interrelationships.

Harrisburg University of Science and Technology  $150,000
Danielle Tarka, 326 Market Street, Harrisburg, PA 17101
STEM Mastery Through Great Lakes Stewardship
Harrisburg University of Science and Technology provides sub-grants to at least 20 four-year and two-year undergraduate institutions that are associated with Great Lakes education. Curricula and related activities engage students in direct action and community-based research targeted at restoring and sustaining a healthy Great Lakes ecosystem while promoting personal and public stewardship behaviors. Faculty and students in science, technology and mathematics disciplines at these institutions partner with local community-based and government organizations to increase public awareness and knowledge about Great Lakes environmental issues. The foundation of these partnerships is a network of undergraduate stewardship liaisons, who assure effective communication among partners and efficient coordination of the project's environmental service-learning activities. They also contribute to a Great Lakes-wide virtual community that disseminates best practices and builds a multistate network of undergraduate environmental education practitioners and future Great Lakes stewards. Project goals include supporting the Great Lakes ecosystem stewardship efforts of resource-strapped community based non-profit and governmental organizations through on the ground stewardship activities that have been integrated with undergraduate coursework at local higher education institutions and form the basis for long-term campus/community partnerships that sustain these communities.

National Nursing Centers Consortium – $150,000
Tine Hansen-Turton, 260 South Broad Street, 18th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19102
National Nursing Centers Consortium Sub-Grant Program
The National Nursing Centers Consortium (NNCC) is implementing a two-year sub-grant project that increases the knowledge and awareness of key environmental issues and promotes environmental stewardship by providing funding for environmental education activities. The sub-grants, focused on engaging kindergarten through grade 12 students, teachers and community members from diverse backgrounds and communities, involves the target audience in community projects that are intended to eliminate health disparities and meet the health and wellness needs of underserved communities. By addressing the region's most pressing environmental issues, NNCC hopes to capitalize on heightened public interest in particular issues like natural gas extraction to ensure that the environmental education activities funded through this project have a lasting impact.

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2011 Grants

Allegheny College   $80,668
James Palmer, 520 North Main Street, Meadville, PA 16335
Allegheny College
The Creek Connection project will engage K-12 classes in chemical and biological monitoring of local streams by providing equipment, training and human resource assistance for two years. This project will involve 20 middle and secondary schools from five counties in southwestern Pennsylvania. A specific focus will be potential water chemistry changes resulting from dramatically expanded natural gas exploration and extraction in the region. The Creek Connections project will provide authentic watershed field and laboratory research experiences to K-12 students and teachers. The proposed activities will build science based critical thinking skills among the youngest citizens within the EPA Environmental Issue Priority of Protecting America’s Waters. Because this program will engage public and private schools, gifted and life-skills programs, environmental professionals and the general public, it will strengthen environmental literacy among diverse populations and inspire informed stream monitoring; restoration and public decision-making regarding water quality and potential impacts of ever-changing land use practices, including natural gas extraction technologies.

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2010 Grants

Galeton School District   $119,530
Melissa Sullivan, 25 Bridge Street, Galeton, PA 16922
Potter County Consortium Water Quality Education Initiative
Through the Potter County Consortium Water Quality Education Initiative, under-served 7th- through 12th- grade students are provided with knowledge and critical thinking skills necessary to protect and conserve local, rivers, streams and aquifers. During this one-year project, students and their teachers from five school districts monitor the water quality of the of stream ,creeks, local aquifers, and the three rivers in the region to determine the environmental impact resulting from natural gas extraction from Marcellus Shale and other activities in the region. In addition to water monitoring activities, students participate in field trips, attend after-school workshops, and develop reports and presentations based on their findings. Students also apply their knowledge to community-based projects, raising local awareness of water quality issues in the county. Teacher and students are trained to effectively and accurately use the purchased water quality monitoring equipment. Teachers also participate in 80 hours of professional development training and focus group meetings that prepare them for the integration of the nationally recognized, scientifically based Project WET and Healthy Water, Healthy People environmental education programs into classroom instruction in math, science, and technology classes. Partners include the Austin Area, Coudersport Area, Northern Potter and Oswayo Valley School District, Alfred University, Potter County Environmental Education Council the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Manfield University, and the Potter County Natural Gas Task Force.

Pennsylvania Resources Council Inc.   $14,085
Sarah Alessio, 64 South 14th Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15203
Health and the Environment: The Human Connection
The Pennsylvania Resources Council (PRC) works to solve environmental problems by bringing together representatives from business, government, citizens' groups, and educational institutions who share a common concern for the environment. Through its outreach programs, PRC promotes resources conservation through recycling, waste reduction, litter prevention, watershed, and air quality awareness. PRC's Health and the Environment program focuses on educating citizens of all ages to increase the public's awareness of the toxins present in our everyday environment. Some of the components to the program include the enhancement of in-classroom presentation for high school students, facilitation of adult workshops, and attendance at community events in the southwestern Pennsylvania region. Specifically, this project addresses community stewardship by encouraging participants of all ages to accept responsibility for reducing and eliminating toxins in the environment by decreasing their consumption of products that contain these substances.

SE PA Area Health Education Center   $25,000
Susan DiGiorgio-Poll, 1025 Andrew Drive, West Chester, PA 19380
Creating Environmentally Friendly Child Care Centers
The mission of the Southeast Pennsylvania Area Health Education Center is to help communities develop needed healthcare services by (1) training students and primary care practitioners to work with low-income, under-served, and rural populations, (2) supporting health career programs in schools and (3) securing funding and other resources to improve community health, through a train the trainer format for childcare center directors. The project educates childcare center directors through a 1-day interactive presentation, encompassing various aspects of environmental health as it relates to children in the centers. This project educates childcare directors throughout Southeast Pennsylvania about various ways of creating an environmentally friendly childcare facility. The result of the training is the development of an action plan that uses a checklist and a rating scale.

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2009 Grants

Wissahickon Restoration Volunteers   $17,449
Amanda Jane Hymansmith, 3721 Midvale Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19103
Crew Leader Education Program
Wissahickon Restoration Volunteers (WRV) is an ecology-oriented organization that works with community volunteers to restore the natural environment of the Wissahickon Valley Park in Philadelphia. WRV training fosters stewardship, accountability, and restoration ideals so that trainees can become lifelong advocates of the environment. The WRV Crew Leaders Education Program works with volunteer groups from high schools, colleges, and religious and service organizations to restore the Wissahickon Valley Park. The role of the crew leaders is critical in educating volunteer groups about the value of a restored environment in safeguarding water quality, maintaining a healthy ecosystem and providing recreational opportunities in a natural setting.

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2008 Grants

Da Vinci Discovery Center of Science and Technology   $25,825
Bill McGlinn, 3145 Hamilton Boulevard Bypass, Allentown, PA 18103
Community of Modelers
Using the Community of Modelers, the Da Vinci Science Center engages teachers, students, and other community members in using desktop computer-based climate-modeling software, Educators Global Climate Model (EdGCM). The Da Vinci Science Center provides in-depth training workshops and online and in-person follow-up and troubleshooting to enable educators and citizens to use and understand the same global climate modeling software used by environmental scientists. The Da Vinci Center also facilitates an online forum where workshop graduates exchange data and analysis derived from their climate models. Participants become more aware of the consequences of greenhouse gas emissions and better able to use scientific models to make decisions about local, regional, and national climate policy.

Northampton County Area Community College   $25,915
John Leiser, 3835 Green Pond Road, Bethlehem, PA 18020
Farming for the Future: A Model for Community Supported Agriculture
Northampton Community College (NCC) students on the Monroe Campus study the operation of the Josie Porter Farm to see its function as an area of sustainable biodynamic agriculture that provides food within the community it serves. By working the farm and meeting with members of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), participants are able to recognize the goals of the farm to promote environmental stewardship. Students then work with faculty and the Cherry Valley Community Supported Agriculture (CVCSA) to design a model for demonstrating community supported agriculture enterprises to municipalities working to secure open space and to teach public workshops on the farm around the topics of stewardship and sustainable agriculture. The proposed project is intended to promote sustainable interactions between the population of Monroe County and the wild resources found in the region. Project goals are threefold: (1) to teach students critical thinking about environmental issues so that they analyze information and design realistic environmental solutions to problems, while encouraging the students to adopt sustainable options in their own lives; (2) to educate the local community about the importance of balancing population growth with the need for renewable food resources, and (3) to educate municipal leaders about community supported agriculture by developing a model for incorporating CSA land into open space initiatives.

PA Resources Council   $19,360
David Mazza, 64 South 14th Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15203
Health and the Environment: The Human Connection
This project draws on existing curriculum materials developed by PA Resources Council Inc. and the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute-Center for Environmental Oncology to increase public awareness and knowledge about environmental causes of cancer, minimize the public’s exposure to environmental pollutants and contribute to the prevention of cancer, especially among children, by educating middle and high-school students, their parents or guardians, and teachers and pre-service teachers. Specifically, this curriculum seeks to enhance critical thinking and decision making skills as a means to effectively analyze information and make informed decisions about purchase and use of products and behavioral changes as a means to avoid or reduce pollution exposure. This project encourages participants of all ages to accept responsibility for reducing and eliminating toxins in the environment by decreasing their consumption of products that contain these substances. Participants acquire skills that assist them in making informed decisions concerning conscious consumerism (label reading and alternatives to toxin-containing products).

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2007 Grants

Southeast Pennsylvania Area Health Education Center   $17,900
Susan DiGiorgio-Poll, 35 South High Street, West Chester, PA 19382
Minimizing the Risks from Environmental Toxins through Education
Janitors, teachers, and other staff including healthcare practitioners in child care centers in Philadelphia are educated about the harmful effects to both children’s health and the environment caused by indoor air pollution, especially harsh cleaning products and pesticides used in these facilities. The health education center uses the funds to promote and increase the use of environmentally friendly cleaning products and pest control in the child care centers selected and in the home to protect children’s health. All participants attend an interactive educational session, held at the daycare center, on environmental education topics that focus on indoor air pollution and pest management.

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2006 Grants

Awbury Arboretum   $10,000
Gerald Kaufman, 1 Awbury Road, Philadelphia, PA 19138
The Tacony-Frankford Watershed Teacher Education Project
Awbury Arboretum provides a series of professional development sessions to local kindergarten through grade 8 teachers in the Tacony-Frankford watershed. The sessions demonstrate new activities and methods for teachers and motivate them to use local wetlands as “outdoor classrooms” for teaching about the watershed. The participants are taught to think about the watershed in three ways: scientifically; as a community resource affected by local pollutants and usage; and as a natural resource. Participating teachers are from the local public, charter, or private schools, and a few represent the homeschool community.

Earth Force, Inc.   $10,000
Janet Wynn Starwood, 100 Greenwood Avenue, Wyncote, PA 19095
Green City Youth Program
Earth Force develops environmental literacy and stewardship skills of inner-city youth through service learning projects focused on urban greening. Underserved elementary, middle, and high school students from low-income communities in the School District of Philadelphia and their educators benefit. The program encourages environmental stewardship and works in partnership with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS). Student projects are presented to the public at the PHS Kids Grow Expo and Earth Forth Youth Summits.

Group Against Smog and Pollution, Inc.   $10,150
Rachel Filippini, Wightman School, Community Building, 5604 Solway Street, Room 204, Pittsburgh, PA 15217
Fueling the Future
The Group Against Smog and Pollution (GASP) aims to educate middle and high school teachers and community members about the human health and environmental hazards of diesel exhaust and pollution from vehicles. Teachers learn about alternative fuels, vehicles, and other strategies to reduce exposure that is summarized in lesson plan format with hands-on activities for classrooms. GASP targets teachers in Allegheny and surrounding counties for the hands-on workshop and in-school trainings.

Northampton County Area Community College   $17,054
Arthur Scott, 3835 Green Pond Road, Bethlehem, PA 18020
For the Birds: Invasive Species and Environmental Stewardship
Northampton Community College (NCC) students participate in the invasive species and environmental stewardship project “For the Birds.” Students on the Monroe campus of NCC study the effects of human development and invasive species in stream corridors within the Pocono Mountains. The goal of the program is two-fold: (1) teach students to think critically about environmental issues, analyze information, and design realistic environmental plans, while encouraging students to pursue environmental careers; and (2) educate the local community on the importance of balancing population growth with the natural environment, and encouraging environmental stewardship. The project involves students in introductory biology in service-learning projects and students in field ecology in interactive field laboratory experiments.

Pennsylvania Resources Council   $10,000
David Mazza, 64 South 14th Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15203
African-American Cultural Heritage Garden and Living Laboratory
The Pennsylvania Resources Council (PRC) has designed and developed an African-American Cultural Heritage Garden and Living Laboratory Project on two abandoned lots. PRC, in partnership with the Helen S. Faison Arts Academy (HSFAA) and the Rosedale Block Cluster, Inc., offers its expertise to help restore the site and create a Living Laboratory that will instill environmental stewardship. The living laboratory consists of healthy soil, handicapped-accessible garden paths and elevated beds, composting bins, a rail barrel, African-American gardening traditions, educational garden signage, and a school and community gathering area. The target audience is predominantly underserved elementary school students (including some who participate in a full-day HSFAA summer program), students in pre-kindergarten through grade 5, teachers and HSFAA faculty members, and the greater Homewood community.

Saint Vincent College   $11,228
Norman Hipps, 300 Fraser Purchase Road, Latrobe, PA 15650
Field Institute for Environmental Learning
Saint Vincent College conducts a 5-day Field Institute for Environmental Learning for students in kindergarten through grade 6 and pre-service teachers in the graduate program. The project is field-based and focuses on curricula that address the Pennsylvania academic standards for Watersheds and Wetlands; Ecosystems and their Interactions; and Humans and the Environment. Through increased content knowledge on freshwater ecosystems, teachers gain the ability to effectively use field-based techniques with their students, increasing the students’ capacity to investigate the natural world, and gain a sense of appreciation for the water ecosystems within the community. Field-based activities include studying and identifying aquatic and terrestrial organisms, developing visual observation equipment for elementary school students, water quality testing, tracking and barefoot mapping, and practicing identification techniques using field guides.

Strawberry Hill Foundation, Inc.   $9,877
Yvonne Werzinsky, 1537 Mount Hope Road, Fairfield, PA 17320
Watershed Ambassadors Program of Adams County
Strawberry Hill Foundation, Inc. has designed a Watershed Ambassadors Program geared toward teachers and underserved middle school students (grades 5 through 7) with an interest in the sciences and the environment. In collaboration with “El Centro” (the Center), a local non-profit institution, students learn about the Monocacy River watershed, its connection to the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and its impact on the area. Students participate in a series of experiential field trips to reinforce lessons, which include stream water quality testing as an indicator of water health, a visit to a bald eagle nesting site, and a community service project. Students also visit a sustainable organic farm to compare its farming methods with farming methods that use pesticides and other chemical applications — and the subsequent impact on the environment, hike through a nature preserve, and culminate with an educational environmental display designed by the students at the Adams County Community Fest. The project instills environmental stewardship through critical thinking skills and serves as a model that will be adapted to other areas throughout Pennsylvania and Maryland.

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2005 Grants

Doylestown Township Environmental Advisory Council   $30,742
Kate McGovern, 425 Wells Road, Doylestown, PA 18901
Environmental Workshops for Elementary School Teachers
Greater interest in environmental science is stimulated under this project through environmental education workshops for elementary school teachers in the Central Bucks County School District. Elementary school teachers of second, fourth, and fifth grades benefit from the program as it instills a basic understanding of environmental principles and facilitates more effective use of existing educational tool kits and teaching aids across all environmental media. The teachers encourage scientific discovery and problem solving at an early age and provide a foundation for future secondary instruction in environmental issues and careers. The project serves as a model and example for other school districts in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

GreenTreks Network, Inc.   $15,000
Amanda Bailey, 1420 Walnut Street, Suite 1304, Philadelphia, PA 19102
Protecting Our Children's Health in Philadelphia Campaign
Protecting our Children’s Health in Philadelphia Campaign is a comprehensive communication resource package created to reduce the number of children affected by lead poisoning and pollution-related asthma in the Philadelphia area. Working in partnership with the National Nursing Centers Consortium (NNCC), GreenTreks Network develops, creates, and distributes during home visits interactive DVDs (both in English and Spanish) that connect parents with the stories of others who have been in the same situation. The DVDs provide an in-depth resource that enables people to take action in their own homes and communities. NNCC uses the DVDs as an outreach tool to reach urban families. GreenTreks Network and NNCC reach households with this vital information and improve their home environments.

Pennsylvania State University Penn State Institutes of the Environment   $9,671
Dennis Decoteau, 110 Technology Center Building, University Park, PA 16802
Enhancing Teacher Knowledge of Air Pollution Effects on Plant Health
Teacher Knowledge of Air Pollution Effects on Plant Health enhances the knowledge of teachers in kindergarten through grade 12 on the effects of air pollution on plant health through a 1-day, hands-on workshop. The on-site workshop provides background information on air pollution and its effects on plants, demonstrates air pollution-induced injury on plants, and enhances critical thinking on environmental variables and subsequent plant responses through data analysis of recorded ozone levels and the occurrence of plant injury symptoms to sensitive plants.

The Pennsylvania State University   $9,535
Dr. Laura Guertin, 110 Technology Center Building, University Park, PA 16802
Science, Programming, HERE, Scouts! (SPHERES)
Created to encourage Brownies and Girl Scouts to earn science and technology badges, “Science, Programming, HERE, Scouts!” (SPHERES) allows elementary and middle-school age girls to “learn and earn” by participating in planned environmental science programs. SPHERES includes hands-on, authentic field and laboratory science experiments conducted on campus by the Brownies and Junior Girl Scouts troops during two Saturday badge events and two 1-week themed day camps. The use of hand-held science equipment and computers allows the girls to become active environmental scientists by conducting daily experiments, experiencing hypothesis formation, data collection and processing, and analyzing and communicating results. Undergraduate students conduct the Saturday program as part of the required service learning component in the earth and geoscience courses. Service learning components for undergraduate students provide an opportunity to further their environmental education and conduct environmental education outreach.

The Village of Arts and Humanities, Inc.   $8,240
Kelly Tannen, 2544 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19133
Plot-to-Planet Environmental Footprint Project
This project uses gardening and other hands-on agriculture to educate urban community youth about local and global environmental issues and the connections between them. Participants learn about the impact of litter, water and air pollution, soil erosion, and habitat loss by cultivating an inner-city garden through all phases of the growth cycle, from seed to harvest. Elementary school children who live in the Fairhill Apartment complex adjacent to the Fairhill Community Center participate in weekly environmental workshops where the following topics are discussed: pollution prevention, reducing solid waste, basic science related to gardening, stabilizing polluted soils, improving ground filtration, and providing fresh local vegetables to the community. Activities include composting, plant pressings, field trips to state parks and orchards, harvesting, and pollution prevention puppet shows.

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2004 Grants

Fayette County Conservation District    $4,000
Heather Knupsky, 10 Nickman Plaza, Lemont Furnace, PA 15456
Fayette County Children's Water Festival
The Fayette County Children's Water Festival is an educational event that teaches sixth-grade students from throughout the county about basic water concepts. Through hands-on exercises in a lively atmosphere, the students learn about such topics as surface water and groundwater; water's importance to all life; the role of the water cycle; the links between water, plants, wildlife, and soil; and the effects of human activities on water and all of nature.

Mast Community Charter School    $9,574
Christopher Cichonski, 1800 Byberry Road, Philadelphia, PA 19116
Storm Water Runoff and Biotreatment Design Project
In this project, environmental science students evaluate the storm water runoff conditions at their school and design strategies to address contaminated runoff. In partnership with fellow students in visual communication classes, the science students create interpretive displays that present their findings regarding treatment of the contaminated runoff. With their newly developed interpretive skills, the science students work to heighten awareness of this important problem within the school and among its residential and commercial neighbors. The project engages the students in a complex environmental issue with competing demands--for example, the need for parking space as opposed to the need for green space--and helps them design a solution that balances these needs. The students learn to collect sound data that they can use to assess all sides of the question, and they learn to think creatively about possible solutions.

Owen J. Roberts School District    $8,471
William Richardson, Administration Building, 901 Ridge Road, Pottstown, PA 19465
Scientific Evidence of Wetlands Restoration Effectiveness
This project gives 540 high school students and teachers an opportunity to scientifically evaluate the effects of wetland restoration techniques used at the Century Oaks Farm. The 250-year-old family farm was degrading the nearby wetland habitat of the Welkinweir Preserve through nutrient and sediment loading as well as through stream bank collapse caused by farm livestock. Working with the Green Valleys Association headquartered at the Welkinweir Preserve and the Penn State Cooperative Wetlands Center, the students and teachers collect field data, which provides scientific evidence of the effectiveness of the nutrient containment, buffer fencing, and buffer revegetation projects implemented at the Century Oaks Farm in 2002.

Pittsburgh Voyager    $11,815
Beth A. O'Toole, 1501 Reedsdale Street, Suite 2001, Pittsburgh, PA 15233
Strengthening Teaching Competencies in Environmental Education
This project aims to strengthen the environmental education competencies of elementary, middle, and high school teachers in Allegheny County by engaging them in three experiential workshops. These workshops explore how water quality is related to places, people, and other living things; foster awareness of and sensitivity to the county’s environmental issues; demonstrate how local issues relate to Pennsylvania's environmental and ecological education standards; share techniques for integrating these standards into their curriculum; inspire consideration of public policy that impacts the environment and ecology in Pittsburgh; and model the types of hands-on activities and explorations that teachers can use in the classroom to promote deeper student understanding of environmental concepts.

The Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education    $12,151
Tracy Kay, 8480 Hagy's Mill Road, Philadelphia, PA 19128
Manayunk Watershed Education & Protection Program
As part of this program, 60 students in two middle schools in the Manayunk neighborhood of Philadelphia are participating in a series of watershed-related classroom sessions, field trips, and community outreach efforts as well as a hands-on watershed protection project. Through this environmental education experience, the students increase their awareness and knowledge of water quality issues and have the opportunity to improve the water quality of the Schuylkill River. Through such outreach efforts as storm drain marking and distribution of water use tip cards, the students become teachers and educate other students, family members, and members of the community about ways to change their behavior in order to protect their drinking water. The students are also mentored by local community groups during the stream cleanups.

The Village of Arts and Humanities    $7,200
Kelly B. Tannen, 2544 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19133
The Plot to Planet Environmental Footprint Project
The Plot to Planet Environmental Footprint Project uses gardening and other hands-on agricultural activities to educate young people about local and global environmental issues and the connections between them. Approximately 200 children of ages 3 through 12 design, prepare, plant, maintain, and harvest vegetables from a large garden. Through their stewardship of this land, which was formerly an abandoned lot, and through their involvement in the details and processes of urban gardening, the participants develop a greater awareness of the complex, interconnected environmental issues facing their neighborhood and the rest of the world, including water and air pollution, soil erosion, solid waste management, and habitat loss.

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2003 Grants

Group Against Smog & Pollution    $5,000
Rachel Filippini, P.O. Box 5165, Pittsburgh, PA 15206
Diesel Education and Monitoring Program
The objective of this project is to educate the public about fine particulate matter and diesel pollution from vehicles that affect Western Pennsylvania's air quality and to encourage citizens to use this knowledge to make informed decisions and take actions on these issues. The project includes a public education program called the Diesel Education and Monitoring Program. Venues include church groups, community centers, nature centers, and college campuses. Beyond holding community meetings, the group will educate a wider audience by appearing on at least one Public Access TV station in the Pittsburgh area to educate viewers about particulate matter and diesel pollution from vehicles.

Intermediate Unit 1    $4,941
Pamela Hupp, One Intermediate Unit Drive, Coal Center, PA 15423-9642
Project Contain, Maintain, and Connect Outdoor Environmental Workshop
The goal of this project is to raise the level of environmental literacy of 20 elementary school teachers in school districts in Washington, Fayette, and Greene Counties. To achieve this goal, the project is providing an opportunity for the teachers to develop an understanding of basic environmental concepts, identify local environmental problems, develop lessons for their classrooms, and use testing apparatus in field experiences.

National Nursing Centers Consortium    $15,000
Tine Hansen-Turton, 260 South Broad Street, 18th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19102
Baltimore Lead Education and Awareness Program
The National Nursing Centers Consortium serves the Baltimore community by implementing the Lead Education and Awareness Program (LEAP). The program has two components that are designed to inform people about the hazards associated with lead: a home visitation program and community workshops titled "Community Lead 101." The two components of LEAP are implemented through two community-based, nurse-managed health centers in Baltimore.

The Magic Woods    $25,000
Matthew Craig, P.O. Box 81798, Pittsburgh, PA 15217
Magic Woods Television Series
The goal of the Magic Woods television series is to inspire a broad audience of preschool children towards a deeper curiosity, respect, and understanding for nature and the environment. The series promotes ecosystem protection through education by featuring environmental lessons within each episode. The subject matter, characters, and child cast members are specifically chosen to reach out and to be inclusive of children of all races, genders, religious, and socio-economic groups.

Urban Tree Connection    $5,000
Saul Wiener, 5125 Woodbine Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19131-2404
Pearl Street Neighborhood Garden Project
The objective of this project is to inform children from the Haddington neighborhood about the basic concepts of environmental science and the ecological importance of maintaining urban green spaces. To achieve this objective, the Urban Tree Connection has designed and developed a habitat-oriented teaching and learning garden. The project organizers work with children to cultivate the 3,300-square-foot lot and develop a "green" walkway.

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2002 Grants

Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania   $3,400
Roy Lenhart, 614 Dorseyville Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15238
Pittsburgh's Outdoor Classroom: Fayette County School Program Scholarships
The project educates secondary school students about the effects of habitat degradation on wildlife resources and the tension between current land development practices and the preservation of natural resources. Students are involved in researching the topic through a series of informative classroom programs and hands-on, outdoor discovery programs.

Blacklick Environmental Education Center   $4,750
Shannon Peterson, 411 Third Avenue, AMD&ART, Inc., Johnstown, PA 15906
Opportunities for Educational and Wildlife Enhancement and the Vintondale Wetlands
The project strives to clean up acid mine drainage, reclaim 35 acres of abandoned mine land, and improve overall quality of life in the community. The project will create 7 acres of wetlands that explore all habitat and educational possibilities; enable community members to maintain the wetlands; engage area schools and other groups in wetlands and educational activities, and receive Wildlife Habitat Council certification. These goals are reached through hands-on activities to establish the wildlife and educational components of this site.

Borough of Central City/Shade Creek Watershed Association   $7,000
Sharon K. Harkcom, 314 Central Avenue, Suite 201, Central City, PA 15926
Environmental Awareness in the Shade Creek Watershed
The project uses hands-on investigation to encourage youth in the area to investigate and implement solutions to environmental problems through presentations, public meetings, and local news reporting.

Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation   $10,000
Robert E. Hughes, 485 Smith Pond Road, Luzerne Conservation District, Shavertown, PA 18708
Exploring Pennsylvania's Anthracite Watersheds Impacted by Abandoned Mine Drainage in Luzerne County, PA
The project provides a county-wide teacher training program that includes a full-day, hands-on educational workshop on abandoned mine lands, the impacts of former anthracite mining practices on land and water resources, abandoned mine reclamation techniques, and cogeneration and its environmental benefits. Opportunities to network with local resources agencies and community groups are provided, and a county-wide field tour of several watersheds that have successfully completed reclamation and remediation projects is included. Core teachers are able to train other teachers and students on the regional problems associated with this issue.

Philadelphia Health Management Corporation   $7,019
Tine Hansen-Turton, 260 S. Broad Street, 18th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19102
Lead Safe Babies - Evaluation of a Primary Prevention Program Addressing Childhood Lead Poisoning
This program addresses lead poisoning. At nine nurse-managed health care centers in Philadelphia, evaluation is done through testing, data collection, and screening.

Riverbend Environmental Education Center   $4,000
Timshel Purdum, 1950 Spring Mill Road, Gladwyne, PA 19035
Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment for Life-Long Environmental Learning
Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) links students, teachers, and the scientific research community together in an effort to learn more about the environment through student data collection and observation. The goal of the project is to target school groups and teachers in the Philadelphia area, provide hands-on learning about environmental issues, and provide a model program for other nature centers to emulate.

Shermans Creek Conservation Association   $5,242
Debra H. Smith, 385 Dark Hollow Road, Shermansdale, PA 17090
Linking Communities Together Through a Local Watershed
The goal of the project is to expand community educational outreach and connect students with environmental challenges facing their community and the world. A district-wide approach to science is instituted that includes laboratory investigations, analysis of environmental data in the community, and participation in town meetings. Workshops for this program are coordinated through Dickinson College's Environmental Studies Department in conjunction with the West Perry School District.

The Village of Arts and Humanities   $8,812
Kelly Tannen, 2544 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19133
The Village Environmental Education Partnership
The program teaches north Philadelphia children about the environment through the study of native bird species and creation of habitat for birds. By focusing on native bird species, participants gain an understanding about the interconnection of all life between individuals and the environment. The result is the creation of a replicable model for demonstrating the integrating of workshop-based and project-based instruction for effective environmental education.

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2001 Grants

Clarion Conservation District   $3,800
Trudy Alexander, 265 Holiday Inn Road, Suite #2, Clarion, PA 16214
Conservation Education Programs for Clarion County, PA
The project is an on-going conservation program that educates students and members of the community in conservation practices that can be applied by landowners and future landowners in Clarion County. A conservation tour familiarizes local landowners with the conservation practices available to them through participating agencies. Through the educational effort, both students and members of the community become better informed about the opportunities available to them in the areas of wildlife and land conservation through government agencies and local non-profit groups.

East Stroudsburg Area School District   $3,168
Gail Kulick-Cummings, 1 Gravel Ridge Road, East Stroudsburg, PA 18301
Resico Elementary School - Outdoor Educational Gardens
The outdoor classroom experience introduces students to environmental and mathematical standards, while encouraging the personal attributes of caring, responsibility, respect, fairness, and good citizenship. Students develop awareness and understanding of environmental issues and cycles and how each issue or process affects natural habitats. They use the educational gardens to practice graphing, measuring, estimating, and basic computation skills. In addition, the students work collaboratively and cooperatively to create gifts to be distributed to senior citizens’ homes and community centers in the area.

French Creek Outdoor Learning Center   $4,585
Judith Acker, 18308 Broadway, Meadville, PA 16335
Integrating Technology and the Environment in the French Creek Watershed
The French Creek Outdoor Learning Center sponsors a one-day teacher education workshop that focuses on integrating the environment and technology. Teachers learn to use scientific equipment and computer software to identify macroinvertebrates and other flora and fauna in the creek. The goal of the project is to educate teachers about French Creek as well as to train them in using technology to bring environmental education into the classroom. As an extension of the workshop, the scientific equipment is made available by loan to other teachers.

Girls' Club of Allentown, Inc.   $5,000
Deborah Fries, 1302 Turner Street, Allentown, PA 18102
"WE CARE" Program (Children Acting Responsibly towards the Environment)
The “WE CARE” program allows 125 inner-city girls, ages 5 through 18 years, to learn how to sustain an urban ecosystem. Using the established and successful Urban Community Garden as a learning environment, participants conduct hands-on experiments and activities that help them learn about and develop an understanding of the network of interactions that make up an ecosystem. They discover the ways plants, animals, and the non-living elements of our environment are all linked and affect each other.

Philadelphia City Sail, Inc.   $15,867
Rick LeFevre, P. O. Box 43235, Philadelphia, PA 19129
Schoolship Education Program
The Schoolship Education Program teaches inner-city students in grades 5 through 8 about local urban environmental issues and the importance of environmental education. The students observe the Delaware River from a 75-foot topsail schooner sailing on the river. The program provides hands-on activities related to a number of curriculum topics, including soils, the water cycle, ecological concepts, pollution, and waste management. The project inspires the students to take action to resolve problems that contribute to the deterioration of the river.

School District of Philadelphia   $3,735
Marcia Schulman, 2120 Winter Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103
Hunter Elementary School - Adopts the Neighborhood
The project encourages students in kindergarten through grade 4 at Hunter Elementary School to participate in a year-long community service project. The project directs the students’ energies and helps them develop personal commitments to taking action to improve their own environments. The grant project includes four major components: 1) to enlist student participation in the improvement and renewal of the environment within the boundaries of the school property, 2) to develop a working relationship with neighborhood empowerment agencies to promote student leadership, 3) to provide to students the opportunity to explore urban and suburban neighborhoods in nearby townships through field trips to various environmental nature centers, and 4) to provide students the opportunity to attend the Philadelphia Flower Show, thereby encouraging them to enter the Junior Philadelphia Flower Show.

School District of Philadelphia   $100,000
Kenneth Holdsman, 2120 Winter Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103-1099
Enviro-Stewards
In its effort to become the first large urban public school system to incorporate service-learning environmental education projects into requirements for promotion and graduation, the School District of Philadelphia takes a hands-on approach to providing training and resources to teachers and students in grades kindergarten through 12. Teachers participate in a one-day symposium, receive professional development training in service-learning and environmental education, and build partnerships with outside environmental organizations to design service-learning projects. Students in turn engage in those projects to learn about their environment and enhance their critical-thinking and problem-solving skills. Examples of some of the topics addressed by the projects include air monitoring, surveying and monitoring of water, and community gardening. Funding for at least 34 of the projects also is provided under the project. Students reached by the project represent low-income, culturally diverse communities of African-American, Caucasian, Hispanic, and Asian populations. The projects, the results of which are documented in a videotape, can be used in other areas. Earth Force, the Fairmount Park Commission, the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, and Urban Tree Education are partners in the project.

Temple University   $5,000
Robert Mason, 330 Gladfelter Hall, 1115 West Berks Street, Philadelphia, PA 19122
Delaware Canal State Park Regional Environmental Education Program
The project funds the development of a course in environmental studies. The course provides introductory information to all constituencies that participate in the development of the Forks of the Delaware River Education Center, which is located in Easton. The project, which includes a substantial on-line component, integrates ecological and cultural perspectives on river basin interpretation and management of issues related to river basins.

The Village of Arts and Humanities   $10,000
Lily Yeh, 2544 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19133
Teen Environmental Leadership Internship Program
The project provides summer and after-school internships in environmental leadership for minority teenagers living in inner-city North Philadelphia. The internships are designed to increase the students’ understanding of local and global environmental issues, expose students to horticulture and environmental landscaping, encourage environmental leadership and activism, and influence environmental career choices. Participating in the program are 30 students, ages 13 through 19.

Wildlands Conservancy   $4,923
Barbara VanClief, 3701 Orchid Place, Emmaus, PA 18049
Nature in the Parks
The project addresses the issue of access to environmental education programming for inner-city children who experience significantly less exposure to environmental issues than children who live in more affluent areas. The project underwrites the cost of participation in the Wildlands Conservancy’s Nature-in-the-Parks Program for children served by city social agencies, including the Sixth Street Shelter, the Volunteers of America Children’s Center, the Salvation Army, and the Boys and Girls Club. The program is taught in the city parks during week-long sessions of two hours per day; experienced naturalist-educators work with small groups of approximately 15 children.

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2000 Grants

Downingtown Area School District   $4,820
Holly Maddams, 122 Wallace Avenue, Downingtown, PA 19335
Environmental Education Teacher Training in Natural Settings
EPA funds support environmental education and training of teacher and parent volunteers in a natural setting at Beaver Creek Elementary School. Trained individuals assume primary teaching responsibilities at the Watershed Learning Center adjacent to the school. All 500 students at the school participate in lessons presented on site at the center. Students, teachers, and parent volunteers better understand the ecosystems at the center and the effects of human behavior on those ecosystems and on environmental quality. The training enables teachers to foster students' critical-thinking and problem-solving abilities.

Pennsylvania Environmental Council   $10,634
Ann Smith, 117 South 17th Street, Suite 2300, Philadelphia, PA 19103
Darby-Cobbs Watershed Education Program for Teachers
The program trains teachers in the basics of watershed management, with an emphasis on important local issues. In addition to scientific and technical topics, the program educates teachers on public policy issues and local initiatives that are underway in their watershed. Teachers learn how science and technology are applied through public policy regulations, incentive programs, and grass root initiatives to address environmental issues to enhance teaching skills on local watershed issues. The instruction is integrated with existing curriculum and materials that teachers can use in their classrooms. Teachers are expected to develop a field or service-oriented project for their students that will contribute to local watershed initiatives.

Pocono Environmental Education Center   $2,067
Ben Armstrong, RR 2, Box 1010, Dingmans Ferry, PA 18328
Watersheds and Wetlands Workshops
The program sponsors two day-long Watersheds and Wetlands workshops for 60 mid-level teachers and students. Training enables participants to return to the classroom as student-teachers who share knowledge with classmates. The student-teachers are trained in biological, physical, and chemical testing; they then teach water quality workshops as group leaders. With classroom instruction before and after the workshop, the hands-on, inquiry-based field study activities during the workshops help teachers and students understand the state curriculum and standards for watershed and wetlands education.

Saint Francis College   $9,745
Kevin O'Flaherty, P. O. Box 600, Loretto, PA 15940
Bringing the Ocean to Western PA and Western PA to the Ocean
Elementary and secondary school teachers in an economically depressed area attend a workshop to learn about the ocean and salt water issues. Teachers participate in presentations on the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, the water cycle, freshwater/saltwater differences, and ecosystem dynamics. The teachers set up salt water aquaria in their classrooms to replicate the larger ecosystem of the ocean to learn aquaria dynamics as they apply to ecosystem dynamics. Teachers integrate environmental and ecological standards into their classroom curricula to educate students about the important relationship between fresh water in Pennsylvania and salt water in ocean systems. Teachers learn about water testing procedures and nutrient loads along with developing critical analysis of their research.

Shade High School   $4,990
Damion Ciotti, 203 McGregor, P. O. Box 7, Cairnbrook, PA 15924
High School Students Watershed Assessment Project
Students from Shade and Westmont high schools initiate a watershed assessment that provides historical information about specific sites in the watershed and includes a stream monitoring program that provides quality data used by regional and state environmental agencies. Students show findings to local Dark Shade residents and make recommendations about cleanup measures. The expected outcome is that students understand an environmental problem-solving process that combines historical research and good scientific data to solve environmental problems. The project strengthens EPA's Brownfields Pilot Project outreach effort in Central City and Shade Township.

Urban Tree Connection   $10,000
Saul Weiner, 5125 Woodbine Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19131
Open Space Revitalization Project
The project focuses on developing an innovative, active, learning-based environmental science curriculum that involves neighborhood students in an open space revitalization project. It also responds to the interest expressed in the community in developing some vacant lots as a safe space for children and for community gardens. Students in grades 3 through 5 at R.R. Wright Elementary School are involved in the research, planning, design, and installation of improvements at five vacant lots. Activities and curriculum topics include soils, water cycle, food production, ecological concepts, habitat gardens, pollution and waste management, and community service. The final product is a template to be used by other communities. This project involves minority students in an underserved, under-resourced community.

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1999 Grants

City of Philadelphia Department of Public Health   $5,000
Richard Tobin, 1101 Market Street, 8th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19107
Environmental Education Project
This project is coordinated by the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program (CLPPP) of the City of Philadelphia Department of Public Health. CLPPP has lengthy experience in identifying, monitoring, reducing, and preventing lead poisoning in Philadelphia. CLPPP provides free public workshops on safe methods of reducing lead hazards at various sites throughout the city, such as home repair supply stores. Workshops held at paint and hardware stores teach both staff and customers how to abate lead hazards in their own homes, in a manner that ensures the safety of the residents. All program materials are designed to be understood easily by the average person.

Downingtown Area School District (DASD)   $4,945
Holly M. Maddams, 122 Wallace Avenue, Downingtown, PA 19335
A Butterfly Exhibit at Springton Manor Farm
The Downingtown Area School District and Springton Manor Farm are developing an interactive butterfly exhibit at the farm in Glenmoore. The exhibit includes a butterfly house and garden that provide residents of Chester County and neighboring areas with an interactive environment in which they can learn about butterflies. They also learn to create their own backyard butterfly gardens. Students at Downingtown High School work collaboratively with park staff to develop and operate the butterfly exhibit and a corresponding World Wide Web site.

Drexel University   $22,828
Frank T. Robinson, 3141 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104
The Urban Environment Project (UEP)
The goal of the Urban Environment Project (UEP) is to give urban students in grades seven and eight from public, private, and parochial schools in Philadelphia a better understanding of their environment as an interconnected system. The project includes learning by hands-on gathering and analysis of data and use of inquiry-based instruction to teach about the environment in a manner consistent with state and federal guidelines for education in the sciences and mathematics. The UEP is developing a diverse set of learning activities and experiments that address issues pertinent to the urban environment, such as air quality, lead in paint present in residences, and urban land use.

Face to Face   $5,000
Eileen Smith, 109 East Price Street, Philadelphia, PA 19144
Camp St. Vincent Pond and Habitat Project
Face to Face is a nonprofit organization that provides outreach services to economically disadvantaged people in the Germantown section of Philadelphia. The project addresses education reform and improvement by incorporating an environmental education curriculum into the existing format of the summer camp program. The goal of the Camp St. Vincent Pond and Habitat Project is to create a pond and butterfly garden and habitat to be used as a teaching tool to educate neighborhood children between the ages of 5 and 12. The project provides a hands-on learning experience for the students that places an emphasis on the basics of biology, chemistry, and physics and introduces the students to the interdisciplinary nature of environmental science. The program is designed to encourage group decision making and make science accessible, interesting, and challenging for children who attend the camp through activities that strengthen inquiry and problem-solving skills.

Friends of Salt Springs Park, Inc.   $5,000
Susan D. Chance, P. O. Box 541, Montrose, PA 18801
Earth Keepers, an Earth Education Program
This program is a three-day curriculum sponsored by Earth Keepers that is offered to students in the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades in six school districts in a rural county. Children are bused to Salt Springs State Park to participate in outdoor learning activities. As many as 150 students are participating in the program during each school year. The priority of the program is educational reform; the goal is to improve the skills of students in critical thinking about environmental issues, with an emphasis on inquiry, problem-solving, participatory decision making, and leadership.

Girls' Club of Allentown, Inc.   $5,000
Deborah Fries, 1302 Turner Street, Allentown, PA 18102
We CARE (Children Acting Responsibly Toward the Environment) Program
The goal of the five-year We CARE (Children Acting Responsibly Toward the Environment) program is to provide participants from the Girls' Club of Allentown -- low-income girls, age 5 through 18 -- with an environmental program designed to increase their awareness of individual responsibility and to promote their involvement in environmental activities. The second year of the We CARE program emphasizes pollution prevention. Under that effort, 40 girls, ages 11 through 18, participate in an Environmental Explorers Club; the members of the club take part in classroom activities and hands-on field trips coordinated with partners of the organization and work with younger girls. The grant funds age-appropriate environmental education classes and pollution prevention activities for 125 girls.

Group Against Smog and Pollution, Inc.   $4,850
Suzanne Seppi, P. O. Box 5165, Pittsburgh, PA 15206
Education and Community Air Monitoring and Air Quality Program
This program is primarily an air quality education project based on the use of a sophisticated educational air monitoring and software program brought into the schools on a rotating basis for use in air investigations. The monitor, software components, and resource books, along with training for teachers and students, are made available to each school. The program works primarily with 15 middle and high schools in the Allegheny County region. The monitor and software used in the program also are used in the community for demonstrations and in addressing local problems related to air quality.

Pennsylvania Center for Environmental Education   $5,000
Dr. Paulette Johnson, Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock, PA 16053
Essentials of Environmental Education for Pennsylvania
The eight-hour Essentials of Environmental Education for Pennsylvania workshop is accompanied by a printed manual and a companion primer. Both publications are collections of basic information about environmental issues, with an emphasis on topics specific to Pennsylvania. Pilot workshops are offered in both the western and the eastern regions of the state. After the pilot efforts have been completed, the workshops will be made available throughout the state. The target audience for the workshops is classroom teachers in kindergarten through 12th-grade programs and informal educators who have little prior background or training in environmental education. Informal educators include staff of such agencies as wildlife conservation offices, nature centers, parks, zoos, and other organizations that carry on educational missions.

Pocono Environmental Education Center (PEEC)   $2,465
John Padalino, Rural Route 2, Box 1010, Dingmans Ferry, PA 18328
Much Ado About Water
The Pocono Environmental Education Center (PEEC) expands upon an existing environmental education program, the School Water Quality Monitoring Program, by involving parents with their children in an active team-learning experience. Along with students from Pocono Elementary School, parents and guardians come to the PEEC to study water quality and environmental issues with their children. The program involves 35 fifth-grade students, their parents, and two teachers from Pocono Elementary School. The program is intended to strengthen the family unit and empower families by providing them an opportunity to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to protect water quality in their communities.

School District of Philadelphia   $4,280
Joanne Maule-Schmidt, J. S. Jenks Elementary School, Room 408, 21st Street, South of Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19103
Water, Our Link to the Schuylkill, Downhill to the Estuary
This program involves 600 students in kindergarten through eighth grade, parents, and the community of J.S. Jenks Elementary School. It consists of two main parts that link the study of water with its relationship to the Delaware Estuary. One part of the program is the scientific study of the natural environment; the other is the artistic study of the natural environment. The students take field trips to study their historical, geographical, environmental, cultural, and ecological relationship to the water.

The Pennsylvania School for the Deaf   $4,000
Joseph E. Fischgrund, 100 West School House Lane, Philadelphia, PA 19144
Adventures in Learning Program
The Adventures in Learning Program combines the physical resources and staff expertise of the Mont Alto Campus of the Pennsylvania State University and the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf (PSD), exposing minority students, ages 13 through 15, who have severe to profound hearing loss to a university experience. The unique collaborative project brings students from PSD to the Mont Alto Campus for a four-day experience in environmental learning and college living. The program emphasizes success-oriented, experiential learning activities that enhance self-esteem.

The Pennsylvania State University - The Dickinson School of Law   $5,000
Christine Kellett, 110 Technology Center Building, University Park, PA 16802
Training in Environmental Law and Regulations for Vocational Agriculture Teachers
The Agricultural Law Research and Education Center and its partners are organizing and presenting a problem-based learning workshop for teachers of secondary school vocational agriculture, a group that traditional environmental education programs ordinarily do not reach. The project is being delivered in a one- or two-day workshop held at the Dickinson School of Law in Carlisle in June 2000. Secondary school teachers of vocational agriculture from the northeast and middle-Atlantic states are the primary target audience; however, other groups, such as staff of the Cooperative Extension System and teachers of high school science and government programs, also are encouraged to attend the workshop.

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1998 Grants

Allentown School District - Grover Cleveland Elementary School   $4,330
Jane Dotter, 31 South Penn Street, Allentown, PA 18010
Environmental Education at Grover Cleveland Elementary School
Under this project, students in grades 1 through 4 are introduced to several nature study areas in the greater Allentown area to help them become directly involved in learning the basics of ecology and in making informed environmental decisions. The grant also provides the means to train teachers; develop services for staff training; and support environmental in-service training, transportation, and acquisition of equipment for hands-on exercises at the study areas. The grant continues funding received in 1997 to start the program, a business-education partnership with PPL Resources, an electric utility that has its corporate headquarters near the school. Because of its success, the program has expanded into five additional elementary schools in the district.

Berks County Conservancy   $3,500
Phoebe Hopkins, 960 Old Mill Road, Wyomissing, PA 19610
Watershed Awareness on a Local Level
This environmental education project of the Berks County district schools helps all high schools in the Berks County district begin discussion of the techniques of watershed improvement. The initiative promotes community involvement and local awareness, as well as possible solutions to problems that affect watersheds in the area.

Children's Museum of Bloomsburg   $4,763
Diane Wukovitz, P. O. Box 192, Bloomsburg, PA 17815
Natural Bridges - Pathways That Connect Us to Nature
Natural Bridges -- Pathways That Connect Us to Nature is an exhibit that was featured at the 1998 Summer Art and Science Center. Appealing to all ages -- students, parents, educators, and tourists -- the hands-on exhibit sought through numerous activities to stimulate visitors' environmental awareness by encouraging them to experience the interrelatedness of the living and nonliving things around them. Presentation of a variety of environmental situations encouraged visitors to think about the ways in which the decisions of individuals and communities affect the health of the natural environment.

Clear Water Fund   $5,000
Robert Wendelgass, 607 Penn Avenue, Suite 212, Pittsburgh, PA 15222
Children's Health Education Project
Through presentations and workshops, this project educates students, teachers, and parents in the Pittsburgh area about potential threats that environmental pollution in schools poses to the health of children. Participants apply the tools they learn in analyzing the environment of their own schools. Focusing primarily on the use of pesticides in schools, the project teaches parents and teachers how to research and analyze pest control practices in their school districts; develop alternative strategies that reduce the use of pesticides; and, working with school officials, develop a new pest control strategy that reduces reliance on toxic chemicals.

Clearwater Conservancy of Central Pennsylvania   $5,000
Kristen Saacke Blunk, P. O. Box 163, State College, PA 16804
Students - Community - Streams - Connection
This program helps foster students' awareness and understanding of streams in their area that are headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay. Primary elementary students collect water plants for art projects and discussions, write poems, and construct water-flow charts. Intermediate elementary students study the temperature, depth, pH, and turbidity of stream water and speed and distance of water flow. Middle school and junior high school students become involved in scientific investigations and work with community groups. Participants of senior high school age monitor the biological, physical, and chemical parameters of the stream, establish a World Wide Web site, and serve as mentors to younger students in the program.

Marion Center Schools - Outside Environmental Land Laboratory   $12,727
A. Jeff Martz, P. O. Box 156, Marion Center, PA 15759-0156
Four Trails: Wetlands, Soil, Water, Ecosystems
This program increases the environmental awareness of students and teachers in the Marion Center Area School District, a rural school district located in Indiana County. The program will includes a handicapped-accessible environmental education center, an outdoor trail, interactive student work stations, and guest speakers. It targets the 1,997 students in the district, plus Boys Scouts and Girl Scouts, members of the Audubon Society and the organization Friends of Parks, and families. Because the economy of the area is based on agriculture, coal mining, and production of natural gas, abandoned strip mines, contaminated streams, degraded drinking water, and other environmental problems beset residents. The Marion Center Area Environmental Education Center seeks to address the environmental issues that affect the area, the region, and the world through education and community-based programs.

Northern Bedford County School District   $3,740
Jerry W. Young, HC 1, Box 200, Loysburg, PA 16659
Water Connections
This project augments a revised sixth grade science curriculum called Water Connections. Approximately 90 sixth-grade students study concepts related to water quality in local wetlands. Students identify local water quality problems, including such issues as the controversy in the county over hog farms and their effects on water quality. The students follow Bedford County waterways to the Chesapeake Bay to learn how local problems affect the bay. They also travel to Baltimore to learn about water quality problems in the bay and conduct the same water quality tests on bay waters. The grant funds support testing and travel costs, as well as the costs of publication and distribution of a public awareness pamphlet.

Stroud Water Research Center   $5,000
Kristen Travers, 970 Spencer Road, Avondale, PA 19311
Red Clay Creek Monitoring Project
The Stroud Water Research Center, a nonprofit environmental research center, conducts a water monitoring project at Red Clay Creek for students in biology classes at Kenneth High School. The students study specific local water quality issues, while gaining practical skills that will enable them to become effective decision makers in their communities. The funds support training for both teachers and students, as well as the purchase of equipment.

The Vanguard School   $1,320
Carolyn Brunschwyler, P. O. Box 730, 1777 N. Valley Road, Paoli, PA 19301
Design, Plant, and Monitor a Campus Butterfly Garden
The Vanguard School's science department and Junior Achievement Club, in cooperation with Valley Forge National Park and the NOVA Society of the Lockheed Martin Corporation, design, plant, and monitor a campus butterfly garden. Students in the lower and middle schools construct the garden. The butterfly garden is both a creation that students, faculty, and guests will enjoy and a restoration area of butterfly and insect habitat that has been lost to development. The Vanguard School shares its campus with 110 students of the Crossroads School, who also have the opportunity to experience the garden as a learning laboratory. The science curricula at both schools include units related to the garden.

West Chester University   $4,885
Charles V. Shorten, West Chester University, West Chester, PA 19383
Development of a Local Emergency Planning Committee Web Site
The purpose of this grant is to establish an electronic presence for the Chester County local emergency planning committee (LEPC) on the Internet that serves as a focal point for educating the public about incidents in which hazardous materials are involved and about measures that can be taken to prevent such incidents. Under the project, a Chester County LEPC World Wide Web site fulfills that purpose. The availability of the Web site is publicized to the general public, the regulated community, and organizations active in Chester County.

Wildlife Information Center   $2,400
Dan R. Kunkle, P. O. Box 198, Slatington, PA 18080-0198
Young Ecologists Summer Camp
Working with the Trexler Trust, the William Penn Foundation, and the Boys and Girls Club of Allentown, the Wildlife Information Center sponsors the Young Ecologists Summer Camp. Funding covers camp costs, equipment, and the salaries of instructors. At the camp, 16 children in grades 7 through 9 will study environmental issues relevant to the Kittatinny raptor corridor. The program focuses on water quality, land use, and conservation of wetlands and wildlife. Issues related to environmental justice and career development also are covered.

Wyncotte Audubon Society   $5,000
Janet Starwood, 1212 Edge Hill Road, Abington, PA 19001
Birds for a Purpose
This project supports the educational goals recommended by the national science guidelines and targets underserved urban areas. The program offers practical approaches to natural science education for fourth, fifth, and sixth grades by combining classroom work and environmental field research with hands-on environmental analysis and restoration projects in the neighborhoods in which the students live. Because birds are indicators of the health of ecosystems, the curriculum focuses on birds and bird habitat to teach students about ecology, natural processes, and the essential role of healthy ecosystems in sustaining life on earth. Similar pilot programs have been successful in schools in New York, New York.

York County YMCA   $4,651
Nancy Eberly, 90 N. Newberry Street, York, PA 17401
Camp Spirit
The program teaches approximately 3,000 children, ages 5 through 18, and 40 teachers the Spirit IDEA - Informed Decisions for Environmental Action. The program is intended to increase participants' understanding of the environment in all areas, including outdoor survival skills; to stimulate critical and creative thinking; to develop the ability to make informed decisions; and to instill the confidence and commitment that enable participants to take responsible actions.

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1997 Grants

Academy of Natural Sciences   $24,914
Kathleen Fadigan, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19103
The George Washington Carver Water Quality Research Program
The George Washington Carver Water Quality Research Program sponsors a new summer program called the George Washington Carver Summer Scholars Program. The principal goal of the program is to encourage students to pursue environmental careers by increasing their awareness of water quality issues and strengthening their ability to perform hands-on scientific research. Students also are encouraged to participate in the George Washington Science Fair and to present their project findings to the community. Partners with the Academy of Natural Sciences in the project are the School District of Philadelphia and Temple University.

Darby Creek   $4,873
Carol Killmaier, P. O. Box 583, Lansdowne, PA 19050
Steam Watch Program - Community Environmental Education
The Darby Creek Valley Association (DCVA) maintains a volunteer project under which members of the community monitor the Darby Creek watershed. The project has a strong environmental education component that reaches out to local schools and residents in the vicinity of the creek. The DCVA uses existing monitoring protocols that were developed specifically for volunteers and for environmental education. The community monitors use the knowledge they have gathered to discuss environmental regulations, land use planning, and habitat improvement projects during meetings with representatives of both state agencies and municipalities. The project educates the community about the importance of riparian corridors, vegetation of riparian areas, and storm-water control in protecting stream ecology, human health, and property.

Girls Club of Allentown   $5,000
Deborah Fries, 1302 Turner Street, Allentown, PA 18102
We Care Program
This project provides to low-income, inner-city girls, ages 5 through 18 years, a program designed to educate them in environmental issues, increase their awareness of individual responsibility for protection of the environment, and promote their involvement in environmental activities. The We Care Program, Children Acting Responsibly Toward the Environment, informs the young participants about environmental issues related to their homes, communities, and world and shows them how they personally can bring about positive change as members of a community. They also explore at least 10 environmental careers, both traditional and nontraditional. To support the project, the Girls Club of Allentown works in partnership with the Lehigh Environmental Education Consortium, a group of eight local public and private institutions, and participates in Adopt an Acre, a program of The Nature Conservancy.

Grass Roots Alliance for Solar Pa   $4,955
Laurie Cameron, 3500 Lancaster Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19104
Energy-Efficient and Environmentally Sensitive Building Design
This project expands and implements an existing workshop that provides developers of low- to moderate-income community-based housing with information about new choices in design and construction. The workshop addresses two key environmental inequities that low-income populations face: high utility costs and poor indoor air quality. The curriculum, founded on the principles of building science, includes information about green products and renewable energy technologies. Workshops are held in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and Washington, D.C.

Keystone College   $8,550
Todd Sorber, P. O. Box 50, La Plume, PA 18440
Project WET and More
Keystone College conducts four-day summer workshops for teachers of kindergarten through grade 12. The training provides participants with support for incorporating water education into their school curricula. Training includes 15 hours of environmental education and engages the teachers in an intensive study of the local watershed. Teachers also visit environmental centers and learn how to gain access to information available on the Internet. Partners with the college in the nontraditional teacher training effort include the Wyoming County Conservation District and Northeastern Educational Intermediate Unit #19.

Pennsbury School District   $4,225
Cindy DeMaria, 134 Yardley Avenue, P. O. Box 338, Fallsington, PA 19058
Environmental Science: Issues and Answers
This project provides an environmental education program for both teachers and students. The program encourages students to take an active role in developing an understanding of local natural systems and the issues associated with those systems. Students concentrate on vegetation, birds, and soil in the fall; in spring, they investigate topography, mammals, and reptiles. Using the data they collect, they then develop maps and a field guide. The Pennsbury School District and Silver Lake Nature Center are partners in the project.

Philadelphia Water Department   $20,540
Ed Grusheski, 1101 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107
Urban Watershed Exhibit Master Plan
This project supports the planning and design of the Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center's (IC) primary environmental exhibits - together called The Urban Watershed. The IC is the primary environmental education forum of the Philadelphia Water Department. The IC exhibit draws approximately 80,000 visitors a year.

School District of Philadelphia   $4,998
Leonard White or Jacqueline Dubin, Jay Cooke Middle School, 21st Street South of Parkway, Room 408, Philadelphia, PA 19103
Science, Math, and Technology Institute Project
This project teaches students about the components of an ecosystem, introducing them to such environmental issues as water pollution and waste disposal. The students participate in field studies and enjoy opportunities to meet and work with people in the environmental fields. They learn about the latest technology and are encouraged to develop critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, while helping to solve a simulated environmental crisis.

School District of Philadelphia   $4,999
Tim Beaver, A. L. Fitzpatrick Elementary School, 21st Street South of Parkway, Room 408, Philadelphia, PA 19103
Science, Math, and Technology Institute Project
Under the Science, Math, and Technology Institute Project, students learn to plan, build, study, and maintain a habitat. They turn waste into useful soil and garden debris, which is used in a habitat that attracts and sustains butterfly populations and is designed to be self-sustainable for future years. Students learn that they can help to improve the city environment through their own efforts.

The Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education   $7,121
Gayle Whittle, 8480 Hagy's Mill Road, Philadelphia, PA 19128
Environmental Education in an Alternative School Curriculum
This project introduces environmental education into the Montgomery County Youth Center Shelter Alternative School for at-risk students, ages 12 through 17. The project trains both teachers and students in aquatic ecology, examining the effects of pollution in aquatic ecosystems and teaching chemical and field biological techniques for testing water quality. The students participate in field studies to determine whether water pollution is present in the body of water under study, identify regulations that protect it, characterize the risks any existing pollution poses to human health, and assess the need for water treatment.

Wilkes-Barre Riverfront Parks Committee   $5,000
Coreen Weilminster, 16 East Northampton Street, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18701
Disadvantaged Youth Environmental Education: Training Regarding Negative Health Effects of Pollution
This two-week day-camp project focuses on the health threats posed by pollution and develops critical-thinking skills by giving the participants the opportunity to attempt to resolve specific environmental health problems. Experts in different environmental fields guide the campers in exploring such subjects as ecology, ecosystems, and the nutrient and water cycles. The participants also learn to identify the needs of living things, examine the importance of diversity, and develop basic understanding of plant and animal identification.

Woodland Hills School District   $8,583
Josephine Smerdel, 2430 Greensburg Pike, Pittsburgh, PA 15221
Environmental Water Study
This project engages high school students in actively studying the quality of water in streams that run through the school district. Under the project, 50 high school students teach approximately 500 fifth graders about the relationship between the streams and the three rivers that come together in Pittsburgh. The high school students also maintain a World Wide Web site, which they use to communicate with other students who are studying environmental issues, and work with local municipalities to teach the public about water pollution.

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1996 Grants

Allentown School District   $4,325
Jane Dotter, 31 South Penn Street, Allentown, PA 18101
Training Elementary Teachers in Outdoor Environmental Workshops
A minority school in downtown Allentown will integrate environmental education into the school curriculum for math, science, and English by training first through fourth grade teachers in outdoor environmental workshop settings.

Fairmont Park Historic Preservation Trust   $5,000
Amy Freitag, 1616 Walnut Street, Suite 2310, Philadelphia, PA 19103
Community-based Environmental Education Program to Restore Significant Portions of Fairmont Park Landscape
The project will reach out to an ethnically and economically mixed community of 15,000 residents in the Sedgeley Park Area of Philadelphia. The goal of the program is to increase community care, use, and appreciation of the park as a community-based ecosystem and sustain regeneration of diverse native plant and animal species.

Pittsburgh Voyager   $5,000
Beth O'Toole, 2000 Mary Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15203
A River Based Learning Center
This project will create a unique environmental science classroom program aboard a boat turned science laboratory. The project includes a field study to increase knowledge of freshwater ecology and river ecosystems, enhance analytical and problem solving skills, and create environmental consciousness and responsibility.

Pocono Mountains Chamber of Commerce   $4,800
James H. Catanach, 556 Main Street, Stroudsburg, PA 18360
Waste Reduction/Recycling Program for Small Businesses
This innovative recycling and waste reduction program will provide the necessary audit manuals and educate small business personnel on how to conduct waste reduction audits.

School District of Philadelphia   $2,050
Lauren Giddings, 21st St. South of the Parkway, Room 204, Philadelphia, PA 19103
Cleveland School Ecology Thematic Plan
This project will enable North Philadelphia's Grover Cleveland High School's 150 students to have the resources, materials, literature, and site visits to put into action their Ecology Thematic Plan in the 1996 to 1997 school year.

The Academy of Natural Sciences   $22,625
Kathleen Fadigan, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19103
The George Washington Carver Summer Scholars Program
Top participants at Philadelphia's George Washington Carver Science Fair will be recruited to participate in a summer scholars program. The Carver Fair is the nation's largest and most comprehensive urban science fair. Summer scholars will meet with Academy researchers, conduct research, and learn about environmental issues and careers.

Wildlands Conservancy   $4,996
Rhonda Dietz, 3701 Orchid Place, Emmaus, PA 18049
Little Lehigh Watershed Curriculum Improvement Project
The Wildlands Conservancy teacher training project will expand knowledge and use of the Conservancy's well-known and highly regarded Little Lehigh Watershed curriculum.

Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association   $2,364
Judith Gratz, 12 Morris Road, Ambler, PA 19002
Monitoring Water Quality of the Wissahickon Creek
Teachers and high school students in the Environmental Club in North Penn High School will investigate the Wissahickon Creek and conduct monthly water monitoring and study.

Zoological Society of Philadelphia   $4,994
Ronald Fricke, Jr., 3400 West Girard Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19104-1196
Junior Zoo Apprentice Program
Teaming up with the YMCA of Philadelphia and vicinity Black Achievers Program, the Philadelphia Zoo is beginning a Junior Zoo Apprentice Program. Urban youth will gain job skills and self-esteem, and they will begin to understand more about conservation, biology, and environmental careers.

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1995 Grants

Air & Waste Management Association   $58,132
Joel Anne Sweithelm, One Gateway Center, Third Floor, Pittsburgh, PA 15222
Air & Waste Management Association
The purpose of this project is to develop an air quality environmental resource guide for grades 9 through 12. The supplementary curriculum will address a broad range of air quality issues, including ozone, global climate change, acid rain, criteria pollutants, alternative fuels, and pollution prevention approaches. The materials will be written and field tested by teachers using interdisciplinary and problem-solving approaches to learning. The materials will be included in the Association's existing teacher training program which has conducted more than 70 workshops and reached 1,500 teachers in its first three years. The Association expects to reach 500 teachers who will, in turn, reach 15,000 students during the first year after the materials are developed.

California University of Pennsylvania   $5,000
Robert Vargo, 250 University Avenue, California, PA 15419-1394
Instilling Local Environmental Awareness Through an Environmental Walking Tour: A Community-University Partnership
Organizers of this project will develop and implement a new 1.5 mile Environmental Walking Tour and booklet that will increase the general public's awareness of local environmental issues such as river flooding, mine subsidence, slope instability, and water quality problems.

Cambria County Conservation District   $2,686
Joseph Emerick, P. O. Box 187, Ebensburg, PA 15931
Environmental Education Slide Presentation Promoting Wildlife Preservation and Natural Resources Conservation
This project will result in educating the school students, teachers, and adults in Cambria County about the community's natural resources, specifically focusing on the protection of the local wildlife and the preservation of their habitats. The workshops will encourage critical thinking and decision making. The audience is comprised of more than 9,000 participants yearly.

Chestnut Hill College   $5,000
Helen Burke SSJ Ph.D, 9601 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19118
Chemistry Faculty Workshops in the Use of Microscale Techniques
Specific objectives of this project include increasing the use of microscale techniques in the general and organic courses in area colleges by providing faculty training and reducing the volume of chemical laboratory waste generated in the area by employing safer solvents and synthetic procedures. Four, two-day workshops will be offered for faculty training.

City of Pittsburgh   $4,980
Kathleen Cowles, 400 City-County Building, Pittsburgh, PA 15219
"Let's Dream a City!": Teaching Children to Critically Explore Urban Environmental Issues
"Let's Dream a City!" will be offered to children in grades 1 through 6 at 10 schools throughout the city of Pittsburgh, primarily those located in under-served, low-to-moderate income neighborhoods. The purpose of this program is to motivate children to think more clearly about environmental issues that affect them now and to teach them the skills to make better informed decisions as adults.

Eastern Lancaster School District   $1,603
Marlene Haas, 117-119 Custer Avenue, New Holland, PA 17557
Identify Habitat Study Sites to Provide Field Lab Experiences in Life Sciences Class at Garden Spot Middle School
For the Eastern Lancaster School District, this project will identify habitat sites for field study, create a new field lab experience for 7th grade students in life science classes, and connect the classroom study with a field lab experience. Organizers seek to educate a wider audience and address the environmental education standards set by local, state, and national curriculum initiatives.

Elwyn, Inc.   $22,638
111 Elwyn Road, Elwyn, PA 19063
Training and Demonstration of the Curriculum for Environmental Education of the Disabled (C.E.E.D.)
The purpose of this project is to develop training modules for Davidson School teachers and graduate and undergraduate student teachers from West Chester and Temple Universities. The curriculum fosters environmental awareness and actions by students with developmental disabilities. National distribution of the curriculum is planned.

Girl Scouts of Delaware County   $5,000
594 S. New Middletown Road, Media, PA 19063
Environmental Education In the Classroom: The City of Chester
This project is a hands-on teacher training program designed to assist local under-served schools in meeting the criteria of the Pennsylvania School Code. "Environmental Education in the Classroom" is designed to help teachers in the county's under-served schools become more confident in their ability to teach environmental education in the City of Chester. The program hopes to develop an environmental "ethic" for at least 500 4th and 5th grade students by teaching fundamental concepts in outdoor education and training at least 25 teachers using existing, age-appropriate curricula.

Lower Merion-Narberth Watershed Association   $5,000
Michael G. Weilbacher, 206 Price Avenue, Narberth, PA 19072
Streamwatch: Citizen Restoration of the Mill Creek Watershed
This project will train adult residents in the basic techniques of chemical and biological monitoring, and use those residents to systematically collect data on the chemical and biological conditions of Mill Creek, the largest creek in Lower Merion/Radnor, Pennsylvania.

Pocono Environmental Education Center   $4,902
Christina Russo, RD 2, Box 1010, Dingman's Ferry, PA 18328
Environmental Education Teacher Workshops: Water Resources and Air Pollution
This project will target an audience of 90 inner-city middle and high school teachers from the tri-state region, which includes New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, for three professional development workshops. The workshops, designed to improve the environmental education skills of educators through hands-on activities, lecturers, and discussions, will focus on water and air pollution.

Riverbend Environmental Education Center   $4,970
Cynthia V. Roberts, P. O. Box 2, 1950 Spring Mill Road, Gladwyne, PA 19035-0002
"A Watershed Year" Environmental Education Teacher Workshop
This project is a series of hands-on teacher workshops designed to improve educators' environmental education teaching skills by creating a model that teachers will use to design a comprehensive watershed study near schools. The target audience is middle and senior high school teachers in southeast Pennsylvania. Through five workshops, the project will include 100 teachers, with a total audience of 2,500 students per year.

School District of Philadelphia (Strawberry Mansion)   $5,000
Ethel K. Goldberg, 21st Street South of the Parkway, Room 204, Philadelphia, PA 19103
North Philadelphia Urban Arboretum
This project will enhance the teacher's environmental education teaching skills with a living laboratory so that students can learn practical ways to abate pollution and enhance their ecosystem. Approximately 2,200 students will benefit from this project.

School District of Philadelphia-John Bartram High School   $3,183
Ethel K. Goldberg, 21st Street South of the Parkway, Room 204, Philadelphia, PA 19103
Lead Paint Kit Project
For this project, teachers will learn about lead pigments, how they are used in paints, how to perform chemical tests for the identification of lead in paints, how widespread lead poisoning is, and what health effects lead may have on the general population.

Temple University   $4,600
John Sorrentino, 821 Ritter Hall Annex, Temple University 004-00, Philadelphia, PA 19122
What Price Mother Nature? A Conference on Energy, Ecology and Economy (3-Es)
This project revolves around a two-day conference on energy, ecology, and economy (3-E) for 30 junior and senior high school teachers at Temple University's Ambler Campus. Using a hands-on approach, the overall purpose of the project is to establish a network of teachers who have been exposed to 3-E.

The Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education   $25,000
Andrew S. Brundage, 98480 Hagy's Mill Road, Philadelphia, PA 19128-1998
Regional Environment Education Program (REEP)
This project focuses on the improvement of the environmental teaching skills of 45 secondary teachers from urban, suburban, and rural schools in the greater Philadelphia and New Jersey area by providing teachers with Regional Environment Education Program (REEP) curriculum materials, training them in their use during an intensive, week-long workshop, and gleaning their reactions by means of a curriculum evaluation and a workshop designed to obtain feedback.

Widener University   $5,000
Charles Beehler, Hyatt Hall, 1 University Place, Chester, PA 19013-5792
Experimenting to Teach Scientific Thinking and the Human Ecology of Watersheds
For this project, Delaware County teachers will learn water quality monitoring techniques, collect data with their students in the three major streams in the county, and conduct a student-directed symposium on water quality. This project potentially could reach 1,200 secondary school students per year.

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1994 Grants

Heritage Conservancy   $10,000
Carol Quay, 85 Old Dublin Pike, Doylestown, PA 18901
Heritage Conservancy Education Program
The Heritage Conservancy's two-year educational program will lead to informed landowner decisions regarding native plants, heighten awareness in the community at large, encourage permanent native plant protection strategies, and create a better understanding of the value of native plants among school children.

Keystone Tall Tree Girl Scout Council   $5,000
Carol Sheetz, Rd. #7 Box 368, Kittanning, PA 16201
Keystone Tall Tree Girl Scout Council
The Keystone Tall Tree Girl Scout Council will feature water monitoring workshops to include hands-on awareness activities for scouts and teaching methods for adults leaders. The Council will work with the Pennsylvania Bureau of State Parks and a nonprofit organization, Alliance for Acid Rain Monitoring. The natural resource objective of this project is water conservation.

Laurel Mountain Environmental Education and Research Institute   $5,000
Lawrence Bonino, 244 Pine Court, Pittsburgh, PA 15237
Guidebooks on Environmental Issues
For this project, the Laurel Mountain Institute will develop guidebooks on environmental issues. These guidebooks will be used to conduct teacher training workshops in western Pennsylvania and at the Pennsylvania Alliance for Environmental Education Annual Conference.

North Museum of Natural History and Science   $5,000
Robert Gingerich, P. O. Box 3003, Lancaster, PA 17604
Museum Exhibit on Environmental Issues
Using funding from this grant, the North Museum of Natural History and Science will design an interactive exhibit on complex aspects of environmental issues. This exhibit, developed in English and Spanish, will complement the museum's activities to reach out to the Latino community in Lancaster City, Pennsylvania.

Penns Valley School District   $4,369
Stephen Boston, R.D. 2 Box 116, Spring Mills, PA 16875
Environmental Curriculum Training
For this project, the Penns Valley Area School District will hold educator workshops that will train teachers from kindergarten through high school. With this training, educators will be able to use the newly-designed curriculum material and their environmental center.

School District of Philadelphia   $2,500
Ethel Goldberg, 21st St. & the Pkwy, Philadelphia, PA 19103
Habitat Preservation
Under this grant, the School District of Philadelphia's Fels High School is planning a hands-on project for African American, White, Asian, Indian, and Hispanic inner-city school students. With the help of local experts, Fels students will begin to understand more about habitat preservation as they create a butterfly habitat in their school yard.

South Western School District   $5,000
Philip Hempfing, 225 Bowman Rd., Hanover, PA 19173
Teacher Environmental Awareness Workshop
For this project, the South Western School District will hold a teacher workshop that will result in greater environmental awareness for both students and teachers in York and surrounding counties.

Wyoming County Conservation District   $5,000
Denise Coleman, RR#3 Box 178-B, Tunkhannock, PA 18657
Water Quality Workshops
Funds from this grant will go to the Wyoming County Conservation District to conduct a series of water quality workshops designed to train teachers from all grade levels. The developers of the project hope to reach teachers from five school districts.

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1993 Grants

Cobbs Creek Community Environmental Education Center   $4,958
Valerie L. Minor, 835 S. 59th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19143
The Environmental Scholars Program
The summer session of "The Environmental Scholars Program" is a community-based project that will introduce minority students to career opportunities through a stream study and its surrounding community. The project also will allow the opportunity for older students of a High School Academy Program to mentor younger students.

Easton Area School District   $5,000
Bernard T. Matus, Easton Area High School, 811 Northampton Street, Easton, PA 18042
Groundwater Database
This project allows for the coordination of a public-private partnership that will result in the development of a database for high school students to use on groundwater issues in the Lehigh Valley.

Glinodo Conference Center   $10,000
Patricia Lupo, OSB, 6270 E. Lake Road, Erie, PA 16511
Lake Erie - Great Lakes
The Lake Erie - Great Lakes project will train teachers to educate students in kindergarten through 12th grade about the Great Lakes and their key environmental issues. Erie County residents will be educated through a cooperative effort for Earth Day '94.

Group For Recycling in Pennsylvania   $5,000
Julie Murphy, P. O. Box 4806, Pittsburgh, PA 15206
Senior Citizen Environmental Education Program
This project involves the development of a one-hour environmental education program designed to teach senior citizens methods of identifying and disposing of household products that become hazardous waste in the home. The program will be incorporated into regularly scheduled training for local senior centers and their staff.

Litter Control & Beautification Program of Monroe County   $4,900
Patricia K. Eveland, Monroe County Courthouse, Stroudsburg, PA 18360
Pollution Prevention
This grantee will team with East Stroudsburg University to train teachers to educate pre-school through 6th grade children about pollution and its impact on the environment. Pollution prevention will be a highlight of the program.

Sierra Club - Allegheny Group   $5,000
Donald L. Gibbon, 205 Elysan, Pittsburgh, PA 15229
Greenprint for Allegheny County
This project seeks to create a grassroots base of influential citizens in the Pittsburgh area through a high-level program of public education in conservation and biodiversity. This group will help implement the "Greenprint for Allegheny County," which includes the development of a regional biodiversity center.

The Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education   $24,900
Nancy E. Christie, 8480 Hagy's Mill Road, Philadelphia, PA 19128-1998
Regional Environmental Education Program (REEP)
Seventy-three teachers of kindergarten through 12th grade will participate in the third-year of the "Regional Environmental Education Program" (REEP) curriculum and evaluation study, which will culminate in national publication.

Widener University, School of Management   $4,996
Mary L. Williams, University Place, Chester, PA 19013
Environmental Management Curriculum
This grant funds the development of an environmental management curriculum designed for faculty to offer new courses to graduates and undergraduates, focusing on economics and environment.

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1992 Grants

Cumberland Valley Education Association   $4,975
Mechanicsburg/Cumberland, PA 17055
Spotlight on the Environment
This grant funds a project for fifth grade students to produce environmental videos that put a "spotlight on the environment".

Montgomery County Intermediate Unit   $5,000
Erdenheim, PA 19118
Electronic Environmental Database
This grant funds a project to develop and train students to use an electronic environmental database on Montgomery County schools.

Morraine Preservation Fund   $5,000
Zelienople and Butler Counties, PA 16001
Environmental Education Curricula
This project involves developing environmental education curricula for students of public schools and Slippery Rock University and providing for educators throughout western Pennsylvania electronic links to environmental education databases.

Penn State Cooperative Extension   $1,300
Towanda, PA 18848
Water Quality Monitoring
This project aims to generate interest in and motivate 4-H members, students, and pond and lake owners to protect ground water and surface water through effective monitoring of water quality.

Penn State Harrisburg   $16,269
Harrisburg, PA 17057
Preventing Pollution During Road Construction
This project involves developing for the Pennsylvania Local Roads Program an environmental curriculum, handbook, and training course for use in educating municipalities on how to prevent pollution during the construction of roads.

Pennsylvania Department of Education   $5,000
Harrisburg, PA 17126
Learn About Environmental Education Projects
This grant funds a project to familiarize Pennsylvania educators with 15 regional and national environmental education projects.

Southern Alleghenies Planning and Development Commission   $4,300
Altoona, PA 16602
Water Resources Curriculum
This project involves developing and distributing to school districts in the drought-stricken Southern Alleghenies region curriculum packages on water resource management and conservation.

The Philadelphia School   $5,000
Philadelphia, PA 19102
Urban Forestry Curriculum
This grant funds a project for students in kindergarten through 8th grade to develop and test an urban forestry curriculum.

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