Profiles of Environmental Education Grants Awarded to Organizations in Texas
- Indicates a Headquarters grant
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2014 Grants
EcoRise Youth Innovations $190,000
Gina LaMotte,4900 Gonzales St, #129, Austin, TX 78702
Sustainable Intelligence Pilot
http://ecorise.org/Exit
The Sustainable Intelligence Pilot program inspires a new generation of leaders to design a sustainable future by providing classrooms with a K-12 Sustainability Platform, a suite of original online standards-aligned K-12 curricula (some with English to Spanish translation and cultural adaptation), teacher collaboration tools and professional development resources that serve as a central hub for environmental education (EE) providers around the world to market and distribute their products, programs and initiatives. The pilot project connects teachers in 45 schools across 4 cities in the U.S. (Boston, Washington DC, and Austin, Texas) and Mexico and cultivates critical thinking, problem solving and decision-making skills among 11,500 students and 145 teachers.
Northside Independent School District $91,000.00
Nancy Kreth, 5900 Evers Road, San Antonio, TX 78238
http://nisd.net/academics/elementary-scienceExit
ACORN (Alamo-Area Children Organizing to Replant Natives)
Project ACORN improves environmental literacy for participating PreK-8th grade students through hands-on, inquiry-based science activities and increases community involvement in environmental service activities by addressing plant biodiversity in the San Antonio River watershed. Through ACORN, 16 teachers complete training with topics including GLOBE protocols, data-collection technology, and native plants species. Additionally, students complete 216 GLOBE database uploads, 300 students visit natural areas in the San Antonio watershed for environmental education activities; and 720 parent and community volunteers engage in 48 community planting events including native trees, vines, shrubs, annuals, and ground cover. Project ACORN not only addresses awareness and knowledge of the environment but brings students to analyze environmental data (Critical Thinking/Problem Solving), decide which native plants to cultivate (Decision Making), and implement community planting events (Action), resulting in students developing a lifelong commitment to environmental stewardship.
2013 Grants
Today Foundation $125,000
Gary Endsley, 8150 N. Central Expressway, Suite 1900, Dallas, TX 75206
Paddlefish Reintroduction Education Initiative
The Paddlefish Reintroduction project networks scientists with teachers and students to address local environmental issues. The project serves as a model for creating behavioral change that benefits the environment by providing Kindergarten through postsecondary students, their teachers, volunteers, and youth and adult event attendees with content knowledge, scientific process skills, and real-world practice to make informed environmental decisions. Pre-Kindergarten through postsecondary students in ten school districts track the progress of the reintroduction of the American Paddlefish while performing community projects to improve the habitat for other aquatic species and terrestrial plants and animals. Students also monitor surface water quality and determine the effectiveness of the aquatic and land-based habitat restoration. The Paddlefish project provides a template for community projects that emanate from prior, existing, and new scientific investigations of environmental issues.
2011 Grants
Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network $43,407
Emily Ford, 4700 Avenue U., Bldg 306, Galveston, TX 77551
The Dolphin Exploration and Vessel Adventure Program
The goal of the Dolphin Exploration and Vessel Adventure Program, implemented by the Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network, is to provide students with meaningful, marine mammal related environmental education experiences that promote marine environmental protection. The project is needed to increase marine mammal and marine environmental protection efforts in response to growing human traffic in the Gulf of Mexico and to encourage increased high school and college graduation rates. Goals of the project include increased awareness of marine mammals and issues in the local marine environment, education of current marine mammal and marine environmental protection initiatives and elevated interest in environmental career and protection interest and action. Target audience is 1,000 middle and high school freshmen that are in low income and minority areas in the Greater Houston area schools and their science teachers. The students will participate in classroom studies and environmental testing of gulf waters to determine their impact on Marine Mammals. The students will also conduct scientific beach studies to determine the impact of human interaction on Marine Mammals. Partners include Baywatch Dolphin Tours and the Texas A&M at Galveston, School of Marine Biology. Environmental Education priorities addressed are Career Development and Community Stewardship. The Administrator’s Environmental Priorities addressed are Protecting Americas Waters and Expanding the Conversation on Environmentalism and Working for Environmental Justice.
2010 Grants
Council for Environmental Education $120,995
Josetta Hawthorn, 5555 Morningside Drive, #212, Houston, TX 77089
Building Capacity for Early Childhood Environmental Education
This project provides training for pre-school educators in the use of the Project WILD's Growing Up WILD (GUW) Guide. Developed with the vision of changing the culture of early childhood education to embrace learning in the outdoors, GUW is the first nationally distributed early childhood professional development program and activity guide that integrates environmental education into the early childhood curriculum. One of the key principles of the program is that educators work in collaboration with parents and other caregivers to provide children with more time learning in the outdoors. The project works closely with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service's Head Start program and the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA) to train pre-school educators in the use of the GUW Guide. Train-the-trainer workshops are offered to Head Start and NACCRRA professionals to encourage internal training within these organizations. Through this training, these individuals become certified GUW facilitators and are responsible for returning to their communities to provide training to non-traditional participants, who have the ability to reach large, under-served population of children and adult leaders in child care settings.
Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary $34,379
Schelly Corry, One Nature Place, McKinney, TX 75069
Heard Wetland Aquatic EE Program
The Heard Wetland Aquatic EE Program provides age- and grade-appropriate water quality and environmental education programming to teachers, scouts, and students through field trips to study local bodies of water and teacher workshops at Heard's existing 60-acre wetland. This project brings awareness to participants of how humans can negatively and positively affect water sources and the environment through everyday choices. It shows a direct link between the cause and effect of humans on water supply and aquatic environments. Students and teachers participate in hands-on, real-life water quality and biodiversity studies of local bodies of water with their own communities. During this investigation experience, students are shown how to safely and appropriately use water testing equipment and to properly document data to make connections between the data and the ecosystem. These data help provide information necessary to provide proper stewardship and community awareness of local water conditions. Additionally, students learn about aquatic bird species, fish, aquatic insects, aquatic plants, and animal migration found in the local bodies of water. As a result of this project, teachers reach students more effectively and return to teach with environmental curriculums. Students also see how they can effect social change for the benefit of humans and wildlife that depend on aquatic environments. Heard's partners include the Hillcrest Foundation and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
National Wildlife Federation- South Regional Office $40,721
Allen Cooper, 44 East Avenue, Suite 200, Austin, TX 78701
Environmental Education Capacity Building in Texas
The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) addresses several environmental education initiatives, including development of an environmental literacy plan for Texas, expansion of the use of outdoor classrooms (schoolyard habitats and gardens) in schools, increased use of Texas Parks and Wildlife resources by schools, and development of a green schools program in Texas. The goal of this project is to build capacity for environmental education in Texas by fostering implementation of the Texas Strategic Plan to Connect Children with Nature, with a special emphasis on its environmental education components. To achieve this goal, NWF develops an implementation plan and creates an implementation action team to secure the first-year outcomes. First-year outcomes include development of a network of committed public schools and coordination of a professional development strategy, which includes five organizations prepared and committed to conduct professional training. NWF also distributes and promotes the Texas Strategic Plan and launches the Schoolyard Greening Strategy. Additionally, NWF organized a state-wide conference in January 2011 with 400 educators and policy makers to expand the constituency that supports environmental education and connects children with nature. The successful completion of these first-year goals is the first step to the medium- and long-term goal of sustaining Environmental Education as a fully integrated component of Texas public education. Partners include the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the Texas Education Agency, the Texas Department of State Health Services, the Texas Department of Agriculture, and 10 non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
2009 Grants
Galveston Bay Foundation $20,000
Courtney Harris, 17330 Highway 3, Webster, TX 77598
Get Hip to Habitat
Get Hip to Habitat is a school-based coastal wetlands nursery program for Galveston Bay Foundation's education and restoration initiatives. The program involves kindergarten through grade 12 formal and non-formal students who harvest plugs of smooth cordgrass from existing nursery ponds, transplant the plugs into containers, and cultivate them on their campus grounds in saltwater pools to mimic an estuarine marsh environment. After they nurture the plants for a year, the students culminate their project by transplanting the container grasses to a designated local marsh restoration site selected by the Galveston Bay Foundation. The general goals of the program are to provide a sequence of experiences and activities to introduce students to Galveston Bay and its ecosystems. Lessons convey the importance of marsh habitat and restoration and increase the number of citizens involved in environmental awareness and education.
Migrant Clinicians Network, Inc. $24,084
Amy Liebman, 1001 Land Creek Cove, P.O. Box 164285, Austin, TX 78716
Protect Farmworker Children from Pesticide Exposure in Puerto Rico
The Migrant Clinicians Network partners with PathStone (a not-for-profit community development and human services organization) to provide environmental health education to farm worker parents in Puerto Rico. The program trains the trainers, who then educate farm worker families and provide them with appropriate materials in Spanish. Family members learn how to evaluate their children's risk of pesticide exposure and take necessary actions to reduce or eliminate the risk. The target audience is farm worker families in rural and isolated communities in Puerto Rico (such as Utuado, Maricao, Adjuntas, Orocivis, Humacao, and Santa Isabel).
Texas Camp Fire USA Balcones Council (CFUSABC) $24,400
Rebecca Benz, 1603 East 38 1/2 Street, Austin, TX 78722
Texas Campfire USA Balcones Council
The Texas Camp Fire USA Balcones Council is a new program fostered from the Leave No Child Inside national movement. The program encourages families to experience nature together outside, where parents can feel confident in the outdoors experience. Participants benefit from being outside in the fresh air, enjoying healthy physical activities, and learning life-long outdoor skills while they engage in environmental service projects. During the year-long pilot, families are recruited to participate in Camp Fire Clubs. Each family becomes a member of a group of four to eight families who gather monthly to participate in a wide variety of activities. The Camp Fire Council provides training on keeping children safe in the outdoors and other specific skills so that adults feel more comfortable in taking their children outdoors. The structure and support of the program is particularly important to single parents, grandparents, and other adults who are raising children outside the traditional family structure.
Texas State University - San Marcos $83,962
Julie Tuason, 601 University Drive, San Marcos, TX 78666
Urban Watersheds Project
By combining the activities and curriculum of three statewide programs (Texas Stream Team, Texas Parks and Wildlife Amphibian Watch, and Project WILD Aquatic Program), the Urban Watersheds Projects addresses the issue of water quality and pollution within the watershed of Oso Creek. The project constitutes the second phase of a larger, three-phase effort to increase environmental literacy and stewardship of middle-school students. The 2-year program consists of the summer teacher workshops, hands-on classroom activities, field-based water quality monitoring events, and a service learning component. Teachers in grades 6 and 7 from Cunningham Middle School in Corpus Christi, Texas, participate in a 3-day workshop, where they are trained as certified water quality managers and educated on the use of hands-on, inquiry-based learning activities. Teachers then train students in grades 6 and 7 in water quality and amphibian monitoring techniques using hands-on classroom activities. Students also participate in creating and delivering at least one service learning activity relating to water quality. These activities can include stream cleanup, creation of pamphlets or brochures, and audio or video public service announcements. Due to its school-wide scope and inclusion of a comparison (control) population, the proposed Urban Watersheds Project gives the team a large enough study population to generate scientific evidence of this multi-program approach in improving students' environmental literacy and stewardship. Key partners on this project include Texas Amphibian Watch and Project WILD.
2008 Grants
A Nurtured World, Inc. $90,935
Elizabeth Roothaan, 6404 Wilbur Drive, Austin, TX 78757
Consumer Environmental Education in Texas, Arizona, and Oklahoma
Combining both technical and inquiry learning elements into curriculum is at the heart of A Nurtured World’s model to effectively drive change in environmental behavior. A Nurtured World has developed an innovative inquiry-based curriculum that helps individuals understand and make informed decisions about their personal environmental impacts and ties the environmental impacts to issues important to the individual. Under this project, the curriculum is being expanded and adapted to include materials appropriate for middle school students and to correlate with math, science, and English state standards. Middle school teachers and students learn how to make informed decisions about their behavior and reduce their environmental impact, and high-quality curriculum is provided to participating teachers to help them meet curriculum standards and enhance critical thinking. Two train-the-trainer teacher workshops are being conducted in each state to prepare teachers to effectively deliver all or parts of the curriculum to their students using a combination of classroom and field activities. During the workshops, participants report measurable outcomes from the project, including reductions in environmental impacts and cost savings. These actions help enhance teachers’ skills in delivering technical content and leading inquiry-based discussions related to personal environmental responsibility. Key partners include the Texas Education Agency, Keep Pearland Beautiful, De Soto School District, Yavapai County Education Service Agency, and the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality.
Historic Downtown Galveston Partnership $19,799
Lesley Sommer, 2326 Strand, Galveston, TX 77550
Environmental Stewardship for Historic Downtowns
The Historic Downtown Galveston Partnership, whose mission is to help restore the economic vitality and physical attractiveness of Galveston’s central business district, is going to promote environmental education through the project, Travel Partners. The Travel Partners project engages middle-school children in activities that involve environmental studies. Children from the Galveston area school district promote a healthy environment by encouraging family and friends to walk, vanpool, or ride the train to work. Travel Partners is an earth-saving environmental education fund-raising project for the school. Teachers are trained in the “Drive Clean Across Texas” curriculum and then teach students how to reduce the carbon footprint by using alternative forms of transportation. The Travel Partners competition is a simple, exciting way to raise money for the school by “selling” environmental stewardship instead of candy bars.
Martinez Street Women's Center $30,433
Joleen Garcia, 1510 S. Hackberry, San Antonio, TX 78210
Maternal and Child Health Education Program: Childhood Lead Prevention Project
The Martinez Street Women’s Center was founded in the summer of 1999 by women from diverse professional backgrounds with a shared goal of creating a community space to promote the health and well-being of women and girls in San Antonio. The center has created a project called the Maternal & Child Health Education Program that helps promote awareness on lead poisoning. A partnership with Family Based Safety Service caseworkers provides the tools to work with case load families and educate them on lead poisoning. Through this partnership, the Lead Poisoning Education Project refers children for free or low-cost lead blood level testing throughout the City of San Antonio. Families in high-risk areas and families through the health educational workshops benefit from this project.
Mothers for Clean Air $12,132
Rosalia Guerrero-Luera, 3100 Richmond Avenue, Suite 309, Houston, TX 77098
Ozone Theatre: Setting the Stage for Air Pollution Education
This project has developed an interactive Ozone Theatre for middle school students in grades 6 through 8. Ozone Theater is an innovative program that uses theatrical techniques to teach students about air pollution. The program also provides insight into Houston’s particular air quality issues. The new module helps students in grades 6 through 8 to gain a better understanding of local air pollution problems and the associated health effects. Mothers for Clean Air has developed the module, activity guide, and evaluation tools; solicits feedback from middle school students and teachers; and pilot tests the module in three middle schools, reaching both teachers and students. Once developed, this module is expanded to students in Harris, Brazoria, and Galveston Counties, ultimately reaching middle school students throughout the non-attainment area. The goal of this project is to raise student awareness of local air quality and to teach them how to take personal responsibility for responding to unhealthy levels of outdoor air pollution.
Texas Discovery Gardens $15,000
Fran Anderson, 3601 Martin Luther King Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75210
After-School EE Program
Texas Discovery Gardens is an organic, botanic gardens located in historic Fair Park in Dallas, Texas. The garden has created a program called the “After-School Environmental Education Program” for children to attend after school lets out for the day. Students from local school groups participate in the “Life in the Compost Bin Earthkeepers.” In this program, students focus on sustainable urban development and waste management through composting and recycling education. This program reaches many local households by working with and empowering the children of these communities. The students who participate in this program learn about community stewardship and environmental issues. The student participants develop a community project and conduct outreach programs in their neighborhoods. While they are involved in these outreach programs, the students coordinate with media outlets to produce newsletters and brochures to use in these outreach efforts. The students also produce a short-film documentary of the outreach efforts for use as a public service announcement.
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston $21,944
Catherine Moore, P.O. Box 20036, Houston, TX 77225
Environmental Education for Promotoras and Community Health Workers
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston provides targeted environmental education to promotoras and community health workers working on the Texas and Mexico border and two selected metropolitan areas with high numbers of medically underserved populations. The project develops, demonstrates, and promotes cost-effective, preventive measures to correct multiple health and safety hazards in the home environment that produce serious illness and injuries in children in the low and very low income families. Using a holistic approach to improve indoor air quality, foster lead-safe practices, and implement integrated pest management controls in the home decreases the incidence of asthmatic episodes that may require hospitalization, childhood lead poisoning, and acute pesticide poisoning and result in enhanced environmental awareness and improved corresponding health impacts to the public.
2007 Grants
Brenham Independent School District $27,398
Nancy Oertli, 711 East Mansfield Street, Brenham, TX 77833
Teacher Training - Outdoor Classroom
This project expands Brenham Independent School District’s (ISD’s) outdoor classroom program to include students in grades 7 and 8. As a part of this project, students in grades 5 through 8 and their teachers visit Nails Creek and Birch Creek Park and learn to use scientific methods to address real environmental problems while they develop an awareness of natural ecosystem and explore their roles and environmental stewards. This project is also supported by volunteers from the Blinn College, Texas Master Naturalists from the Gideon Licecum Chapter, and the Washington County Extension Agency.
The Artist Boat, Inc. $50,000
Karla Klay, 4919 Austin, Galveston, TX 77551
Eco-Art Adventure via Kayak Program
The Artist Boat increases awareness among and instills an environmental ethic in middle school students. The program employs an innovative and effective inquiry-based teaching methodology, which integrates art and science to engage all types of learners — visual, auditory, and tactile. The program consists of Eco-Art Workshops (2-hour in-class workshops); Eco-Art adventures (4-hour waterborne field classes) on kayaks at Galveston Island State Park; and interdisciplinary environmental curricula in art, math, science, social studies, and English (8 pre and post classroom lessons teachers deliver). The nonprofit organization also provides faculty members with Eco-Art Professional Development training. This program meets the goals of the Texas Education Agency — Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills and Galveston Bay Estuary Program’s goals for public participation and education in the Galveston Bay watershed.
2006 Grants
Austin College $9,880
Peter Schulze, 900 North Grand Avenue, Suite 6P, Sherman, TX 75090
Expanding Community Awareness: Benefits of Native and Restored Blackland Prairie
Austin College graduate students hone their teaching skills by developing and giving presentations to elementary school children and their teachers about the Blackland Prairie. They also present to the children a myriad of careers that they can pursue that will benefit the environment. The ecology of Blackland Prairie, the history of land use, the potential for restoration of the prairie, and the benefits of native and restored tallgrass prairies are taught through a series of field trips. Target audience is Grayson, Collin, Cooke, and Fannin County students in grade 4 from public and private schools, scout troops, and home school organizations and their teachers or sponsors. While they are at the prairie, students plant seeds, compete to find the most varieties of plants in a hoop placed on the ground, and observe a demonstration on the effects of ground cover on runoff and erosion. In addition, they observe animals in their natural habitats, imitate individual animals in a bison herd, and learn to appreciate the delicate balance of the Blackland Prairie ecosystem. The field trips are supplemented with a video and an extensive set of classroom lessons. The video and lesson plans reinforce and expand on the lessons of the field trip. Collectively, these activities foster a sense of responsibility for stewardship.
Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority $8,900
Cynthia Thomas-Jimenez, 933 East Court Street, Seguin, TX 78155
Nonpoint Source Pollution Public Outreach
The population of the Guadalupe-Blanco River Basin is projected to double in the next 30 years. This growth and subsequent development could impair water quality within rivers and streams in the basin, which are the source of the majority of drinking water systems basin-wide. Outreach is conducted, including a demonstration of a Guadalupe River Basin Watershed model that educates both school-age children and the public about nonpoint source pollution and the impact their actions can have on water quality. The Guadalupe River Basin Watershed model is a replica of the Guadalupe River Basin that can be used to demonstrate the impact of nonpoint source pollution on the river basin. Educating these citizens, both young and old, will assist them in developing proactive attitudes and actions for waste, disposal, and proper use of hazardous substances. The Guadalupe River Watershed model is used primarily in school settings at the fifth-grade level. A series of demonstrations has been developed for interactive learning of the impacts of nonpoint pollution on water sources. There are seven large school districts in this region. During the first year, the campaign seeks to reach 50 percent of these schools. The campaign plans to reach adult citizens through a variety of meetings that target homeowners and business owners. These meetings present opportunities to participate in discussions about watershed management and nonpoint source pollution. Reference booklets that are specific to each county are provided. In addition, adult groups have the opportunity to experience the model.
Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi $43,794
James Needham, 6300 Ocean Drive, Corpus Christi, TX 78412
Redefining Environmental Education
The Corpus Christi region is a diverse and sensitive environment that supports an abundance of living resources, including several endangered species. Unfortunately, social and economic conditions contribute to a general lack of environmental consciousness. The goal of this project therefore is to raise environmental awareness and create environmental stewards. The project consists of five components: summer camps for youth, environmental education training for teachers, field trips for rural teachers and their students, environmental expeditions for senior citizens, and environmental education at community events. Participants gain a science-based understanding of environmental issues relevant to the Corpus Christi region. Learning objectives include the science of the local environment, awareness of specific environmental issues, objectivity, and teamwork achieved through experiential learning. This project provides a unique experience in environmental education to an audience of underserved individuals. The target audience includes people with physical and mental disabilities, blind children and adults, rural students and teachers, disadvantaged youth, abused women and children, and senior citizens.
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Texas State Energy Conservation Office $8,000
Juline Gurasich, 111 East 17th Street, Room 1114, LBJ State Office Building, Austin, TX 78774
Energy Education
The goal of the State Energy Conservation Office (SECO) Energy Education curriculum program is to improve Texas teachers’ understanding of the nature and extent of energy and its resources, energy conservation and efficiency, the economic and environmental effects of energy use, and alternative energy technologies. The goal also is to increase their awareness of alternative energy in their communities. The program strives to lay the foundation for environmental stewardship in teachers and students through critical-thinking and problem-solving investigations in workshops approved by the Texas Education Agency. SECO offers a series of statewide educator workshops that will be held in Regional Education Service Centers, universities, conference centers, and museums. In addition, the curriculum is linked on multiple Web sites, and free curriculum CDs are made available to teachers and groups or organizations that sponsor workshops. The program provides classroom-ready material for teachers of general, physical, biological, environmental science, and integrated physics and chemistry. Lesson plans are correlated to state educational standards for grades 6 through 12. Workshops target teachers in grades 6 through 12 and district-level curriculum specialists.
Texas Tech University $6,124
Eileen Johnson, Box 41035, Lubbock, TX 79409-1035
Lubbock Lake Landmark Educators Academy
Lubbock Lake is a National Historic Landmark, a State Archeological Landmark, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The landmark’s 315-acre preserve, located at the northwestern edge of the city of Lubbock, Texas, serves as a natural laboratory for the study of the shortgrass prairie ecosystem of the Southern High Plains. Workshop series are designed to introduce educators to the fundamentals of environmental education (EE) and to demonstrate how EE can be integrated into classroom curricula across disciplinary boundaries to address the state standards. The workshop series includes training in five nationally recognized environmental education programs (Project Learning Tree, WILD, WET, Food, Land and People, and River of Words), and a workshop on the fundamentals of environmental education. The framework of each of the programs provides the teachers the tools needed to immediately implement EE in the classroom. The target audience is elementary and middle school classroom teachers; home school educators also have the opportunity to participate in this series as the landmark works to build an environmentally literate citizenry by offering professional education for educators. This education will be used in classrooms and non-formal settings to further student understanding of environmental issues.
Upper Texas Coast Waterborne Education Center $6,634
Amy Hill, 810 Miller Street, P.O. Box 9, Anahuac, TX 77514
Public Wetland Education Project
The Waterborne Education Center (WEC) conducts six full-day field laboratories and workshops open to the public. Participants spend a 1-hour class on shore, where they learn wetlands vocabulary and take part in guided hands-on activities to demonstrate runoff pollution sources and solutions. The group then boards an educational boat for a field laboratory in the Trinity River delta. A ranger discusses the project, its history, and ecological impacts to the area of the Wallisville Lake Project saltwater barrier. Participants don hip waders and disembark for hands-on, feet-in learning, such as seining for organisms and water quality testing. The return trip consists of a discussion about the relationship between the marsh and the economy, ecology, and health of the local area. These field laboratories immerse participants in the local coastal wetlands and educate them on the importance of conserving these valuable locations.
2005 Grants
A Nurtured World, Inc. $69,860
Susan Roothaan, 6404 Wilbur Drive, Austin, TX 78757
Consumer Environmental Education for Secondary School Students
Designed for middle and high school teachers in Texas, this project provides the educators with the skills and techniques they need to teach their students how to make informed decisions about their personal behavior in order to reduce associated impacts on the environment. The teachers participate in pilot workshops to enhance their understanding of consumer conservation and to learn about the Consumer Environmental Education curriculum developed by A Nurtured World, Inc. The curriculum, which is an innovative, inquiry-based course of study that links environmental impacts to issues of concern to individuals, helps teachers engage students by connecting environmental and earth sciences to real-world experiences. An advisory team composed of representatives of the key project partners and several secondary school teachers provides assistance and guidance for the pilot workshop participants. One purpose of the pilot workshops is to obtain feedback from the participants in order to appropriately customize the curriculum for secondary school students. Following the pilot workshops, the teachers participate in two 1-day train-the-trainer workshops at which they receive teacher kits that include lesson plans, homework assignments, and descriptions of field activities. Online resources are also made available to the teachers. The key project partners are the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s Environmental Education Team and the Texas Education Agency.
Botanical Research Institute of Texas $8,543
Patricia Harrison, 509 Pecan Street, Fort Worth, TX 76102
Environmental Science Youth Mentoring Program
The Environmental Science Youth Mentoring Program provides unique opportunities for middle and high school students to work with professionals in environmental fields and gain experience that will build on their classroom learning. The goal is to provide young people, who may not perceive themselves as college bound, with opportunities to learn about careers in the environment. The program audience is students in grades 8 through 12 who have an interest in science, along with sponsoring teachers. The students work with professionals in various community agencies to identify relevant environmental issues. These agencies include the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Lewisville Aquatic Ecosystem Research Facility, the City of Fort Worth Environmental Management Department, the City of Fort Worth Forestry Department, the City of Arlington Garbage and Recycling Department, the Village Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant, and the Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge.
Del Valle Independent School District $10,800
Sandra Aguilar, 5301 Ross Road, Del Valle, TX 78617
Project Plantasia
Project Plantasia provides pre-kindergarten through grade 6 inner-city students, parents, and community volunteers a hands-on and inquiry based outdoor environment. The Plantasia Committee consists of one staff member from each grade level who manages and oversees the project and its activities. The objectives of the program are to establish an ecosystem using flowers, shrubs, grasses and trees native to Texas; provide a designated area for demonstrations, experiments, workshops, observation, and classroom activities; and prepare a garden and plant sustainable food crops using non-polluting and environmentally safe practices. Through creating, maintaining, and studying the ecosystem, the students increase their understanding of and respect for the environment and environmental issues that will confront them in their current and future world.
Mothers for Clean Air (MfCA) $9,967
Jane L. Laping, 3100 Richmond, Suite 309, Houston, TX 77098
Ozone Theatre
Mothers for Clean Air (MfCA) trains leaders (college students, young adults, parents, and educators) to present “Ozone Theatre” in classroom-type settings to kindergarten through grade 5 students in the Houston-Galveston area. “Ozone Theatre” helps children gain a better understanding of pollution and empowers them to make decisions that protect their health. The objective is to teach children about specific sources of air pollution and how to apply EPA’s colored-coded Air Quality Index of health precautions to daily activities.
Texas Discovery Gardens $10,000
Mary C. Schoeffel, P.O. Box 152537, Dallas, TX 75315
Terrarium World Elementary-Aged Environmental Education
The Texas Discovery Gardens Terrarium World project targets students in grades 2 through 6 and educates them about terrariums. Students learn about the life-sustaining characteristics of terrariums, habitats and their application to terrariums, and the physical cycles that exist on earth: carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and water, and how they operate in terrariums. Terrarium World animates the natural world, providing students with a first-hand experience of their impact on the environment.
Texas State University - San Marcos $15,412
Eric Mendelman, 601 University Avenue, San Marcos, TX 78666
Learning Urban Watersheds
Under this grant, high school teachers from the Houston and Dallas/Fort Worth areas participate in two 2-day workshops to learn how to integrate intellectual and practical experience in watershed monitoring. The teachers then return to their classrooms, conduct field investigations, and collect water quality data with the students during the remainder of the school year. The program also includes an Earth Day event for middle school students in the Austin area that concludes with a 1 -day Splash into Learning Event. High school students present information at this event about their collection efforts and findings in water quality data.
University of Texas Health Center at Tyler $11,914
Dr. Larry K. Lowry, 11937 U.S. Highway 271, Tyler, TX 75708-3154
Seniors to Middle School Students
The Seniors to Middle School Students project uses volunteers from the Southwest Center for Pediatric Environmental Health at the University of Texas Health Center at Tyler to recruit and train senior citizens from the Environmental Alliance for Senior Involvement (EASI). These senior citizens teach elementary and middle school children about health issues associated with air, water, and toxins. The presentations take place during Earth Day and are delivered at a WeatherNet Symposium and are provided to student campers at Sky Ranch.
2004 Grants
American YouthWorks $16,381
Paul Bond, 216 East 4th Street, Austin, TX 78701
Traveling Bull Creek Wetlands Awareness Workshop
American YouthWorks has developed the Traveling Bull Creek Wetlands Awareness Workshop to raise wetland, watershed, and water quality awareness in Austin and Round Rock area schools. The project is intended to promote environmental education in order to increase environmental stewardship. The project combines outreach tools with educational materials, such as a working wetland model that shows the dynamics of a wetland. The model makes meaningful connections between everyday lifestyles and their impacts on wetlands, watersheds, and water quality. The model also shows people how they can lessen these impacts to benefit the environment.
Center for Responsible Environmental Strategies $15,000
Edward Selig, P. O. Box 27884, Austin, TX 78755-7884
Reducing Water Use Along the Border
People living along the Texas-Mexico border are the focus of a campaign aimed at reducing water use. Community leaders receive instruction in how to protect their water supplies, including instruction in recognizing water sources, reducing water consumption, encouraging water conservation, and addressing impacts on water quality. In addition, youth groups, parent-teacher associations, and schools are asked to participate in community events, such as water conservation workshops and exercises. The Texas Education Agency’s Region 1 Education Service Center and school librarians work with teachers to integrate campaign strategies into classroom curriculums using the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills guidelines.
Keep Texas Beautiful, Inc. $17,700
Stacy Cantu, 1524 South IH-35, Suite 150, Austin, TX 78704
Stop Trashing Texas - It's the Law
The goal of Keep Texas Beautiful, Inc. (KTB) is to implement Stop Trashing Texas - It's the Law, an illegal dumping educational program. KTB engages its statewide network of community affiliates to promote workshops held in geographically and economically diverse areas of Texas in order to support elimination of illegal dumping. KTB's efforts concentrate on law enforcement personnel, such as code enforcement officials, police officers, and sheriff's office representatives. This program gives law enforcement personnel the opportunity to attend workshops and gather training tools and resource materials that can be used to support community enforcement efforts with the ultimate goal of eliminating illegal dumping in Texas.
National Wildlife Federation $17,000
Marya Fowler, 44 East Avenue, Suite 200, Austin, TX 78701
Earth Tomorrow
The project initiates Earth Tomorrow, an interdisciplinary, after-school and summer program in environmental education and leadership for under-served high school students. The goal of the project is to address the environmental education and leadership needs of today’s young people by increasing their environmental literacy. This is being accomplished by means of teacher training to align after-school enrichment with classroom instruction, field trips, career mentoring in the environmental sciences, and a 5-day residential summer institute at a local university. At this institute, students, teachers, and community leaders have the opportunity to explore the environmental sciences through field trips, hands-on data collection and analysis, discussions with environmental professionals, and planning for a community action project.
Nature Heritage Society $15,000
Glenn Miller, 4103 Brisbane Street, Houston, TX 77047
American Naturetum Initiative
This project is intended to help public schools and the Texas Education Agency develop environmental education curriculums for urban students that encourage greater student achievement under statewide standardized testing protocols. During project field trips, over 500 students, 30 teachers, and park professionals are exploring natural science history as well as new technologies in order to encourage the students to consider environmental careers. The Nature Heritage Society is partnering with the Houston Independent School District and the City of Houston Parks and Recreation Department to implement the project. Through community-based nature education and exposure to the local natural landscape, urban students are being taught how their actions impact the environment.
Texas Southern University $15,100
Laura Solitare, 3100 Cleburne Street, Houston, TX 77004
Environmental Education for Environmental Justice
The goal of this project is to educate local residents and community leaders about environmental justice, environmental planning, and urban revitalization issues through six interactive, hands-on workshops. The workshops give the participants a basic understanding of environmental systems and the regulations that frame the field of environmental planning. In particular, the workshops focus on water issues, municipal solid waste, and contaminated land. The workshops also examine how local residents and community leaders can help achieve environmental justice in their communities.
2003 Grants
Central Independent School District $5,000
Susan Sanders, 7622 Highway 69N, Pollok, TX 75969
Teacher Training Using the Central Outdoor Classroom
Kindergarten through sixth-grade teachers are using the Central Outdoor Classroom to learn about inquiry-based science. Environmental studies of the forest ecosystem are examined through lessons and field experiences. Teachers work with scientists in various fields of study who are affiliated with the Texas Forest Service, the Soil Conservation Service, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Service, and other agencies. Visiting scientists assist in developing six field investigation units that focus on defining environmental problems, conducting research, and collecting and analyzing data.
Council for Environmental Education $13,000
Josetta Hawthorne, 5555 Morningside Drive, Suite 212, Houston, TX 77005
Migratory Bird Conservation Education in Schools
The Council for Environmental Education provides training for teachers in urban middle schools in the Houston area to help them implement classroom lessons and projects related to bird conservation. Teachers are trained how to use birds as a highly visible connection between urban children and the natural world and how to incorporate important issues affecting birds into their curricula. Both teacher and student training explore how to plan and conduct a school bird festival as well as how to initiate related service-learning projects involving bird conservation, biology, and migration. Schools are encouraged to work with a variety of groups to plan bird festivals.
Council for Environmental Education $16,788
Josetta Hawthorne, 5555 Morningside Drive, Suite 212, Houston, TX 77005
Water Education for Teachers School
Teachers in urban middle schools in the San Antonio area attend a series of workshops designed to help them incorporate activities from the Water Education for Teachers (WET) in the City Curriculum and Activity Guide into their own curricula. Teachers and community volunteers learn how to successfully mentor student-driven water stewardship projects and how to develop strong networks of local organizations and businesses in order to obtain technical and financial support for participating schools.
Groves Educational Foundation $6,000
Ianthia Fisher, 1105 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Crockett, TX 75835
Youth, Adult, and Family Development
The Groves Educational Foundation is using several types of media to educate young people and adults about the importance of their environment. Project participants take field trips to historic sites in order to investigate the region’s heritage and participate in community cleanups and interactive programs. The participants learn about the importance of keeping their community clean through involvement in hands-on activities such as community garden maintenance, pest control, and water conservation.
2002 Grants
American YouthWorks (AYW) $14,883
Paul Bond, 216 East 4th Street, Austin, TX 78701
Traveling Watershed Awareness Workshop
This project involves training two teachers from five participating schools in and near the Slaughter Creek Watershed and the City of Austin's Water Quality Protection Lands to use the American Youth Works Traveling Watershed Awareness Workshop in their classrooms. The workshop combines curriculum and information from the Texas Natural Resource Information System, the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District, and Austin's Water and Waste Water Conservation Department. Teachers learn how to present an important environmental topic using a set of hands-on tools, including a 3-dimensional model of the Slaughter Creek Watershed, Internet sites, and curriculum. The watershed travels to 5 elementary and middle schools and remains in each school for at least 2 weeks.
Houston Independent School District $4,536
Ada Cooper, 3830 Richmond Avenue, Houston, TX 77027
Project 3G: Getting Green at Grady
Using gardening as a focus, this project provides teachers with training and resources to integrate science and environmental education across the curriculum. Issues addressed are ecosystem protection and energy conservation. Teachers attend introductory workshops on environmental education, environmental issues, and integrated lesson planning. Lessons demonstrate how environmental science can be integrated into other subject areas while meeting required curriculum goals and objectives. Hands-on activities and inquiry-based learning in the garden are emphasized. The target teacher audience includes sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade teachers of science, mathematics, and language arts from Grady Elementary. Key partners include the Houston Independent School District Science Department, the Marcile Hollingsworth Science Center, the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center, and the Houston Chapter of the American Meteorological Society.
Houston Independent School District $5,000
Ada Cooper, 3830 Richmond Avenue, Houston, TX 77027
Project Butterflies are Forever: A Project to Teach Elementary School Age Children About Ecosystems
This project encourages elementary students at Askew Elementary School to study the environmental pressures affecting the populations of butterflies in Houston, Texas. The study makes students aware of human contamination of the environment. Students collect data through the observation of their own captive collection of butterflies, and through growing native plants at school. The students take several field trips to observe wild populations of butterflies living in natural settings. Entomology and botany experts present interactive programs from Rice University and students from the horticulture classes at Revere Middle School. Key partners are Dr. Carlos R. Solis, Ph.D. Rice University and Robin L. Hunter, Community Coordinator.
Keep Texas Beautiful $22,035
Stacey George Cantu, 823 Congress Avenue, Suite 230, Austin, TX 78701
Waste In Place
This project hosts eight Waste in Place curriculum workshops and distributes Keep Texas Beautiful youth environmental education kits. Waste in Place is a hands-on youth environmental education curriculum. The interdisciplinary curriculum for grades kindergarten through 8 provides resource materials and hands-on activities for educators and students to examine their environment, including land, water, and air issues. The goals are to provide materials to increase the environmental awareness of educators and youth, to offer formal and informal educators a proven resource tool, and to provide regional workshops. The objectives include training educators through workshops offered in 8 locations in the state to reach formal and informal educators, and to reach thousands of youths. Partners include Texas Department of Transportation, Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, and Texas Forest Service.
Richardson Independent School District $5,000
Duana Kindle, 9501 Ferndale, Dallas, TX 75238
The Wildcat Wilderness
This project is an outdoor learning lab that provides students the opportunity to experience and discover the connections between science, nature, and humanity with an interactive, hands-on approach to learning. The use of the "Wildcat Wilderness" is integrated into classroom instruction with each grade level being assigned defined areas for planting and experimenting. Students are provided interactive time in the Wildcat Wilderness with their teachers, parent/community volunteers, high school peer helpers, garden club members, and guest speakers. The 695 students that attend Lake Highlands Elementary School benefit from the experience. Partners include Eagle Scouts, labor and construction provided by the Dad's Club, the Lake Highlands Elementary Garden Club, and financial and volunteer support of the Parent/Teacher Association.
Stephen F. Austin State University $11,300
Elyce Rodewald, P. O. Box 13000-SFA Station, Nacogdoches, TX 75962
It's a Wonderful World: Promoting Environmental Education Programs in Deep East Texas
This project promotes existing, teacher-tested, quality environmental education programs from 9 partners to 52 school districts in 11 counties. Using student participants, partners present environmental education programs to science teachers. The first method is a field day during which each teacher selects one program that best fits his or her curriculum. After the field day, partners provide subsequent, in-depth training to teachers, showing them how to incorporate the selected program in their courses. The concept is to develop a wide-reaching, cost-effective, collaborative effort to share the benefits of environmental education with teachers and students. The goals are to promote the use of existing, reputable environmental education programs, provide professional development opportunities for science teachers, and decrease duplication of existing environmental education programs in the region. The target audiences are 100 elementary and secondary school science teachers at public, private and home schools in 52 school districts in East Texas. Partners include Texas Forest Service, Texas Parks and Wildlife, Keep Nacogdoches Beautiful, Stephen F. Austin Secondary and Elementary Education Departments, Pineywoods Native Plant Center, Texas Forestry Museum, Texas Forestry Association, and Stephen F. Austin Arthur Temple College of Forestry.
Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi $100,000
Jim Needham, 6300 Ocean Drive, Corpus Christi, TX 78412
Gulf Coast Environmental Education Program
Set in a region that is both environmentally rich and economically disadvantaged, the project delivers environmental education to a large and diverse group of citizens, including students in grades 5 through 7, teachers, senior citizens, and the general public. The goal of the 2-year project is to raise environmental awareness through a combination of youth summer camps, environmental education workshops for teachers, field trips for teachers and their classes, community events, and environmental expeditions for senior citizens. The project is designed to provide participants with scientific knowledge, raise awareness and understanding of key environmental issues, and impart enhanced analytical and critical-thinking skills. Key partners in the project include the Partnership for Environmental and Safety Outreach, the Corpus Christi and Flour Bluff Independent School Districts, the Texas Rural Systemic Initiative, and the Corpus Christi Community Advisory Council. Other partners include the Adopt-A-Wetland Program, the Texas State Aquarium, the CCA-CPL Fish Hatchery, the Padre Island National Seashore, Texas Parks & Wildlife, and the Sea Grant Program.
2001 Grants
Austin College $22,494
Peter Schulze, 900 North Grand Avenue, Sherman, TX 75090
Conservation Benefits of Restoring Blackland Prairie
The goal of the project is to educate citizens about the consequences of various land use options in the Blackland Prairie region of Texas. Demonstration of management strategies educates students and landowners about uses of small tracts and of the effects of such uses on vital natural resources. Students in environmental science classes at Austin College work with public school teachers to design teaching modules that focus on the restoration of prairie lands. Other students of environmental science are involved in the hands-on process of restoring the native prairie and leading school children and area landowners on tours of prairie areas. Both school children and college students are provided opportunities to hone their critical-thinking skills and explore careers in environmental fields.
Houston Independent School District $10,575
Ada Cooper, 3830 Richmond, Houston, TX 77027
Tracking: Butterflies & Weather
Elementary students are involved in hands-on, inquiry-based experiments in a butterfly garden and weather station constructed by teachers and parents. Parents are invited to participate in the experiments with their children, and teachers are trained on how to conduct the experiments and relevant theory before students and parents undertake them. The environmental studies are incorporated into science and mathematics curricula to allow students to observe the effects of the environment on all aspects of their lives. The garden and weather station are used throughout the year; scheduled classes are held, while free time is left for spontaneous activities.
Richardson Independent School District $5,000
Jack Noteware, 1600 Apollo Road, Richardson, TX 75081
Atrium Project - Organic Education
A chemical-free garden that features native ecosystems is included in the atrium project. The garden is used to provide field experience, direct knowledge of native Texas plant life, and organic gardening skills to students and parent volunteers who bring various levels of experience to the project. Most participants are apartment dwellers who represent some 25 countries of origin. For many, the atrium area is their only opportunity to experience the exposure to nature that helps humans develop an understanding of the delicate balance between humans and nature. Participants in the project learn how to start an organic garden, how to ensure their projects are cost-effective, and how to conduct long term planning and perform maintenance. Numerous partners in the community take part in the project.
Richardson Independent School District $4,140
Eileen Rosenblum, 400 South Greenville, Richardson, TX 75081
Forestridge Blackland Prairie Garden
The garden is used to initiate and sustain interest in and understanding of the Blackland Prairie through tactile exploration of plant materials and observation of the insects and birds that inhabit the garden. Students see, hear, smell, and touch some of the tall grasses, perennial plants, and trees that were seen and used by the people who were native to the area. Students observe the importance of food and shelter to the smallest inhabitants of the prairie, and they learn which birds, lizards, and insects are permanent residents and which are migrants. Language development is supported through meaningful experiences related to such areas as geology, geography, horticulture, agriculture, history, and social studies.
Richardson Independent School District $5,000
Kathy Clayton, 400 South Greenville, Richardson, TX 75081
The Nature of Things - Environmental Garden
The project develops an outdoor learning center that features a butterfly garden, a pond, and a native ecosystem. Through creating, maintaining, and studying the ecosystems, students increase their understanding of and respect for the environment and environmental issues that will confront them in their current and future world. The center provides real-world opportunities for students to engage in experimental, project-based learning activities, while increasing students’ attainment of state standards for science, mathematics, and reading and writing. The curriculum is extended through the Texas Parks and Wildlife. Parents and community members are invited to participate in interactive, student-led tours and programs.
Tarleton State University $4,960
Carol Thompson, Box T-0390, Stephenville, TX 76402
Enhancement of Environmental Sciences Education
The university develops several field-based exercises for a number of existing college courses related to environmental science. The principal effort focuses on an environmental methods course. Students participate in field exercises that allow them to explore such topics as groundwater, site assessment, analysis for water quality, techniques, and wetlands. Students learn correct methods of data collection and examine the many problems that can arise in real-world settings, with both collection and interpretation. Exercises in collection techniques appropriate for water resources are collected and adapted to students’ skill levels, as well as the environmental setting of concern.
Texas A&M University $15,000
Kim Jones, College Hall 230, Kingsville, TX 78363
In Pursuit of Campus Ecology
The objective of the project is to develop a hands-on summer internship program that assists community college students in developing plans to pursue careers in environmental science and engineering. Students in the south Texas area are recruited through community colleges and high schools to attend a summer program at the university that introduces them to environmental careers through classroom instruction, laboratory and fieldwork, discussion workshops, and exposure to environmental problems and practices. It is anticipated that the program will build a strong, long-lasting partnership between school districts and colleges in the area that will promote environmental engineering and environmental science as disciplines vitally involved in developing practical and environmentally beneficial solutions to difficult environmental problems. The complex environmental issues that confront south Texas and the Rio Grande Valley are becoming increasingly more difficult. It is anticipated that recruitment of students from the areas affected by those environmental problems to prepare for careers in environmental fields will promote career development in those fields and encourage students to develop leadership and explore innovation in natural systems solution technologies to which they may not otherwise be exposed.
Texas State Technical College $5,000
Sal Garcia, 307 North Breckenridge, Breckenridge, TX 76424
Teacher Training on Water Quality Monitoring and Sampling Techniques
Middle and high school science teachers attend a two-day workshop on techniques for monitoring and sampling for water quality. The effort is based on the premise that the public does not have a basic understanding of water quality or water pollution, in particular, non-point source pollution. If teachers are adequately trained, they can return to the classroom and transfer their knowledge to their students. The project helps increase public awareness and knowledge of water quality, watersheds, and the effects of pollution on water quality.
Urban Harvest $7,500
Elizabeth Proctor, P. O. Box 980460, Houston, TX 77098
Environmental Education Reform Models for Outdoor Classrooms
Urban Harvest uses environmental models that use outdoor classrooms to train teachers, administrators, and parents in Houston and 26 neighboring school districts. During workshops, participants learn how to construct a sustainable outdoor garden and classroom. While outdoor gardens have enjoyed increasing popularity in the Houston area, the failure rate for such projects is substantial. With appropriate instruction and curriculum available, teachers and students can construct sustainable nature areas that are supportive of a healthy environment. Outdoor classrooms provide a setting for exploration and an opportunity to help children increase their understanding of and skills related to the environment.
2000 Grants
American Institute for Learning $5,273
Lois Myers, 216 East 4th Street, Austin, TX 78701
Teacher Training Regarding Watershed Issues
Through the Community Watershed Education Project, an increased number of students receive watershed education training, including the health and career aspects of water pollution and watershed protection. Teacher access has expanded to existing watershed models and curricula, as well. The project provides professional development to teachers by educating and training them to use unique, hands-on curricula and watershed models. The project workshops specifically target students, teachers, and community members in a culturally diverse, low-income area.
City of Austin, Water Resources Division $53,150
R. H. Richardson, 625 E. 10th Street, Austin, TX 78701
Hornsby Bend Ecological Mentorship Program
The project brings together environmental professionals; university students; and urban, ethnically diverse, at-risk students to address issues related to urban sustainability at Hornsby Bend, a 700-acre site along the Colorado River, as well as to explore future careers in the environmental field. Teams of university students, guided by environmental professionals and university scientists, are conducting various research projects and undergoing training. They in turn mentor elementary, middle school, and high school students from low-income, ethnically diverse communities. The students are studying issues associated with local ecology, urban environmental management, and urban sustainability at Hornsby Bend by participating in classroom instruction and field trips to environmental sites in the area and using on-line resources. They are learning about the importance of education, environmental career paths, and local urban environmental issues. Multimedia Web-based resources, developed by the university students, also facilitate on-line mentoring among the students. The results of the project are being made available online, along with career resources. The University of Texas, the Travis Audubon Society, the Colorado River Watch Foundation, and a fourth-grade class at Hornsby Bend Elementary School are partners in the project.
Keep Texas Beautiful $5,187
Cecile Carson, P. O. Box 178, Denton, TX 76202
Waste in Place Regional Workshops
Keep Texas Beautiful provides teachers and non-formal educators with hands-on environmental experiences through its Waste In Place workshops at eight locations in Texas. The interactive workshops include evaluating litter value for better waste management practices. Teachers in turn share the workshop curriculum with students, and non-formal educators share the curriculum with community members.
Miller Springs Alliance $5,000
Mary Ann Smith, P. O. Box 752, Belton, TX 76513
Self-Help Water Conservation Solutions and Demonstration
The objective of the Self-Help Water Conservation Project is to intensify public interest, through environmental education, in the value of and need for self-help water conservation. The project is a valuable restoration project that supports intermediate-level classroom research and exploration in water conservation. Scientific professionals provide experimental training to classroom educators and students. Approximately 14 school districts participate.
San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District $4,821
Bonnie Farmer, 500 South LBJ, P. O. Box 1087, San Marcos, TX 78666
Monarch Butterfly Assistance Project
The project provides a real-world learning experience in which students enrolled in high school science classes implement and report on scientific experiments that address conservation issues affecting public lands. Through the study of monarch butterflies, the outdoor environmental class setting enables students to engage in hands-on activities that pique their minds in ways that cannot be achieved in the classroom. Projects begin in the classroom and are transported outside to complete the study.
Seguin Outdoor Learning Center $4,694
Barbara Kemper-Nolan, P. O. Box 262, McQueeney, TX 78123
Water Quality Pilot Program
The program focuses on water quality issues. Recent devastating floods in the area have brought the topic to the forefront of residents' daily lives. Residents' proximity to creeks and rivers that are prone to flooding has made it vital to educate children as advocates for water quality protection measures in their daily lives. Sixth-grade students participate in field investigative trips to learn essential concepts, such as water from the tap does not come from an endless supply.
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston $80,850
Irina Cech, P. O. Box 20036, Houston, TX 77225-0036
Environmental Education for Communities on the U.S.-Mexico Border
Through the hands-on environmental health training program, citizens of low-income and remote communities in areas along the border between Texas and New Mexico and Mexico are participating in a much-needed program that addresses health problems that affect children as a result of exposure to environmental risks. The citizens, who are Hispanic, Native American, and Caucasian, learn how to detect, manage, and prevent the exposure of children to toxic chemical and microbial health hazards. A contingent of environmental health providers, pediatric caregivers and clinical care professionals who work in communities within 100 miles of the area, train members of the communities, using their mobile outreach and field demonstration capabilities. The program, which addresses a severe shortage in the area of environmental training and experience among health care workers and members of the public, builds upon and expands the geographic coverage of similar projects conducted in 1995. The educational outreach strategy developed under the grant has wide application because it promotes binational environmental awareness and serves as a model for involvement of academic institutions with border communities and other organizations. It also can be replicated easily in other remote, inaccessible locations. Key partners in the project include the University of Texas School of Public Health Border Campuses at El Paso, San Antonio, and Brownsville; the El Paso Area Health Education Center; the New Mexico Office of Border Health; and the Border Health Council.
1999 Grants
Chance, Inc. $5,900
Joe Ladd, 681 7th S.W., Paris, TX 75460
Educating Parents about Environmental Dangers to Children
Chance, Inc. reaches an underserved segment of ethnically diverse, low-income families participating in traditional financial service needs programs. As part of their home visit program, Chance is educating their clients about environmental health issues, including pest control, pesticide use, lead poisoning, poisoning from gas heaters, radon, mercury, asbestos, secondhand smoke, and poisonous plants.
Council for Environmental Education $21,400
Donna Asbury, 5555 Morningside Drive, Suite 212, Houston, TX 77005
Training Program for Spanish-Speaking Audiences
Through Project WILD, the Council for Environmental Education provides Spanish-language versions of activities to persons whose primary language is Spanish. Workshops focus on hands-on environmental programs in the community and in schools for teachers, preservice teachers, informal educators, and volunteers from the community. A core group of facilitators is identified to become trainers, so that the program can be replicated in Spanish to serve communities along the border of the United States and Mexico.
National Wildlife Federation $9,724
Shawn Stanley, 4505 Spicewood Springs, Suite 300, Austin, TX 78759
Tracks to Wetlands: Teacher Training
The National Wildlife Federation, through its Gulf States Natural Resource Center, provides a variety of in-service educational opportunities and hands-on skill development for students, all of which use wetlands as a living laboratory. Animal Tracks educational materials teach concepts related to wildlife and the environment in a manner that is sensitive to cultural diversity. Many of the materials are available in Spanish.
South Texas Youth Ranch $4,978
Nancy Singler, 200 South Jackson Road, Pharr, TX 78577
Nature Trail and Native Plant Identification Project
The South Texas Youth Ranch is a residential and working facility for at-risk youth, age 11 through 17, from diverse and low socioeconomic backgrounds. The young people are developing a quarter-mile nature trail and plant identification project that will provide interactive, hands-on instruction. The nature trail focuses on native plants and their maintenance and protection of natural resources. Students provide instructional tours to visitors, while teaching respect and appreciation for nature and the environment to the residents.
Stephen F. Austin State University $4,996
Jim Isleib, P. O. Box 6109, SFA Station, Nacogdoches, TX 75962
Investigating and Evaluating Environmental Issues and Action
Instructors of sixth- through eighth-grade classes acquire knowledge and skills associated with analysis of environmental issues, investigation of such issues, and collection and processing of information through attendance at a week-long in-service training workshop. Within one year of completing the workshop, teachers or their students present the program at least once at a national, state, or local event.
The Botanical Research Institute of Texas $7,600
Patricia Harrison, 509 Pecan Street, Fort Worth, TX 76102
Practical Steps Toward Texas Schoolyard Habitats
The Botanical Research Institute of Texas, in partnership with the Texas Society for Ecological Restoration, is developing and conducting a three-part workshop for teachers that focuses on the creation and use of an outdoor classroom or schoolyard habitat. Teachers are learning how to plan, design, construct, and maintain such an outdoor schoolyard habitat.
The Leaf Alliance $4,998
Susan Alexander, Route 1, Box 335, Pineland, TX 75968
Tools for Teachers: Sharing the Discovering Watersheds Trunk Kits
Materials for three Discovering Watersheds Trunk Kits are being assembled to be distributed to three regional offices of the Texas Education Agency for use by teachers in their service areas. The trunk kits focus on students' choices and responsibilities for their health and the health of their communities. The unique, activity-based, hands-on kits are designed to teach middle school students about their watersheds, the environmental problems of those watersheds, and potential solutions to those problems in a motivating manner suitable for use in both indoor and outdoor classrooms.
1998 Grants
American Institute for Learning $14,789
Penny Weibly, 422 Congress Avenue, Austin, TX 78701
Interactive Recycling Education for East Austin
Hundreds of at-risk teens and elementary students from low-income neighborhoods of Austin learn about recycling through hands-on activities, including eco-festivals. Eco-festivals illustrate particular aspects of recycling through demonstrations, games, puppet shows, songs composed by students, and various other hands-on activities.
Bishop Dunne High School $14,050
Kate Collins Dailey, 3900 Rugged Drive, Dallas, TX 75224
Five-Mile Creek and Trinity River Basin Project
The purpose of this project is to create a team approach to water quality education for 40 high school students each year. The environmental issue and geographic focus is a creek and the Trinity River basin in Dallas. The students participate in field trips, use computer laboratories, and collect and analyze samples, ultimately producing a documentary to be aired on local community access cable to disseminate the findings of their year-long study. The information also is to be made available on a World Wide Web site.
Classical Magnet School, Richardson Independent School District $5,000
Betty Daigle, 400 S. Greenville Avenue, Richardson, TX 75081
Outdoor Learning Center
This project provides an outdoor learning center that features three native ecosystems, including a garden, a raised pond with a waterfall, a grassland prairie, a woodland area, bat and bird houses, and a small wildlife area. All students in the school system and their families benefit from the outdoor learning center.
Lamar High School, Arlington Independent School District $3,000
Jane Borland, 1203 W. Pioneer Parkway, Arlington, TX 76013
Outdoor Environmental Gardens and Learning Center
The environmental gardens and learning center teach inquiry-based biology and environmental science through the use of vegetable and butterfly gardens in raised beds, along with soil-test and experimental-design beds. Students learn about composting and vermicomposting. Topics include, but are not limited to, botany; food chains; invertebrates; soil analysis; use of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers and the environmental and health consequences of their use; water quality; and management of solid waste. Approximately 600 high school students use the gardens each year.
National Center for Farmworker Health $87,727
E. Roberta Ryder, 1515 Capital of Texas Highway South, Suite 220, Austin, TX 78746
Farmworker Environmental Education
Through this project, outreach personnel from migrant health centers and migrant education agencies are trained to teach migrant farm workers and their children how to mitigate the threats to human health that are associated with farm work. In workshops, participants learn how to educate migrant farm workers about the dangers of exposure to pesticides, heat stress, infectious parasitic diseases spread by water that is unsafe for drinking or bathing, and the risk of infection caused by lack of sanitary facilities at job sites. The majority of migrant farm workers reached by the outreach personnel, who are certified trainers, are Latino and live below the federal poverty level. In general, the workers and their families have limited access to heath care or information about environmental hazards. The National Center for Farmworker Health works in partnership with seven organizations throughout the country that represent the interests of migrant farm workers.
Nature Discovery Center $5,000
Fred Collins, P. O. Box 77, Bellaire, TX 77402-0777
Prairie Education Project
The Prairie Education Project provides a traveling prairie ecology exhibit and outreach prairie display and travel kit to educate children and adults about the nature and importance of the prairie. This project also provides four curriculum units on the prairie ecology to be published in the second volume of the curriculum guide Nature at Your Doorstep.
Pearce High School, Richardson Independent School District $4,934
Shelley Hale, 400 S. Greenville Avenue, Richardson, TX 75081
Outreach Program on Environmental Awareness
This project provides students with a hands-on approach to the natural sciences through ecological camping trips, backpacking, and environmental assessment and interdependence studies (for example, study of water testing and water quality as they are related to flora and fauna in the vicinity of the body of water). Students test concepts and principles introduced in the classroom and explore specific problems through field research. Students in upper grades serve as role models for younger students.
Texas Private School Foundation, Inc. $5,000
Laura North, P. O. Box 953, Bryan, TX 77806
Allen Academy Science Center Environmental Education Project
Allen Academy provides a nature center to expand its existing environmental education program. The nature center, designed and maintained by students, includes a nature trail with information in two languages, a bird sanctuary with hibernation houses, a pond, a wetland area, an irrigation system, and a butterfly garden. To minimize the need for water and maintenance, native vegetation is used. A fluorescent lighting system is used to grow plants from seed.
The Green Classroom, Inc. $25,000
Carla Marshall, 1701 Briar, Austin, TX 78704
Taking Activities from the Classroom and Home - TEACH
Students from 30 schools in the Austin area learn about water quality and conservation through hands-on activities and the construction of models. Students test water from local taps, creeks, and lakes; construct models of aquifers and watersheds; and learn about the relationship of the water cycle and water quality to health issues. As they learn the lessons, students in upper grades in turn teach lower-grade students, and lower-grade students then teach even younger students.
West Orange-Cove Consolidated Independent School District $22,125
Michael Hoke, P. O. Box 1107, Orange, TX 77630
The Nature Classroom
Approximately 3,200 students experience environmental education related to wetlands and forest ecology in The Nature Classroom, an eight-acre woodland and two-acre island area of Adams Bayou. Middle school volunteers, called eco-rangers, visit elementary schools to provide hands-on environmental activities. Senior citizens and community volunteers, called environmental ambassadors, present programs to the public and also provide environmental instruction to elementary students.
1997 Grants
Austin Community Gardens Inc. $5,000
Frank Fuller, 4814 Sunshine Drive, Austin, TX 78756
East Austin Wildscaping Initiative
Under the East Austin Wildscaping Initiative, young people assist in the development of gardens that provide habitats for a variety of wildlife. Wildscapes are living laboratories that diversify the urban habitat, providing food and refuge for song birds, small mammals, reptiles, butterflies, and other pollinators. The project also increases understanding among children about the environment, plants, and animals and the role each plays in the ecosystem.
Denton Independent Schools $4,999
Zan Austin, 1307 N. Locust, Denton, TX 76201
Water the Cycle of Life Project - 8th Graders to Produce Public Service Commercials
This interdisciplinary project heightens students' understanding of the similarity between the drinking-water cycle and the Earth's water cycle. The students take part in activities that demonstrate how easily water can become polluted and replicate methods of cleaning water. They also conduct studies of water use in their own homes.
Eisenhower High School $4,720
Anastasia Vought, 7922 Antoine, Houston, TX 77088
Where Have all The Flowers Gone?
Where Have All the Flowers Gone? increases students' critical-thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills through a cross-curricular, multilevel environmental education program. The program includes the development and implementation of an integrated curriculum guide that applies new education standards mandated by the state. The project also involves students, parents, teachers, administrators, and members of the community in the design, creation, and maintenance of an outdoor living classroom and trains teachers in the best ways to use the curriculum guide and the outdoor classroom.
Greater Park Place Community Development Corps $5,000
Antonia Cahn, P. O. Box 262784, Houston, TX 77207
Sims Bayou Urban Nature Center - Computer Environmental Education Project
This project establishes the Sims Bayou Urban Nature Center, a computer-aided environmental education project that brings year-round nature discovery programs to area schools. It also includes a community garden program for youth and adults that teaches horticulture and marketing skills.
LDL Educational Resources Foundation $4,481
Liz Sherrell, P. O. Box 1283, Glen Rose, TX 76043
Create An Ongoing Environmental Classroom
The environmental classroom is an outdoor environmental studies laboratory designed to increase the environmental knowledge and awareness of elementary school students. It gives them the opportunity to develop an interactive and interdependent relationship with their environment through hands-on, problem-solving experiences with nature.
Texas Water Development Board $22,500
Bill Hoffman, P. O. Box 13231, Austin, TX 78711
Texas Water Conservation & Water Resource Education Project
The Texas Water Conservation & Water Resource Education Project provides new and revised classroom education material through direct mail, the Internet, the Texas Education Agency, and workshops for teachers. Its goal is to provide directly to the classroom material that promotes the development of critical-thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills related to water conditions in the state and water conservation and management of resources in general. Under the project, classroom exercises and activities, as well as resource materials for teachers, on water conservation and resource issues specific to Texas are distributed to classrooms. The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB), sponsor of the project, also provides demonstration workshops to help teachers learn to use the materials effectively in their classrooms. The Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board, and the Harris-Galveston Conservation Commission, as well as the Water and Environment Association of Texas and the Texas Section of the American Water Works Association, are among the organizations involved with TWDB in partnership efforts to support the project, which in turn is intended, in part, to support the development of a consensus water plan for the state.
Texoma Council of Camp Fire $4,500
Rachel Hampton, Boys & Girls, 728 W. Sears, Denison, TX 75020
Nature Watch: Student Field Trips; Students and Ecosystems
The Nature Watch program educates students about the importance of ecosystems and how they affect our current and future lives. The program uses group activities to facilitate learning about the environmental issues that affect local ecosystems.
The LEAF Alliance $4,531
Susan Alexander, Route 1, Box 335, Pineland, TX 75968
Discovering Watersheds
Discovering Watersheds provides an environmental science unit and trunk kit designed to teach students about watersheds, the environmental problems related to them, and possible solutions to such problems in an enjoyable and motivating way suitable for both indoor and outdoor classroom use. The activities encourage students to think critically about preventing and controlling pollution. Students also design, build, and demonstrate a model of a working septic system that contributes to pollution control.
YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas $10,000
Ilene Stern, 601 N. Akard Street, Dallas, TX 75201
Outdoor Education Center at Camp Grady Spruce
The Outdoor Education Center (OEC) at Camp Grady Spruce works with culturally and ethnically diverse fifth- and sixth-grade students in 10 counties in the Dallas-Fort Worth area to increase the students' knowledge and awareness of environmental issues. The project is based on intensive, yet friendly, immersion in the environmental curriculum.
1996 Grants
Central Independent School District $5,000
Susan Sanders, P. O. Box 39, Pollok, TX 75969
Central Independent School District (CISD) Outdoor Education Facility
An outdoor education and research facility for students in seventh through twelfth grade is being developed to address local environmental issues and problems where clearing of pine forests is a major issue. The site is also being used for teacher in-service training for such hands-on curricula as Project WILD and Project Learning Tree.
Edinburg CISD $3,760
Elizabeth Sanches, P. O. Box 990, Edinburg, TX 78539
Tracing River Field Trips: How Clean Water Affects Health
Field trips are being provided for fourth grade students to sites on the Rio Grande to monitor water quality, tour the river system and city water treatment plant, and study health issues related to water pollution.
Grapevine-Colleyville ISD $5,000
Sherri Steward, 3223 Mustang Drive, Grapevine, TX 76051
Environmental Outreach Program
This environmental outreach program helps high school students become mentors to students in kindergarten through sixth grade. Presentations are being conducted in a unique outdoor laboratory.
Green Classroom $67,430
Carla Marshall, 1701 Briar, Austin, TX 78704
The Green Classroom Community Environmental Learning Center
The Green Classroom, Inc. project forges an environmental education partnership--a Junior/Senior Alliance--between elementary school children and adults in Austin, Texas. The Green Classroom Community Environmental Learning Center includes an environmental resource library to provide a forum for the junior/senior alliance. Both adults and children from the community together use the center to work on environmental issues and exhibits. An existing, well-established environmental curriculum framework is being distributed via workshops, videos, newsletters, and other means to these individuals and to a broader audience that includes the Austin Independent schools and state-wide schools. The project reaches 420 students from a low socioeconomic minority neighborhood (Bouldin Creek), 1,200 households, and 13,000 teachers from the Austin Independent School District and elsewhere in the state.
Jesse H. Jones Park Volunteers $4,495
Karen Stockton, 20634 Kenswick Drive, Humble, TX 77338
C(onserve), P(reserve): R(enew) for Water Drops
This project involves a series of 24 water awareness programs and hands-on field study trips for 500 students who are 10 to 17 years old. The programs will be presented at the Jesse Jones County Park, a bottomland habitat preserve.
Red River Valley Girl Scout Council $5,000
Ginger Haan, 2025 NW Loop 286, Paris, TX 75460
Explore the World of Science & Nature at Camp Gambill
The science and nature camp will offer 100 to 150 youth hands-on activities to increase their knowledge of native ecology and techniques for Trident Prairie restoration and provide an outdoor laboratory for biological, ecological, and cultural studies.
River Basins Institute, Inc. $5,000
Gary Endsley, P. O. Box 1104, Atlanta, TX 75551
Environmental Leadership Bridge Program
The Environmental Leadership Bridge Program links minority and female high school students with environmental science occupations related to the local forest products industry. At a one-week field school, hands-on curricula allow participants to conduct those activities traditionally performed by environmental scientists.
Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission $24,500
John Janak, 12100 Park 35 Circle, Austin, TX 78753
Teaching New Drivers about the Impact of Their Vehicles on Air Quality
This project includes developing a video and classroom curriculum for high school drivers' education classes with emphasis on stopping air pollution at one source, the automobile.
The Fort Worth Audubon Society $3,900
Norma Bartholomew, 4904 Bonnell, Fort Worth, TX 76107
Environmental Outreach for Inner-City Youth
Approximately 200 inner city Hispanic youth from 9 to 15 years old are participating in hands-on environmental awareness activities including recycling, tree planting, and involvement with community service.
The Nature Conservancy $5,000
Lisa Williams, P. O. Box 1440, San Antonio, TX 78295
The Seeds of Knowledge
A pilot program in two schools is teaching junior high and high school students the value of native plants and how to produce seedlings for habitat restoration. Fifth grade students are participating in tree planting.
1995 Grants
American Institute for Learning $4,971
Richard H. Halpin, 422 Congress Avenue, Austin, TX 78701
Environmental Corps Watershed Project "Bouldin Creek Watershed"
The purpose of this project is to educate members of the community about watersheds through studying a working model -- the East Bouldin Creek Watershed. The target audience for the project consists of at-risk youth and 3rd graders at Becker Elementary School who will use a model of the East Bouldin Creek Watershed. At-risk students will be involved in creating and sharing information with elementary school students about water quality and conservation.
Austin Independent School District $3,000
Tom Case, 6700 Arroyo Seca, Austin, TX 78757
Brentwood Outdoor Natural Science Academic Instruction
The goal of this project is to create a natural science center at Brentwood Elementary School for students in kindergarten through 5th grade. Parents and community members will provide advice and assistance on gardening, composting, and native plants. The Community Resource Group, Inc. will provide materials and direct assistance in the area of water conservation, water supply, and water quality. Brentwood teachers will develop new curriculum that incorporates basic natural sciences into an experiential teaching and learning method wherein students can directly apply their knowledge to environmentally compatible projects.
City of Arlington (Texas) $5,000
Jerome F. Ewen, 101 W. Abram Street, Arlington, TX 76010
Nonpoint Source Pollution and Water Quality Workshop for Junior High Students
The purpose of this project is to create an awareness of water quality issues among junior high school students in the Arlington Independent School District. The target audience are junior high school students. The project proposes to train a group of science teachers in water quality testing techniques. Each trained science teacher will take back to campus lesson plans, reference materials, videos, and a water quality test kit with replacement reagents. The environmental problem addressed is preserving water quality.
Galveston Bay Foundation, Inc. $5,000
Linda R. Shead, 17324-A Highway 3, Webster, TX 77598
Science of Galveston Bay
The purpose of this project is to increase the awareness and knowledge of Galveston Bay and to provide participants with some problem-solving skills for addressing the issues facing the bay system. The target audience includes middle school students who will make use of the instructional tools and materials developed by participants that concern the ecology of the Bay area.
Keep Texas Beautiful $9,000
Elizabeth J. Howie, P. O. Box 2251, Austin, TX 78768
Project BEE: Better Environment Through Education
This project will emphasize pollution prevention in areas around the state of Texas where information may be lacking. Curricula on pollution prevention will be developed and training will be delivered through workshops for elementary and secondary school teachers.
Lower Colorado River Authority $4,635
Nora Mullarkey, P. O. Box 220, Austin, TX 78767
In Concert with the Environment: Educating Hispanic Families in Central Texas
This project will provide environmental education to a greater percentage of 7th grade students and parents from Spanish-speaking households in the Lower Colorado River Authority's service territory. "In Concert with the Environment" will be translated into Spanish, distributed to students, and evaluated. Course materials will include lesson plans, descriptions of activities, a teacher's guide, a video, and student handbooks.
National Migrant Resource Program, Inc. $33,803
E. Roberta Ryder, 1515 Capital of Texas Hwy., So. Austin, TX 78746
Training Farm Workers
This project will coordinate "train-the-trainer" workshops to educate farm workers on pesticide safety, emergency response, and federally mandated workplace safety requirements. This program is directed at meeting federally mandated requirements to protect agricultural workers, the vast majority of whom are poor and of Hispanic origin, from possible adverse human health effects from pesticide exposure. The training workshops will be lead by an EPA-certified trainer and will draw national audiences of migrant health care providers, health educators, and farm worker peer educators. Training materials will include a Spanish/English video, trainer curriculum, and farm worker training guide developed in conjunction with and approved by the EPA Office of Pesticides' Occupational Safety Branch. The project will reach 90 trainers in three regional training workshops who will, in turn, make a commitment to train at least 100 farm workers each (for a total of 9,000) over the next year.
Neighborhood Service Council $5,000
Janis Reid Dumas, 7700 Spring Valley Road, Dallas, TX 75253
Cottonwood Creek Environmental Project
The purpose of this project is to create a nature trail along a small section of Cottonwood Creek and adjacent to the existing Cottonwood Park. The target audience comprises residents of the surrounding park area. The result will be a clear, safe, well-marked nature trail suitable for adults and children. The project will provide for a general cleanup of the banks of the creek and addresses the issue of environmental ecological awareness of the public.
Texas A & M Research Foundation $4,999
Judy Owens, Box 3578, College Station, TX 77843
Developing a World Wide Web Public Access Site
Organizers of this project will create a tool that educators throughout Texas can use to more easily gain access to environmental resources that are on the World Wide Web (WWW). The target audience are science and environmental middle and high school teachers in Texas working to develop a Texas WaterNet Home Page which will make many environmental resources and materials more readily available.
Texas A & M University $16,000
Harold L. Stone, 1716 Briarcrest Drive, Suite 702, Bryan, TX 77802
Adopt a Ditch--A Holistic Approach to Watershed Education
The purpose of this project is to trace the water from a local ditch through the various land uses downstream, while studying how each affects water quality, and how changes in the water affects the estuary at its point of overflow. The target population consists of educators, elementary students, and secondary students. Existing environmental curricula will be expanded with tools and activities and environmental training will be expanded to include area social service providers. Training will be conducted through field experiences and six watershed modules.
Texas A & M University, Texas Agricultural Extension Service $4,930
Matt Tarpley, Administration Bldg. Rm. 104, College Station, TX 77843
Water Conservation
The purpose of this project is to educate youth in urban areas about water conservation and protecting water quality. The project will reach 4-H members in Texas who will be trained in water conservation. Self-contained Water Conservation Project Guides will allow adult leaders to work with and train the individual youths.
The Green Classroom $4,950
Carla Marshall, 1701 Briar, Austin, TX 78704
Clean and Green Teacher Workshop
The purpose of this project is to improve environmental education teaching skills of the 13,000 teachers in the Austin Independent School District. The project will show teachers how to make and use non-toxic cleaning kits as part of their instruction. Instruction will be distributed to teachers through four workshops that address water quality issues.
The Woodlands Recycles $5,000
Kathie G. Herrick, P. O. Box 9934, The Woodlands, TX 77387
Water Resource Environmental Education Center
Organizers of this project will establish a regional environmental education center for water conservation education for The Woodlands, Texas, and all of Montgomery County, Texas. The center will be provided with media and printed materials and information about the center will be distributed through a Water Fair.
1994 Grants
Austin Nature Center $2,300
Louise Morell, 301 Nature Center Dr., Austin, TX 78746
Your Back Yard Ecoguide
This grant will help to print 4,000 copies of Your Back Yard Ecoguide. The guide will be handed out at the Nature Center's exhibit, "for Birds, Bats, Butterflies and More." The guide will explain how to reproduce native plant and animal habitats seen at the exhibit.
Bryan Independent School District $4,275
Laura North, 101 North Texas Ave., Bryan, TX 77803
Environmental Science Through Gardening
The purpose of this project is to teach students at Sul Ross Elementary School earth stewardship and environmental sciences through gardening. Funds will go to the purchase of gardening tools, equipment and materials for two purple martin houses and a pond.
Clean Pearland, Inc. $2,900
Delores Fenwick, P. O. Box 3041, Pearland, TX 77588
Waste: A Hidden Resource
This project involves a teacher training workshop for the "Waste: A Hidden Resource" curriculum. This project will fill an existing gap between the environmental education program in the elementary schools and Clean Pearland's education and information for adults in the community.
Fort Worth Clean City, Inc. $3,744
Carolyn Bellah, 4100 Columbus Trail, Fort Worth, TX 76133
Earth Kids
Project "Earth Kids" involves youth in the Summer Day Camp at Fort Worth's Handley-Meadowbrook Center. Activities will include recycling, litter reduction and beautification projects.
Galveston Bay Foundation $5,000
Linda R. Shead, 17324-A Highway 3, Webster, TX 77598
Galveston Bay Training
This project will train volunteers (Galveston Bay Ambassadors) to give educational programs about Galveston Bay issues to students in kindergarten through 12th grade. Scientific study sheets also will be developed.
Houston Clean City Commission, Inc. $4,816
Robin Blut, 2700 Post Oak Blvd., #1728, Houston, TX 77056
Waste: A Hidden Resource
This grant funds the presentation of workshops for secondary school teachers in the Houston area. The workshops will include hands-on training in use of the "Waste: A Hidden Resource" curriculum.
Lower Clear Fork of the Brazos Soil and Water Conservation District $4,949
Tommy L. Hailey, Rt. 1, Box 146 B, Albany, TX 76430
Bobwhite Brigade
Participants in this project will develop the "Bobwhite Brigade" program. The program will use trained volunteers to deliver presentations centered around quail conservation practices to youth and adults in their communities.
Pedernales Falls State Park $5,000
Rod Rylander, Rt. 1, Box 450, Johnson City, TX 78636
Ecology of Texas and Mexico
These grant funds will provide environmental education training for bilingual teachers from Mexico in methods for teaching youth about the regional flora and fauna. The goal of the project is to create an understanding about the ecological relationships of Texas and southern Mexico.
Sam Houston State University $5,000
Joel Bass, P.O. 2119, Huntsville, TX 77341
Workshop on Water Quality, Pollution Prevention, and Recycliing
For this project, a workshop will be conducted with Gulf Coast Utilities for elementary and junior high teachers in the East Texas Gulf Coast region. Important issues discussed during the workshop include water quality, pollution prevention, and recycling.
Texas A&M Research Foundation $5,000
Lori Wilkinson, Box 3578, College Station, TX 77843
Geography Curriculum
The purpose of this project is to develop a geography curriculum for teaching environmental education and to design model teacher workshops for social studies and science teachers of kindergarten through the 12th grade.
Texas Department of Transportation $5,000
Karen LaFevre, 125 E. 11th Street, Austin, TX 78701-2483
Vegetation Management Curriculum
Funds from this grant will go to produce curriculum and outreach materials and create a volunteer program to educate Texans about the value and importance of appropriate vegetation management on approximately 800,000 acres of highway right-of-way.
Texas Marine Education Association $3,000
Pamela Stryker, 3112 Ammunition Dr., Austin, TX 78748
Aquatic Workshops
Participants in this project will conduct two aquatic environmental workshops for teachers. The workshops will include laboratories, hands-on activities, and field trips. Topics discussed will include organism and habitat protection and the effects of pollution on the entire ecosystem.
University of Texas at El Paso $18,000
Randy Neeb, 500 W. University Dr., El Paso, TX 79968
Water Quality Curriculum
The purpose of this project is to adapt water quality and other environmental curriculum for teachers in the U.S. and Mexico. Funds will also be used to design and coordinate a water quality monitoring program for both countries and to conduct teacher training.
University of Texas Health Science Center $69,594
Irena Cech, School of Public Health, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, TX 77225
Outreach for Community Health Workers
The "Outreach for Community Health Workers" project will expand existing environmental education and field demonstration outreach efforts to help meet the environmental health education needs on the U.S. and Mexican border. It will provide environmental health training for community nurse-practitioners, doctors, and other health care providers to enable them to recognize and address environmental causes of ill health in the communities they serve. Environmental health problems to be addressed include those relating to inadequate treatment and management of sewage, industrial effluents, and agricultural and mining wastewater.
1993 Grants
Austin Independent School District $5,000
Claudia Tousek, 1111 W. 6th Street, Austin, TX 78703-5399
Building Pests Out
The goal of the "Building Pests Out" project is to eliminate pesticide spraying at schools by using a multi-disciplinary approach to environmental education. The plan includes environmental education activities, campus landscaping, development of an outdoor learning center, and shaping a model for introducing the program to other schools.
Galveston Bay Foundation, Inc. $5,000
Linda R. Shead, 17324-a Highway 3, Webster, TX 77598
Marsh Grass Outdoor Education Project
The "Marsh Grass Outdoor Education Project" focuses on the major problems of habitat degradation and loss in the Galveston Bay system. Participants in the project will develop and test a curriculum for a hands-on outdoor education program. Specific activities will include smooth cordgrass plantings and scientific measurements.
Keep Austin Beautiful $12,785
Robin Loving, 206 East 9th Street, Austin, TX 78701
The Green Classroom
In "The Green Classroom" senior citizens will team with young school children to gain knowledge about the environment and share in the decision-making process. The focus for learning will include organic gardening, landscaping, water and energy conservation, and waste reduction.
Kountze Independent School District $4,992
Jennifer Robbins, P. O. Box 460, Kountze, TX 77625
Big Thicket Environmental Curriculum Guide
Under this project, the existing Big Thicket Environmental Curriculum Guide will be revised for secondary school students and tested in a summer camp. Materials will be disseminated through publications, teacher in-service training, and a traveling exhibit of student work and student art.
Nolan Catholic High School $4,366
Joseph F. Kuban, 4501 Bridge Street, Fort Worth, TX 76103
Water Quality of Lake Arlington
This project will be a two-year water quality analysis of Lake Arlington which provides water for the city of Arlington, Texas and surrounding communities. Students and teachers will gain a better understanding of the Lake Arlington system while learning water sampling techniques and data analysis.
Prude Ranch Environmental Educational Center $5,000
John Robert Prude, P. O. Box 1431, Fort Davis, TX 79734
Prude Ranch Environmental Education Center
The Prude Ranch Environmental Education Center, in conjunction with Sol Ross University, will conduct two three-week training sessions for 4th through 8th grade teachers in the West Texas Permian Basin education planning region. Participants will earn college accreditation through classroom instruction, field trips, hands-on learning, and by writing a term paper.
Sam Houston State University $5,000
Joel Bass, P. O. Box 2119, Huntsville, TX 77341
Workshop for Impacts of Energy Choices
For this project and in cooperation with Gulf State Utilities, the university will conduct a three-week teacher workshop focusing on the impact of energy choices on the environment. The 22 science and social studies teachers for kindergarten through 12th grade will visit sites which illustrate the potential environmental impact of energy production and usage.
Sierra Club Foundation $5,000
7070 Skillman, #1065, Dallas, TX 75231
Inner City Outings
The "Inner City Outings" program provides outdoor experiences like hiking, camping, and canoeing to economically disadvantaged youth, mentally handicapped individuals, and senior citizens. Activities include educating participants on the inter-relationships of all living things and the need to protect and preserve the environment for future generations.
Texas Tech University $5,000
Cynthia McKinney, 203 Holden Hall, Lubbock, TX 79409-1035
Xeriscaping
This project will provide a facility for teaching the principles of xeriscaping to educators, students, nursery professionals, and the general public. A demonstration xeriscape will be designed as a model to other universities and municipalities that want to implement water saving programs.
Texas Water Commission $4,530
John Janak, P. O. Box 13087, Capitol Station, Austin, TX 78711
Environmental Education and Magic
For this project, a professional magician will develop a standardized presentation for use by district staff of the Texas Water Commission on visits to community schools. Key environmental topics to be covered will include water conservation, solid waste issues, and managing automotive wastes. Magical illusions will visually reinforce the concepts presented.
The Nature Conservancy of Texas $5,000
James Bergan, P. O. Box 163, Collegeport, TX 77428-0163
Mad Island Marsh Conservation Education Program
The "Mad Island Marsh Conservation Education Program" will be designed to educate the public and environmental educators. Marine and wetland ecology, wetland restoration, wildlife and marine biology, water quality, and coastal prairie ecology will be explored in the preserve's living laboratory.
1992 Grants
Cameron Independent School District $5,000
Cameron, TX 76520
Water Quality Monitoring
This grant funds a project to educate students and science teachers about monitoring of water quality and watershed issues on the Little River Basin watershed in Central Texas.
Coastal Soil and Water Conservation District $4,673
Beaumont, TX 77706
Environmental Education Libraries
This grant funds a project to promote environmental education in a highly industrialized area along the upper Texas Gulf Coast by developing and disseminating environmental education libraries to targeted schools with grades 4 to 6. The project will provide training for educators and other assistance.
Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District $5,000
Grapevine, TX 76051
Environmental Science Curricula
This project involves disseminating curricula to environmental science classes at Grapevine High School. The project will focus on educating students in wildlife biology, ecosystem stability, natural resource conservation, and ecology.
Houston Botanical Society $5,000
Houston, TX 77024
Discovery Boxes for the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center
This project involves creating six Discovery Boxes for the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center for the multi-level participatory education of children ages 3 to 12.
Keep San Antonio Beautiful, Inc. $5,000
San Antonio, TX 78238
Teachers Earth, Inc.
This grant funds a project to develop materials on solid waste reuse and recycling for Teachers Earth, Inc.
National Audubon Society, Texas $15,948
Brownsville, TX 78523
International Youth Alliance
This grant funds an International Youth Alliance project to raise the awareness of local community members and students of Brownsville, Texas and Matamoros, Mexico concerning local environmental issues. The project promotes international communication and cooperation in approaching environmental problems and solutions.
Sierra Club Foundation $5,000
Austin, TX 78767
Environmental Education Video Project
The "Environmental Education Video Project" involves producing and disseminating a video to schools and the public about how their daily decisions impact the environment. The video is intended to motivate citizens to take a more active role in solving environmental problems.
Upshur-Gregg Soil and Water Conservation District $5,000
Longview, TX 75604
Upshur-Gregg Soil and Water Conservation District
This grant funds a project to develop outdoor environmental classrooms for schools in Upshur and Gregg Counties, Texas.