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18 U.S. Teachers Receive Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators

Release Date: 05/30/2012
Contact Information: Dale Kemery (News media only), [email protected], 202-564-7839, 202-564-4355, Jennifer Bowman (Non-media inquiries), [email protected], 202-564-9824

WASHINGTON – The White House Council on Environmental Quality, in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has announced the winners of the 2011-2012 Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators. Eighteen teachers from around the country are being recognized for their exceptional work as leaders in the field of environmental education in formal school settings. Award recipients and their local education agencies will receive monetary awards and commemorative plaques to help support and encourage their use of environmental education in their classrooms and schools.

“To earn this prestigious award, each educator demonstrated teaching skills and innovative use of environmental education that connected students with the world around them in ways that will strengthen their education for years to come,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “Their lessons have put creativity and innovation, community engagement and leadership into practice, teaching students about civic responsibility and environmental stewardship. We are fortunate to have such educators in our schools today.”

The Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators recognizes outstanding K-12 teachers and their local education agencies across the United States for excellence in integrating environmental education into their lessons and connecting students with their communities and the natural world.

This program recognizes and supports teachers from both rural and urban education settings who make use of experiential and environmental opportunities that utilize creativity and community engagement to help students develop a sense of civic responsibility and stewardship in ecosystems. This year’s winning teachers' programs range from field studies in watershed and wetland science in New England to the study of clean energy sources in Colorado and ocean and climate science in Texas, forest ecology and trout studies in the Pacific Northwest and water resource management projects in the desert.

“The educators who have earned this honor are demonstrating leadership and excellence in environmental education, and are harnessing the innovation and imagination of our students,” said Nancy Sutley, chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. “These teachers are encouraging our nation’s future leaders to take responsibility for being good stewards of our environment, and preparing them to succeed in the 21^st century.”

Recipients of the Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators include:

• Lizanne Cox, New Haven, Conn., Common Ground High School
• Ed Lindsey, Old Town High School, Old Town, Maine
• Patricia Lockhart, Hubert Humphrey PS 57R, Staten Island, N.Y.
• Aaron Baker, Randolph High School, Randolph, N.J.
• Rebecca Sanders, Crellin Elementary School, Oakland, Md.
• Robert Carroll, Plaza Middle School, Virginia Beach, Va.
• Deborah Wasylik, Dr. Phillips High School, Orlando, Fla.
• Frank McKay, Exploris Middle School, Raleigh, N.C.
• Sandra Vander Velden, Fox River Academy, Appleton, Wis.
• Howard Hill, Highland Park High School, Highland Park, Ill.
• Clifford Strain, Flour Bluff ISD - Middle School, Corpus Christi, Texas
• Bradd Schulke, East Mountain High School, Sandia Park, N.M.
• Denise Scribner, Eisenhower High School, Goddard, Kan.
• John Broda, Buffalo Ridge Elementary, Cheyenne, Wyo.
• Sally High, Pagosa Springs Middle School, Pagosa Springs, Colo.
• Riccardo Magni, Pioneer Valley High School, Santa Maria, Calif.
• Mike Town, Redmond High School, Redmond, Wash.
• Deirdre Bingaman, Donnelly Elementary School, Donnelly, Idaho