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New York Groups Get $80,000 in EPA Education Grants; In NYC, Capital Region and Beyond, Groups To Promote Environmental Stewardship Among Young People

Release Date: 08/02/2000
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(#00142) New York, N.Y. -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that it has awarded grants totaling approximately $80,000 to eight organizations in New York State for efforts to educate children and their parents and teachers about the environment and its impacts on human health. Since 1992, EPA’s Environmental Education grant program has provided financial assistance to non-profits, educational institutions and local and tribal government agencies that help communities understand and care about what are often complex environmental issues. "When it comes to environmental conservation, educating our children is perhaps the most important thing we can do," said Jeanne M. Fox, EPA Regional Administrator. "The New York groups that are receiving these grants this year are working to build attitudes, lifestyles and critical thinking skills among young people that will make them better stewards of the world they will inherit. We are very proud to support their efforts." EPA’s New York City office received applications from 45 New York groups for environmental education grants this year, from which the following eight organizations were selected. For information on how to apply for an environmental education grant, contact Teresa Ippolito, EPA Regional Environmental Education Coordinator, at (212) 637-3675. Phipps Community Development Corporation (Phipps CDC) - $24,957 Bronx, NY Drew Gardens Environmental Education Project Phipps CDC provides services that increase the educational and economic opportunities of low-income families in the Bronx. Through the Drew Gardens project, Phipps CDC, partnering with Community School 214 and its Early Childhood Education Center, will provide professional development programming in environmental education to at least ten Bronx pre-K teachers over a six-month period. Phipps CDC hopes to help these educators incorporate environmental education into the local school district’s general science curriculum and other classroom programming. The Catskill Center for Conservation and Development, Inc. - $20,430 Arkville, NY The Catskills, A Sense of Place In an effort to inform local students about the natural environment and watershed issues pertaining to this magnificent region, the Catskill Center will continue to develop its educational module "The Catskills, A Sense of Place" for area teachers of grades four through six. Over 10,000 public and private school students will be reached through the project. The Center will develop a teacher’s manual and website, conduct teacher workshops, and organize classroom visits and field trips into the Catskill Mountains. "A Sense of Place" builds an informed citizenry more likely to adopt the attitudes that are necessary to preserve the natural beauty of the area and its important watershed, which provides 90% of New York City’s drinking water. Partners include the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, Youth Resources Development Council, the Gilboa-Conesville Central School and the Phoenicia Elementary School. Council on the Environment of New York City, Inc. - $9,940 Bronx, NY Training Student Organizers to do Environmental Health Education Projects in the South Bronx The Council on the Environment will partner with Bronx Regional High School to educate four high school classes about environmental issues through its Training Student Organizers Program. The program, integrated into regular course work, will transform more than 100 students into teachers as they learn how to educate the public about local environmental concerns such as asthma, lead poisoning and noise pollution. Council on the Environment staff will train the students to reach out to their families, neighbors and community through educational tabling events, public service announcements, letters to the editor and presentations to school and community groups. The Council estimates that 20,000 people will receive important environmental and health information through the student organizers. Guilderland Central Schools - $5,000 Guilderland, NY Pine Bush Project Farnsworth Middle School will partner with the nearby Albany Pine Brush Preserve Commission on an environmental education and ecological restoration project at the school, using the Pine Brush as a learning laboratory. Seventh, eighth and ninth grade students will go through two weeks of training about the Pine Bush, native plant gardening, butterfly ecology and public speaking. The students will also participate in ongoing research at Pine Bush into butterfly habitat. Once they have completed their training, the students will conduct tours of their school’s butterfly house and native plant garden for over 2,000 visitors including families with small children, gardeners and senior citizens. The students will also conduct workshops on topics including ecological restoration, native plant gardening and butterfly ecology. Prospect Park Alliance, Inc. - $5,000 Brooklyn, NY Environmental Career Development for Prospect Park Youth Workers The Prospect Park Alliance, a non-profit partnership with the City of New York, is restoring a 250-acre woodlands area in Prospect Park, the largest park in Brooklyn. During the summer months, the Alliance employs crews of young people in this environmental restoration project. This year, the Alliance will integrate an educational component into the young people’s work, including on-the-job training in native and invasive plant identification, erosion control and horticulture techniques. The program will also include education on environmental topics, career preparation and field trips to other New York City urban restoration sites and environmental study centers, so that participants will have opportunities to interact with people pursuing careers in the environment. Victor Central School - $5,000 Victor, NY Victor Environmental Education Project This project will make students aware of the impact commercial and residential development has on their town. Students in Victor Central School’s Environmental Studies classes will work in partnership with the Ontario County office of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the Town of Victor and a local developer to research and write environmental impact reports on properties within the town. The students will develop multi-media presentations and report on their findings to Victor High School Economics classes, the Town of Victor Board of Supervisors and, in video format, on the local access cable channel. Shenendowa Central School District- $4,857 Clifton Park, NY Outdoor Environmental Laboratory and Wildlife Habitat Gowana Middle School, part of a large 12-building suburban campus, will transform a spacious interior courtyard into an outdoor environmental teaching and learning laboratory. Using suggestions outlined in the National Wildlife Federation’s "Backyard Wildlife Habitat Program," Gowana students will be involved in developing the outdoor environmental laboratory. All seventh-grade students will use the laboratory as part of their life science program, while sixth and eighth graders will use it for interdisciplinary programs. While developing and learning in this ecosystem, the students will learn how to preserve fragile natural ecosystems. Hudson River Sloop Clearwater - $4,522 Poughkeepsie, NY Discovery Watershed Initiative The Clearwater’s On-Land Discovery Program teaches mid-Hudson Valley elementary and middle school students about the beauty of the Hudson River, its diverse organisms and its complex environmental issues. EPA funding will expand this already-existing program, which includes classroom visits by Clearwater staff to introduce students to the Hudson, followed by a five-hour field trip to the River at the Esopus Meadows Environmental Center in Ulster County where children study plankton and learn about naval navigation, water monitoring and bits of Hudson lore. EPA’s grant will allow for a second follow-up classroom visit after the field trip to encourage students to think of the Hudson as a watershed and its surroundings as one entity -- a network of watershed communities.