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U.S. EPA ANNOUNCES ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AWARDS TO ARIZONA

Release Date: 8/4/1998
Contact Information: Lois Grunwald, U.S. EPA, (415) 744-1588

     (San Francisco)--The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) today announced the award of $28,639 in environmental education grants to two Arizona organizations.

     "Education is the key for people to understand the world around them and make meaningful choices in their lives and communities," said Felicia Marcus, U.S. EPA's regional administrator. "These grants will help young people to a greater understanding of how we are all linked and responsible for both our local and global environments."  

      Including the Arizona grants, EPA awarded grants totaling $200,000 to 25 organizations in the western states. Recipients of the grants include school districts, colleges and universities, non-profit organizations, and city, county, tribal, regional and state government agencies.

     The grants, awarded under EPA's National Environmental Education Act (EEA), will provide funding to support projects that will address significant environmental issues. Each organization will contribute matching funds.  For more information on EPA's environmental education programs, access EPA's web site at: https://www.epa.gov/enviroed.
 
The recipients are:

Southwest Public Recycling Association, Tucson -$23,125 Community Environmental Education Campaign Focusing on the issues of recycling, proper disposal of waste oil, and alternatives to household chemicals, this project will offer training for the teachers of grades 3-5 in the six elementary schools of Douglas, AZ.  Backup for this training will include development of bi-lingual classroom teaching materials and establishment of a resource library. A supplemental radio and newspaper advertising campaign aimed at parents will coincide with the school lessons.  The goal of the project is to increase awareness of the impact an individual's choice of actions and behaviors has on water and air quality and solid waste generation.

Yavapai/Prescott Tribe -$4,514 Organic Garden Project This project will establish an organic garden which will afford hands-on experiences for about forty tribal youth aged 3-18 under the direction of an educational coordinator and volunteer parents and elders. The coordinator will prepare a curriculum manual for Native American organic gardening emphasizing plants used by the Yavapai tribe.  Each youth will be responsible for planting and caring for specific crops that were traditionally planted by their ancestors.  In place of pesticides, children will learn how to use the interaction and interdependence of insects and animals, such as butterflies, worms, and bats, to cultivate plant development in a natural setting.  The youth will invite their parents and village community to a harvest festival featuring food they have grown and prepared.

     In addition to the grants awarded to the Arizona organizations, a grant was awarded to the following Northern California organization for a project in Tucson:

The Tides Center, San Francisco -$3,017
Environmental ACTION: Teacher Training Workshop This project will offer training to 20 secondary level teachers in the Tanque Verde Unified School District of Tucson, Ariz. on integrating environmental education into their daily classroom offerings. Environmental ACTION, a six part module for grades 6-12, has proven effective in the development of environmental awareness, critical thinking skills, and scientific learning.  Support for classroom implementation will include match up of partner organizations and agencies to provide speakers fluent with specific environmental topics to introduce subject matter to students.