Deadline: 1-Jul-21
The Chesapeake Bay Trust has announced Mini Environmental Education Grant Program to engage citizens and students in Maryland, D.C., Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia in activities that raise public awareness and participation in the restoration and protection of the Chesapeake and coastal Bays and their rivers.
The Mini Grant Program is supported by a partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Chesapeake Bay Watershed Education and Training Program (B-WET).
Through the Mini Environmental Education Grant Program, the Trust seeks to increase student awareness and involvement in the restoration and protection of our region’s natural resources through increasing access to programs that provide Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEEs).
Goals
The program was established to provide accessible funds to schools, organizations, and agencies for Pre-K to 12th grade environmental education and specifically seeks to:
- Educate students about natural resources and their local watersheds and how students can become environmental stewards and make a difference in watershed health;
- Engage school communities in education and restoration activities that benefit watershed health;
- Provide MWEEs for students and teachers
- Provide environmental education professional development opportunities for teachers; and
- Support environmental literacy goals within schools, school systems, and other educational institutions.
Funding Information
- Applicants may request up to $5,000
Eligible Project Types
- A good MWEE is not just an outdoor field trip. MWEEs are multi-faceted, learner-centered experienced that focus on investigations into local environmental issues that lead to informed action and civic engagement.
- Applicants are encouraged to review sources for best practices for meaningful outdoor experiences; specifically, the “Educator’s Guide to the Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience (MWEE)” and Bay Backpack’s MWEE resources have tools and examples for building a successful MWEE.
Project Type 1: MWEEs for Students
Programs that include the four Essential Elements and four Supporting Practices of the MWEE will be prioritized.
- Programs that integrate climate change education will be prioritized. The Trust strives to invest in projects and programs that will positively “move the needle” for the health of the environment and communities across Maryland which includes mitigating climate change. Today’s students are tomorrow’s decision-makers and promoting climate literacy is essential to ensuring that future policy decisions address climate change mitigation and adaptation needs. Students should not only learn about the impacts of climate change, but also the solutions necessary to ensure a sustainable and livable world for all. Note: climate change does not have to be the focus of the education effort but could instead be weaved throughout the learning experience.
- Programs are welcome to engage youth beyond the Pre-k-12 formal education space (such as scouting groups); however, programs should incorporate the MWEE framework as described above.
Project Type 2: Outdoor Classroom and/or School-yard Habitat Improvement
Proposals that include the elements below will be prioritized:
- Demonstration that students will be involved, through the MWEE framework, in the planning and implementation of the outdoor classroom or habitat.
- Integration of the outdoor classroom in future MWEE programs.
- Indication that the classroom or habitat will be used for certification or re-certification of Green School/Sustainable School status.
- Supporting attachments including: a draft design plan, photos of the site, native plant list if applicable, letter of commitment from school facilities department, and maintenance plan.
- While some contractor fees for implementation may be necessary, projects requesting contractor involvement in lieu of any student involvement will NOT be prioritized.
Project Type 3: Professional Development for School Staff
Professional Development proposals may request a range of approachesto adapt to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) restrictions and the uncertainty impacting schools throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Funding will support professional development for teachers, providers, or administrators that can include any mix of virtual, at-home, or in-person learning.
- Trainings and workshops must support elements of the MWEE model, such as the investigation of a local environmental issue, using the outdoors as a context for learning, and/or design and implementation of an action project.
- The Trust encourages trainings to be at least 30 hours and including not only workshops but also ongoing support to ensure that participants are successful in using the information gained from the trainings.
- PD trainings should model the Environmental Education pedagogy as much as possible, including the use of the field/communities for instruction.
- PD trainings should include strategies to increase the environmental literacy of the participating teachers encouraging them to be environmental role models for their students.
- Successful applications should provide a draft list of teachers by subject and grade that are targeted to attend the trainings with an explanation of why the teachers were selected.
- Successful applications should provide a draft agenda. The absence of a draft agenda will need to be justified.
- Agenda must require participants to complete the MWEE 101 Online Course ahead of PD training and/or include an overview of the MWEE model to ensure participants are able to use what is learned to design, enhance and/or implement their own MWEE.
Eligibility Criteria
The Trust welcome requests from the following organizations:
- 501(c)3 Organizations
- Faith Based Organizations
- Community Associations
- Service, Youth, and Civic Groups
- Municipal, County, Regional, State, Federal Public Agencies
- Soil/Water Conservation Districts and/or Resource Conservation and Development Councils
- Forestry Boards
- Public or Independent Higher Education Institutions
- For Profit organizations is NOT eligible for funding through this program.
The Trust prefers that the school serve as the lead applicant instead of a partner, however, if a partner does apply, the Trust requires the following:
- The participating school(s) name(s)
- A narrative statement explaining why the partner is applying rather than a school
- Letter(s) of commitment from participating school(s)
- If the applicant is representing an after-school and/or summer school program, it is imperative to meet all essential elements of a MWEE described above.
For more information, visit https://cbtrust.org/grants/environmental-education-mini/