Environmental News

Contact: Denise Morrison
(913) 551-7003
morrison.denise@epa.gov

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 31, 2004

EPA Awards More Than $185,000 For Environmental Education Grants

EPA Region 7 has awarded 15 environmental education grants to develop new environmental education projects or improve existing ones. EPA received and reviewed 59 proposals from Region 7 's
four-state area of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.

This is the 12th year environmental education grants have been available. The Environmental Education Grant Program awards grants up to $250,000. Recipients can receive up to $25,000 from the regional office. Grants over that amount are awarded by EPA headquarters in Washington. More information about the Environmental Education Grant Program is available at <http://www.epa.gov/enviroed/grants.html>.

Environmental education increases public awareness and knowledge about environmental issues and provides the skills to make informed decisions and take responsible actions.

Projects chosen were:

IOWA

Hamilton County Agricultural, Webster City - $14,873: This project will demonstrate how rural agriculture affects the environment and the health and safety of youth. Youth Environmental Agriculture Days will give fifth graders and their teachers the opportunity to participate in seven educational seminars about water quality and ground water. Students will learn about the connection between how food is produced from farms, biotechnology, corn and soybean byproducts. They will also learn how these activities and products affect our daily lives.

Hartman Reserve Nature Center, Cedar Falls - $5,244: This after-school program will provide environmental education activities at the nature center for elementary and middle school youth in partnership with the local Girl Scout and Boy Scout councils. The project will expose students in grades 6 - 9 from six middle schools in Waterloo and Cedar Falls to local environmental issues. Activities from Project Wild, Project Learning Tree, Project WET and IOWATER, a water quality testing program curriculum, will be used to teach students about water quality issues.

Proteus, Inc., Des Moines - $25,000: This project will involve a statewide agribusiness employers conference for 200 employers of Latinos, immigrants and migrant farm workers. These employers will be non-formal educators who will learn about environmental issues and how to improve their environmental education teaching skills. Proteus will educate agribusiness employers about workplace environmental regulations and issues, including hazards related to herbicides, pesticides and other toxic substances that affect workers through contact, breathing and swallowing. These employers will determine the best way to provide information and educational techniques to Latino, immigrant and migrant farm worker employees.

KANSAS

American Lung Association, Topeka - $6,433: This project involves removing chemicals from the classroom. Teachers, school staff and administrators will learn about the human health threats from environmental pollution that is unrecognized in schools. School officials will learn about hazardous chemicals stored in classrooms or maintenance areas. The project will identify old, unused materials that have been stored in locations such as the science laboratories, maintenance shops and art departments. These materials have the potential to cause significant breathing and other health-related problems for students. The project will raise awareness among school employees and enable them to recognize potential hazards and learn how to properly manage and or dispose of the items.

Blue River Watershed, Overland Park - $5,000: Teaching Rivers in an Urban Environment project will involve three schools participating in river education. Students and teachers will be connected to other stream teams across school districts, municipalities, counties and state lines. Students will share their findings and post stream data on a watershed map dedicated to the Blue River on the pathfinder science web site. The Blue River Watershed Association education director will recruit, train and equip three K-12 teachers and 300 students within the Blue River watershed.

Friends of Leer Richardson Zoo, Garden City - $1,000: This Wildlife Trade Teachers’ Workshop project involves 55 teachers and 1,000 students from grades 5-12. The workshop will use educators’ guides for survival materials to introduce wildlife trade issues to teachers. Teachers can use this information to integrate wildlife trade issues into classroom curriculums. These activities can be tied into requirements for science and other subjects, such as geography, math and language arts. The workshop will increase community exposure to wildlife survival trade issues.

John Dewey Learning Academy, Lecompton - $11,400: This project will provide integrating environmental education activities into the core curriculum for high school students. The environment will be used as an outdoor classroom to integrate math, science, social studies, language arts, and vocational education courses into everyday life. Teachers will learn how to teach students the connection between environmental education and service learning. This curriculum can be used to motivate high school youth in completing high school and establishing future goals.

Kansas Association for Conservation and Environmental Education, Manhattan - $20,190: The association, in partnership with Green Topeka, will provide training on how to develop a waterspout garden as a tool for education and community improvement. A waterspout garden is a planted area with a shallow indentation that collects and holds runoff before it reaches the storm drain. This waterspout garden will serve as an outdoor learning space. The conservation association and Green Topeka will make presentations at the Iowa, Nebraska and Missouri environmental education conferences.

No Till on the Plains, Wamego - $21,878: This project will involve educating students, teachers and the agricultural community about the benefits of food products produced through a no-till cropping system. This project will also demonstrate the importance of environmentally friendly agricultural production that preserves the environment and conserves resources. This educational program will reach 300 high school students and 10 teachers in Kansas using EPA’s Stream Team curriculum. It will provide hands-on-learning for youth; such as data and information collection, by comparing 10 no-till model farms/farmers and 10 traditional farms and farmers. This will be done by documenting environmental benefits, developing a public education promotion program to reach 10,000 people and identifying the environmental benefits of no-till farming practices.

MISSOURI

Metropolitan Community and Economic Development, Kansas City - $22,320: This project will educate residents about health issues surrounding the environmental issues of lead poisoning, asbestos contamination and disposal of household chemicals and other agents. The focus will be to educate about 5,500 families by holding group forums and conducting experiential lab activities, teacher training sessions and parent/community outreach. The community will learn about basic ecological principles and how to identify issues facing urban communities.

Missouri Department of Agriculture, Jefferson City - $9,127: Jefferson City Farm Stewardship Field project will involve fourth-grade students in Jefferson City school districts to act as a Missouri farmer and face the daily decisions regarding the stewardship of natural resources in the production of the ingredients of a favorite student food: pizza. Educators will teach students the connection between environmental stewardship of local natural resources such as water and soil. This project will teach students about taking personal responsibility for the decisions they make regarding the environment. This educational activity will be a one day event reaching about 675 fourth graders in the Jefferson City community.

World Bird Sanctuary, Valley Park - $2,076: World Bird Sanctuary will host a half
day workshop for local educators of grades K-12. This workshop will provide tools
and resources to teachers to teach students about local environmental challenges
and issues. Educators will be given resources to teach students about habitat restoration, reintroduction of endangered species, monitoring species population levels and enrichment of ecosystems to enhance bird reproduction.

YMCA of the Ozarks, Potosi - $7,784: This project will involve enhancing and expanding the existing environmental education programs at the YMCA. The YMCA will place informative educational signs on roads, walkways, trails and in buildings. The staff at the YMCA will add education displays in the nature center and dining room area. Environmental assessment equipment will be available for students and teachers to use in outdoor classrooms. Approximately 40,000 people will participate in YMCA programs throughout the year. The environmental education programs offered through the YMCA will provide opportunities for students, teachers and the community to learn more about forestry, prairies, streams, ponds and caves.

NEBRASKA

Educational Service Unit #15, Trenton - $20,930: Invasive Species in Wetlands and Prairie Ecosystems project will involve teachers and students from Nebraska and Kansas investigating the effects that two invasive species have on pond water quality and native prairie grasses that adjoin the wetland area. Participants will propose possible solutions and implement the approved plans for the pond-prairie ecosystem in south-central Nebraska. Ten environmental research teams, consisting of one teacher, four students and one community member, will visit the pond-prairie site to gather data about the effects of the large concentration of Canadian geese and red cedar trees on environmental quality. On-site visitations will be used to share information and assistance to the schools. All data collected will be placed on the Internet for all teachers, students and communities.

Keep North Platte Beautiful, North Platte - $12,292: Recycled reading gardens involve hands-on recycling, litter prevention and water conservation activities for students. Students will visit recycling centers and design recycled reading gardens at their schools. They will participate in recycling and litter cleanup activities as an environmental service project. Students will explore waste handling techniques and study how waste handling today becomes tomorrow’s care of the Earth’s history for future generations. Students and teachers will participate in environmental service field trips to recycling centers that demonstrate waste handling methods.

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Brownfields 2004
September 20 - 22, 2004
St. Louis, Mo.

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