EPA Recognizes Ohio Educator with 2023 Presidential Innovation Award
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in partnership with the White House Council on Environmental Quality, has awarded the Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators to Amanda Schaeffer, a teacher at Hilliard Innovative Learning Hub in Hilliard, Ohio.
Ms. Schaeffer teaches “Art and Ecology,” a course she created to empower students as agents of change in their own communities. Ms. Schaeffer has organized multiple environmental projects for the students, including helping them build a raised garden bed in the school’s courtyard. Students found the ideal location for the garden, set timelines and budgets, and created their own designs for the garden bed. Ms. Schaeffer currently uses it to teach her students about nutrition, food insecurity, and water conservation. Produce from the garden is donated to the Hillard Food pantry. Ms. Schaeffer is also known for her “Seeds of Change” project, where students create connections across neighborhoods to make urban farming and sustainable art accessible to everyone.
“Children are naturally curious and the environment around us harbors so much diversity and opportunity for discovery,” said EPA Regional Administrator Debra Shore. “These awards recognize enterprise and leadership – in the classroom and outside its walls. We celebrate these teachers’ environmental stewardship.”
"I am honored to receive this award,” said awardee Amanda Schaeffer. “Creating lasting change through innovative environmental education is fulfilling and I hope to inspire educators and students to continue making a difference for a more sustainable future."
The Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators award was established by the 1990 National Environmental Education Act. It seeks to recognize, support, and bring public attention to the outstanding environmental projects performed by teachers who go beyond textbook instruction to incorporate methods and materials that utilize creative experiences and enrich student learning in K-12 education. The White House Council on Environmental Quality, in partnership with EPA, administers this award.
This year, nine educators received the 2023 PIAEE, and four educators were recognized with an honorable mention distinction. Winning educators demonstrated leadership by integrating environmental education into multiple subjects and using topics such as climate change, environmental justice, water infrastructure, healthy school environments, environmentally friendly agriculture practices, recycling, and reducing contributions to ocean and marine litter.