EPA Recognizes Waukegan Educator with 2022 Presidential Innovation Award
CHICAGO (July 7, 2022) –U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in partnership with the White House Council on Environmental Quality, has awarded the Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators to Kate Krischke-Grobart, a teacher at Waukegan (Illinois) High School’s Washington Campus.
In addition to her classes, Ms. Krischke-Grobart has organized local and national field trips offering her students unique learning opportunities. She is also leading the design of an outdoor classroom that will include a low-profile prairie, which serves as a native biome to improve campus biodiversity. The outdoor classroom will also have a rain garden, which will provide a living laboratory to integrate environmental education into the broader school curriculum.
“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’m so honored and humbled to be recognized by the EPA,” said Kate Krischke-Grobart, awardee. “It is a tremendous privilege to help inspire the rising generations to create meaningful and lasting change for our planet.”
The Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators award was established by the 1990 National Environmental Education Act and 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, 11 educators from across the nation received the 2022 Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators, and two 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, waste management, water quality, wildlife conservation, STEM education, and school gardens.