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EPA awards $24,371 to Michigan organizations for environmental education projects

Release Date: 07/21/2006
Contact Information: Megan Gavin, (312) 353-5282, [email protected]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
No. 06-OPA126

CHICAGO (July 21, 2006) - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 recently awarded environmental education grants to two Michigan organizations. Big Bay de Noc School District, Cooks, received $9,375 and Calvin College, Grand Rapids, received $14,996.

The Michigan groups are among 10 organizations in EPA's six-state Region 5 that received a total of $187,200 in environmental education grant money this year. More than 100 proposals were received from groups in Illinois Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.

"These creative projects inspire environmental stewardship in communities throughout the Midwest," said Region 5 Acting Administrator Bharat Mathur. "We recognize the winners' imaginative approaches to environmental education."

Big Bay de Noc School District and Garden Township will turn 18 acres of wooded wetland on the shores of Lake Michigan into an outdoor environment-based learning laboratory.

Observation stations, raised boardwalks over environmentally sensitive areas, an outdoor classroom, parking and picnic areas, and tour activity guides will be designed around the Hands-On, Minds-On Science Learning for Life program for Pre-K-12 children including handicapped students.

At Calvin College, high school teachers will learn about watershed issues and implement environmental teaching units tailored for the Plaster Creek watershed. The teachers will then pass on to students their knowledge of how to use scientific techniques to design, gather, analyze and present information on the physical and chemical quality of the creek.

EPA grants are awarded yearly under the National Environmental Education Act, which was passed in 1990 to stimulate environmental education through design, demonstration and communications projects conceived by local organizations.

For more information on Region 5's environmental education program go to http://epa.gov/region5/enved/.