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New Bedford Organization Selected for EPA Environmental Education Grant

Release Date: 10/05/2011
Contact Information: Paula Ballentine, 617-918-1027

(Boston, Mass. – October 5, 2011) A coastal program in New Bedford, Mass., that aims to encourage teachers and students from two high schools to be stewards of their environment was recently awarded a $67,629 environmental education grant by EPA.

The Coalition for Buzzards Bay was one of 74 organizations in New England to apply for funding and one of four to receive part of the $219,094 awarded.

The funding will be used for a partnership that aims to educate underserved students in grades 2 through 8 on water quality issues through afterschool and summer programs. The Bay in My Backyard is partnering with the YMCA Southcoast and Wareham Public Schools for this two year program, which is expected to reach 6,000 students. The first year will focus on youth led learning and exploration and the second year will focus on a local stewardship project that aligns with the state’s curriculum frameworks on improving water quality across the Buzzards Bay ecosystem.

EPA funds environmental education projects that focus on educating teachers, students, parents or the general public about human health problems. These issues range from pollution; improving teaching tools and techniques for educators through workshops; building state or local capability to develop and deliver environmental education or public outreach programs; or promoting environmental careers and stewardship among students through hands-on activities. 

The program also encourages projects that educate members of a community through community-based organizations, or educates the general public through print, film, broadcast, or other media to be more environmentally aware and make environment friendly decisions in their day-to-day lives.

Other New England grants awarded went to:

• The Education Connection in Litchfield, Conn ($28,977) for a program aiming to integrate the environment into classrooms and involving 10 middle school teachers and up to 250 students.
   
• The Mount Desert Island Biological Lab in Salisbury Cove, Maine ($83,628), a two-year program to educate students and teachers in two inland Maine high schools about marine vegetative environments.
   
• The Environmental Justice League of Rhode Island ($38,860) , whose ECO Youth Multimedia Community Educators offers afterschool programs to mostly underserved high school students on air quality, toxics and  households chemicals to reduce the risks of VOCs, particular emissions and other asthma triggers.

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