 NOVEMBER 26, 2003
Thank you for visiting our website again. This is the second "Letter from the Director" since our website was redesigned in September of 2003 to make the Environmental Education Surveys of the General Public and of K-12 Teachers more accessible to you. Each month we plan a new letter to give you the Board's perspective on progress in North Carolina toward reaching the goal of a statewide population with the understanding of the environmental consequences of our individual actions.
A lot has happened in just one month that further demonstrates that the support and recognition for environmental education is growing day by day. Last month in this letter we mentioned the two Environmental Education Surveys, the "It's Our Water" Earth/Environmental Science curriculum, and the new grants for Environmental Education Centers. Highlights of this month include:
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The Environmental Education Fund has received a US EPA grant under the National Environmental Education Act to partner with the DENR Office of Environmental Education for another of Judy Pope's Environmental Education Professional Development Institutes.
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The "It's Our Water" Earth/Environmental Science curriculum was previewed at the North Carolina Science Teachers Conference November 13 in Greensboro, and 257 High School Teachers signed up for training next summer.
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I was nominated and selected to serve on the National Environmental Education Advisory Council reporting to the USEPA Administrator on the implementation of the National Environmental Education Act.
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International Paper has once again provided a generous grant to the Environmental Education Fund to partner with the Office of Environmental Education to implement the popular Love-A-Tree program for 5th grade teachers.
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Howard Lee Chairman of the NC Board of Education addressed the 290 graduates of the Environmental Education Certification program on November 21 and not only indicated that the Governor, the Secretary of DENR and now the Chairman of the State Baord of Education would sign EE Certificates, but he also called for 10 to 12 pilot schools to evaluate incorporating the environment as an integrating context for learning (EIC).
It is an exciting time in the field of environmental education, and North Carolina is making strides to not only establish the profession, but also to raise the public's awareness of our need for a better understanding of our environment, and the options and choices we each have in order to make more informed decisions in our daily lives.
Thank you again for visiting our site, and for taking the time to ready this lettter. Please contact us with any ideas and suggestions you have to help us implement our mission, goals, objectives as they are contained in our strategic plan.
Anne Taylor, Executive Director
eefund@aol.com
OCTOBER 14, 2003
Welcome to our website and thank you so much for visiting.
Because of the generosity of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation we are now able to make the general public and the K-12 teacher environmental education survey results widely available not only in North Carolina but across the country. Please visit the survey pages and marvel with us on the overwhelming support for environmental education in schools and for all adults -- over eight million residents of North Carolina. But then ponder with us the great challenge we have in bringing North Carolina's remarkable environmental education resources into the mainstream of our daily lives so that we are each aware of the personal responsibility we have for the environmental consequences of our own activities.
On November 13, 2003, the Environmental Education Fund will be presenting a preview of the brand new "It's Our Water" high school curriculum featuring North Carolina water quality and quantity and starring North Carolina high school students in, on and around the waters in the mountains, the piedmont and the coast of our state. All K-12 students now have the opportunity for greater environmental knowledge and understanding through videos, hands-on out of doors experiences, and North Carolina-specific materials to meet the recent high school graduation requirement for Earth/Environmental Science. Over $180,000 has been contributed by universities, state and federal government, business and industry, and foundations to make this teaching resource available to all 700 Earth/Environmental Science teachers statewide free of any charge simply by attending professional development teacher training workshops.
This coming Winter and Spring the Environmental Education Fund, in partnership with the North Carolina Association of Environmental Education Centers (NCAEEC), the Office of Environmental Education, the US Forest Service, the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources Division of Water Quality and the US Environmental Protection Agency's Section 319 Clean Water Act program will provide competitive grants up to $10,000 each to those centers who have demonstrated an interest in public education about preventing polluted runoff and propose exhibits and programs to expand their effectiveness.
It is an honor, and a real pleasure, to serve as Executive Director of the Environmental Education Fund with Board members who are dedicated to more informed environmental decision-making through the highest quality and most effective environmental education possible. I'll bring you up to date next month on other initiatives and partnerships to raise public awareness of the environmental consequences of our actions. Again, thanks so much for visiting our web site.
Anne Taylor, Executive Director
Environmental Education Fund
eefund@aol.com
October 16, 2003
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