DEP Awards $357,000 in Annual Environmental Education Grants

Programs Provide Training, Hands-On Activities for Students, Others

HARRISBURG, Pa., Aug. 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Pennsylvania's students,
teachers and community groups will be able to take field trips, study
alternative energy, restore ponds and wetlands, and use worms to create
compost with the help of 60 environmental education grants by the commonwealth
to schools, colleges, county conservation districts and local non-profit
organizations.

Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger said the $356,723 in
Environmental Education grants will be used to develop hands-on environmental
education programs and conduct workshops for teachers and local communities.

"These grants will fund a range of environmental education initiatives from
local energy workshops to developing environmental curriculum and educational
projects for elementary students," Hanger said. "We are seeing a renewed and
growing movement to care for our environment and to help our children and
neighbors understand the importance of conserving energy and protecting
Pennsylvania's air and water. These grants will support efforts that will
benefit all areas of the state."

Projects funded under the grants announced today include outdoor
environmental education facilities for school districts, field trips and
hands-on activities at wetlands and mine drainage sites, and energy and
conservation workshops for teachers and local community groups.

The grant program was established by the Environmental Education Act of 1993,
which mandates setting aside 5 percent of the pollution fines and penalties
collected annually by DEP for environmental education in Pennsylvania.

Since then, DEP has awarded nearly $7 million in grants to support the
environmental education efforts of schools, county conservation districts and
other nonprofit organizations throughout Pennsylvania.

For more information on environmental education, visit
www.depweb.state.pa.us, keyword: EE Grants.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The following are the 60 environmental education grants,
totaling $356,723 that were awarded by DEP.

Allegheny County
Riverview School District -- $1,433 -- Students will use the Audubon's Outdoor
Discovery Program entitled 'Community' and study a field, forest and pond to
learn about healthy ecosystems.

North Hills School District -- $15,000 -- An environmental education center
will be developed on school grounds to include a pavilion, amphitheater,
nature trail, composting sites and an organic garden.

Beaver County
Hopewell Area School District -- $3,000 -- Equipment will be purchased to use
in water quality field studies, as well as a field day at Hopewell Community
Park.

Blackhawk School District -- $2,100 -- The Agriculture Program will be
expanded to include alternative and renewable energy lessons.

Bedford County
Bedford Area School District -- $15,000 -- An environmental center on school
grounds will receive additional hands-on activities and lessons that will be
incorporated into the curriculum.

Berks County
Boyertown Area School District -- $15,000 -- Current lesson plans will be
revised and new plans created to meet the Pennsylvania academic standards.

Blair County
Blair County Conservation District -- $3,000 -- Sixth grade students will
visit a wetland site for field studies.

Bradford County
Bradford County Conservation District -- $13,350 -- The 'Bradford County
Volunteer Energy Corp' program involves recruiting volunteers, educating them
on energy usage and conservation, equipping them with exhibits and lessons and
sending them to various events to present.

Bucks County
Bensalem Township School District -- $1,500 -- Through classroom presentations
and field trips to the Silver Lake Nature Center, fourth grade students will
learn about watersheds and wetlands management.

Cambria County
Mount Aloysius College -- $3,000 -- Ten high school science teachers will
attend a summer camp with a focus on abandoned mine drainage.

Penn Cambria School District -- $15,000 -- The district will integrate the
Pennsylvania academic standards into the K-12 curriculum.

Forest Hills School District -- $3,000 -- Eighth and ninth grade students will
take field trips to monitor local streams to observe water quality degradation
due to abandoned mine drainage and agricultural run-off.

Centre County
Bald Eagle Area School District -- $7,500 -- Restoration of a pond and the
addition of an outdoor classroom on the high school grounds will benefit all
district students.

State College Area School District -- $15,000 -- District curriculum will be
revised through professional development.

Chester County
Chester County Citizens for Climate Protection -- $2,000 -- Seven public
workshops focusing on alternative energy will be conducted.

West Chester Area School District -- $1,481 -- A neglected drainage basin will
be transformed into a healthy wetland with the purchase of plants and garden
equipment.

Montgomery School -- $15,000 -- A nature trail, wetland, rain barrel
containment system and tree and shrub nursery will make up the new outdoor
learning area to be integrated into the school's curriculum.

Crawford County
Conneaut School District -- $3,000 -- Field trips to the Tom Ridge
Environmental Center and local waterways will enhance the in-class water
studies.

Cumberland County
Grace B. Luhrs University Elementary School -- $10,003 -- A system for
capturing and using rainwater will be developed and will expand current
gardening and composting projects and improve the instruction of the school
curriculum.

Dauphin County
Dauphin County Commissioners, Dauphin County Parks and Recreation -- $3,000 --
Two educator workshops will be developed and presented; one titled
Pennsylvania Biodiversity and the other Raptors of the Sky.

Delaware County
Delaware County Conservation District -- $10,738 -- The 'Bringing Green Energy
Home' series of 90 minute workshops will be available to all county residents
and will focus on energy conservation and renewable energy technologies.

Natural Lands Trust, Inc. -- $14,000 -- Ten stewardship assessments will be
offered to selected municipalities to enhance awareness about the importance
of land stewardship and to provide guidance about stewardship practices that
can enhance land and water resources.

Haverford Township School District -- $2,980 -- Students will assess an apple
orchard through the inspection of pheromone traps to learn about integrated
pest management.

Wallingford Swarthmore School District -- $2,961 -- Grant funds will be used
to purchase nine Vernier Labquest Interfaces that ninth grade students will
use to conduct water quality studies.

Erie County
Erie County Conservation District -- $10,000 -- Agriculture related
programming at the district and countywide will be developed and targeted
towards local residents, educators and students.

Iroquois School District -- $15,000 -- The district will update and align the
K-12 curriculum to meet the state academic standards for Environment and
Ecology and Science and Technology.

Millcreek Township School District -- $3,000 -- Equipment purchased and a
field trip to Asbury Woods Nature Center will give eighth grade students hands
on sustainable building and alternative energy learning.

Montessori in the Woods -- $7,000 -- This project involves an outdoor
classroom construction, nature trail development, community development and
education and science curriculum enhancement.

Fayette County
Uniontown Area School District -- $7,500 -- The school's courtyard will be
transformed into an outdoor classroom by adding a weather station, native
gardens and seating areas.

Fulton County
Central Fulton School District -- $1,221 -- Field trips to the Green and
Growing Event at the Pennsylvania renaissance faire grounds and the Penn Waste
Recycling Facility will be provided for gifted students in grades four through
eight.

Southern Fulton School District -- $10,462 -- An existing nature trail on
school grounds will be improved and equipped with proper trail tread,
amphitheater, learning stations and an alternative energy system and will be
used as an outdoor learning area for the use of the elementary school.

Greene County
Carmichaels Area School District -- $3,000 -- Several field trips and in class
studies will allow for students to understand ecosystem composition and
properties.

Huntingdon County
Huntingdon County Conservation District -- $5,065 -- The development of
wetlands discovery packs, observation worksheets and assessments and
transportation will allow county schools to explore local wetlands.

Juniata College -- $3,000 -- Hands-on learning activities linked to the
state's academic standards for Environment and Ecology will be designed and
installed in geo-caches placed around the Raystown Lake visitor center. School
groups and other visitors will use GPS units to locate the caches and perform
the learning activities.

Jefferson County
Jefferson County DuBois Area Vocational Technical School -- $3,000 --
Equipment, educational materials and field trips will enhance the alternative
energy sources curriculum.

Lackawanna County
Keystone College -- $7,500 -- Funds will be used to develop and purchase
educational resources and enhance a course titled 'Climate Change and the
Energy Challenge,' which is offered to teachers of grades seven through 12.

Lancaster County
Lancaster County Conservation District -- $5,000 -- Funds will be used to
provide 100 county residents with rain barrels and pertinent information at
the district's rain barrel workshops.

County of Lancaster -- $1,255 -- The purchase of materials to build a model
table top 'green' house and National Energy Education Development solar energy
kits and supporting materials will provide new programming for the center.

Lancaster County Career & Technology Center -- $3,000 -- A trail guide and
boxes will be located in Cove Park and will highlight green building
principles and technologies.

Lancaster Investment in a Vibrant Economy -- $15,000 -- The 'Energy Solutions
for City Homes' workshop series will be targeted towards Lancaster city
homeowners and residents and will focus on energy conservation and efficiency.

Lebanon County
Clarence Schock Memorial Park at Governor Dick -- $2,039 -- Workshops on
aquatic and forest ecosystems will be developed and presented to elementary
and middle school teachers.

Lehigh County
Lehigh County Conservation District -- $2,500 -- Bus transportation will be
provided to the eighth grade students in the East Penn School District to
attend the district's Watershed Awareness Day.

Luzerne County
Luzerne County Cooperative Extension Association -- $5,000 -- Workshops on
stormwater management will be developed and presented to educators,
municipalities and engineers.

Wyoming Valley West School District -- $15,000 - Pennsylvania's academic
standards for environment and ecology will be integrated into the ninth, tenth
and eleventh grade curriculum.

MMI Preparatory School -- $3,000 -- An elective course for tenth through
twelfth grade students will be provided and will focus on biodiversity,
watersheds and energy resources.

Mercer County
Grove City Area School District -- $689 -- Funds will be used to transport the
seventh grade students to the Lutherlyn Environmental Education Program.

Monroe County
Monroe County Conservation District -- $3,000 -- A two-day watershed workshop
for teachers will include using the EnviroScape drinking and wastewater
treatment model and a trip to perform stream surveys and sampling.

Montgomery County
Cheltenham Township School District -- $15,000 -- Constructing the school's
empty courtyard into an outdoor classroom will give fifth and sixth grade
students hands-on learning opportunities that they otherwise would not
receive.

Northampton County
Northampton County Conservation District -- $2,000 -- A workshop on soil
conservation will be developed and presented to high school teachers.

Lehigh University -- $3,000 -- Equipment purchased will allow the eighth grade
students in the Broughal and Nitschmann Middle Schools to learn hands on about
sustainable energy sources and technologies.

Northumberland County Conservation District -- $1,975 -- The conservation
district will provide watershed programming to fifth and tenth grade students
of Line Mountain School District by using an EnviroScape model and taking them
on a field trip to a local stream for water quality testing.

Schuylkill County
Schuylkill Technology Center -- $3,000 -- A school courtyard will be turned
into a discovery garden with raised beds and native plants.

Blue Mountain High School Green Club -- $900 -- Blue Mountain High School's
Green Club will take field trips to tour Penn State's sustainable facilities
and the Locust Ridge Wind Farm.

Snyder County
Snyder County Conservation District -- $3,000 -- Elementary students will be
given a vermicomposter for the classroom with instructions on how to maintain
and use the castings to grow flowers.

Somerset County
Conemaugh Valley Conservancy, Inc. -- $3,000 -- A day long field trip for
elementary students to a youth camp will include hands on activities and peer
to peer teaching.

Tioga County
Mansfield University -- $6,890 -- A workshop on water quality and watershed
assessment will be developed and presented to educators.

Warren County
Warren County School District -- $1,481 -- Seventh grade students throughout
the county will take part in a presentation on watersheds and non-point source
pollution and prevention using the EnviroScape model and taking to the field
for water quality testing.

Washington County
Avella Area School District -- $3,000 -- Funds will be used to develop six
hands-on lessons that will be used at the annual Stewardship Day.

Westmoreland County
Saint Vincent College -- $3,000 -- A one day composting workshop will be
developed and presented to elementary teachers.

Wyoming County
Wyoming County Conservation District -- $1,200 -- An Enviroscape model and
educational hand outs will enhance the annual Field Day which targets every
fifth grade student in the county.

CONTACT:
Teresa Candori
(717) 787-1323

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection

Teresa Candori of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection,
+1-717-787-1323