RE: Community Based Environmental Literacy
Anne Lewis
Thanks to those who responded to the inquiry below.
To recap briefly, the South Dakota Discovery Center is a partner in a collaborative effort with EPA Region 8 states to fund EE mini-grant projects that develop or implement our respective states’ environmental literacy plans. These plans address how a state plans to foster environmental literacy in preK-12 students; the plans discuss what sorts of professional development will be necessary to equip teachers, what content will have to be covered and how, what will be the graduation requirements to demonstrate students are environmentally literate, how will environmental literacy be assessed and evaluated in our students, and of course how will the states fund all of this.
Our state environmental literacy plan is currently being developed under separate funding, which means that we were in something of a betwixt and between zone in terms of what these mini-grants could fund – we didn’t need to fund the plan’s development but we weren’t ready for plan implementation either since, technically, there was no formal plan to implement.
However.
Part of developing an environmental literacy plan here in South Dakota involved holding listening sessions to hear from parents, educators, and the general public what they thought needed to happen to create environmentally literate students.
One of the needs that was clearly identified by a variety of stakeholders in these listening sessions was for environmental literacy to be developed and supported in the community. As one teacher stated, if students don’t get it in the community, they will leave it at school. Teachers felt inadequate to undertake developing environmental literacy without community assets.
Originally, the environmental literacy plan templates and guidance did not call for consideration of community assets. However, here in South Dakota the role of the community is something that needs further exploration and support.
I decided based on the need outlined above and your responses to the email below to focus the mini-grants here in South Dakota on enhancing community assets that build environmental literacy.
As things stand now, an RFP is in development to call for projects that will develop a community’s capacity to facilitate environmental literacy by networking key asset providers around a local Earth Day event. Why an Earth Day event? Three reasons, the first of which is to make the networking meaningful; groups aren’t meeting just to meet but to accomplish something. An Earth Day event also will identify the asset providers to the wider community and (reason three) an Earth Day event will help facilitate environmental literacy amongst the target audience, i.e. students and families.
Two of the expected outcomes of the mini-grant are that this networking will be sustained at least for one calendar year (i.e. email lists, wiki) and the assets and asset providers are compiled in some way for the community and schools. More about that will be in the RFP. Not a huge task but an important one.
The tentative timeline for the funding is the RFP will be released next month with proposals due in September. Project start date is January 1 which means having to hit the ground running for an Earth Day event. May I recommend that you start networking sooner rather than later?
Also something to keep in mind – these proposals will be reviewed by a team outside of South Dakota. Furthermore neither the South Dakota Discovery Center nor EECSD can be a signed partner in your proposal.
To receive notice of the RPF, sign up for Discovery Center teacher newsletter (http://www.sd-discovery.com/newsletter.shtm#EducatorENews) or Watershed newsletter (http://www.sd-discovery.com/newsletter.shtm#SD_Watershed_I&E_Newsletter) or the EECSD Google Group (http://groups.google.com/group/eecsd)
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Anne Lewis
SD Discovery Center
805 W Sioux Ave.
Pierre, SD 57501
From: Anne Lewis [mailto:anne...@sd-discovery.com]
Sent: Friday, May 04, 2012 10:48 AM
To: Betsy.B...@k12.sd.us; Chad.T...@state.sd.us; Christin...@bhsu.edu; colette...@sd.usda.gov; corri...@gmail.com; curt.ro...@state.sd.us; derek.k...@state.sd.us; Dianne Miller; DMe...@badlandshs.org; edw...@brookings.net; James....@k12.sd.us; jlau...@BHSSC.TIE.NET; ; John Johnson; jsc...@janegoodall.org; Kay.G...@state.sd.us; Lynn....@state.sd.us; Maggie....@state.sd.us; Mary Laycock; msteck...@dishmail.net; Nancy Fargo; Peggy Tilgner; pham...@janegoodall.org; Raptor Center; rma...@fs.fed.us; Robin....@k12.sd.us; Roger.C...@state.sd.us; roger...@vyn.midco.net; Ross.Bla...@k12.sd.us; Sam....@state.sd.us; Sandy....@state.sd.us; Sertoma Butterfly Educator; Shari Okeefe (Shari....@k12.sd.us)
Subject: Community Based Environmental Literacy
Importance: High
Quick question everyone.
Would you be interested in a mini-grant to receive funding to do an Earth Day event in your community (around 1,500)?
Keep in mind this is theoretical.
The requirements would be that you would have to involve different partners in the event that facilitate environmental literacy in some capacity, i.e. they offer a service (like recycling) or a program (like Scouts) or have a facility (like the Outdoor Campus) or are engaged in a local stewardship initiative (like farmers market). This would not have to be a new Earth Day event but could support an existing event.
The objective of the grant would be to increase capacity of communities to facilitate environmental literacy by identifying and networking key stakeholders. This network could then form the basis of a Green Map project or other directory.
The outcomes would be 7-9 Earth Day events around the state, and 1000 families and youth statewide are exposed to assets that facilitate environmental literacy in their community
Feedback please!
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Anne Lewis
SD Discovery Center
Special Projects Director
805 W Sioux Ave.
Pierre, SD 57501
605-224-8295
www.sd-discovery.com
www.hopsd.org
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