The Chesapeake Bay Trust Awards Program is now OPEN

November 5th, 2012 by Kristin

Celebrate environmental education and stewardship in the Chesapeake Bay region by nominating a teacher and student for these Chesapeake Bay Trust awards and scholarships!

The leaves are beginning to change and school is back in session, which means it is time for the Chesapeake Bay Trust’s annual awards program! The Trust’s Student of the Year Scholarship, Honorable Arthur Dorman Scholarship,  and Teacher of the Year award, celebrate Maryland students and teachers who have shown a strong commitment to their local environment and the Chesapeake Bay. The students are honored with a $5,000 college scholarship and the winning teacher will be given a $2,500 grant award through the Trust. Applicants can be self-nominated or nominated by individuals who are not family members. The deadline to apply is December 20, 2012 at 5:00 pm.

Read a full description of the awards below and to nominate, visit the Chesapeake Bay Trust’s webpage.

2013 Teacher of the Year Award:

This award is given to a Maryland educator who has shown outstanding commitment to environmental education. Applicants for this award can be self-nominated or nominated by individuals who are not family members. The winner will receive a $2,500 mini grant for environmental education and restoration from the Chesapeake Bay Trust. (Please note that the $2,500 grant award can only be applied to one application and not spread throughout the year.) To nominate a teacher in Maryland for this award, click here.

2013 Student of the Year Scholarship:

The Student of the Year award is given to a Maryland high school or college student who has shown an outstanding commitment to environmental stewardship, Chesapeake Bay restoration and community involvement. Applicants for this award can be self-nominated or nominated by anyone except family members. The winner will receive a $5,000 college scholarship. To nominate a student in Maryland for this award, click here.

2013 Honorable Arthur Dorman Scholarship:

This award recognizes a Maryland high school or college student who demonstrates a commitment to improving the health of the environment and the Chesapeake Bay and who, as a student of color, exhibits exemplary leadership in promoting diversity and inclusion in his/her school and broader community. Applicants for this award can be self-nominated or nominated by anyone except family members. The winner will receive a $5,000 college scholarship. To nominate a student in Maryland for this award, click here.

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Kristin Foringer is the Communications and Development Associate at the Chesapeake Bay Trust. She can be reached at 410-974-2941, ext. 113 or at kforinger@cbtrust.org. Kristin is also a former Environmental Management Staffer at the Chesapeake Bay Program.

What’s Your Ocean Connection?

January 17th, 2011 by David

No matter where we live, we’re all connected to the ocean.

The Get Green Video Contest is asking U.S. high school students to Show Us Your Ocean Connection.  Planet Connect, an online social network where high school students can learn about current environmental issues, wants students to make a 30 -120 second video and show us how your everyday actions impact the ocean, whether you live on the coast or 1,000 miles from the sea.  We want students to get their video cameras ready and to be creative to win cash or other great prizes from Samsung, including the Galaxy Tab and an HD Camcorder.

Need more info on how we are all connected to the ocean?  Don’t live near a coast? Humans impact the ocean in a variety of ways, including through pollution, climate change and overfishing.

Check out these ocean facts:

  • The ocean covers 71 percent of the Earth’s surface (an area of about 140 million square miles) and contains 97 percent of the planet’s water.
  • Water from 31 states drains into the Mississippi River – which then leads to the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean.
  • Plastic waste kills up to 1 million sea birds, 100,000 sea mammals and countless fish each year. Plastic remains in our ecosystem for years harming thousands of sea creatures everyday.
  • The Deepwater Horizon oil spill released more than 211 million gallons of light, sweet crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
  • The oil slick produced by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill covered as much as 28,958 square miles (75,000 square kilometers), an area about the size of South Carolina.

Entries accepted until February 23, 2011. The first 100 entrants will receive a free re-usable Eco Falls water bottle!

See all of the contest details here: http://www.planetconnect.org/2011getgreen

In addition to showing the connection we all have with the oceans, students can visit Planet Connect to learn more about funding opportunities, green colleges and environmental careers. Students can also share and exchange ideas about how they are playing a critical role in solving today’s environmental issues.

We know students can make a difference. Here’s their chance to inspire others now!

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David Lanham is an Education Program Coordinator for the National Environmental Education Foundation

Environmental Solutions for a Brighter Future!

January 10th, 2011 by David

With Classroom Earth, teachers can incorporate environmental lessons in to the classroom.

Environmental education benefits students — increasing their understanding of how earth’s resources and natural systems work, familiarizing them with our relationship to wildlife, offering opportunities for hands-on activities and inquiry-based learning, and providing practical information.  In order for students to receive meaningful environmental education, it is critical that their teachers have the necessary skills and knowledge.  Essential to a teacher’s ability to serve in this role as environmental educator is not only an understanding of environmental concepts and issues, but familiarity with the best practices for integrating these concepts into their established curriculum.  Whether a teacher focuses on science, math or social studies, environmental education can provide experiences that link what they are learning to their local environment.

Are you an educator specifically interested in enhancing your understanding of the living world and learning to teach about wildlife conservation in your subject area?

Classroom Earth, a program designed to enhance and strengthen environmental education in high school classrooms nationwide, is supporting middle and high school teachers around the country who want to make wildlife conservation part of their curriculum.  Classroom Earth’s 2011 Professional Development Grants will enable applicants to take one six-week online course offered by the Wildlife Conservation Society to create a strong foundation in wildlife conservation. Participating teachers will be better equipped to bring wildlife conservation education into the classroom, facilitate scientific learning and to connect students with their natural surroundings.  The Classroom Earth grant opportunity will also support teachers to earn graduate level credit.

But that’s not all! Have any students looking to take their environmental interests to the next step?

Planet Connect grants help students preserve wildlife in their local communities.

Planet Connect is an online social network where high school students can learn about current environmental issues, funding opportunities, green colleges and environmental careers. Students can also share and exchange ideas about how they are playing a critical role in solving today’s environmental issues.

Do you know any students interested in helping preserve wildlife? Whether you’re in a city, rural area or a suburb, wildlife is all around you. In many places, that wildlife faces challenges. If you’re a high school student with a creative idea for conserving and protecting wildlife, Planet Connect is offering grants of $1,000 to implement projects and participate in a local internship focused on wildlife conservation or natural resources.

We know students can make a difference. Here’s their chance to inspire others now!

Read more about the teacher’s professional development grants here: http://classroomearth.org/2011wcgrants

Read more about the student’s wildlife conservation grants here: http://www.planet-connect.org/2011wcgrants

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David Lanham is an Education Program Coordinator for the National Environmental Education Foundation

Teacher and Student of the Year Awards: Apply NOW – Deadline is Jan. 3!

December 21st, 2010 by Molly

There are exceptional people making strides to help the environment every day. They are teachers, working to educate our children about Chesapeake Bay history and ecology. Or they are students implementing school recycling programs and teaching their peers about the importance of rain gardens. The bottom line is that there are people all over the six-state Chesapeake Bay watershed working to restore the Chesapeake to what it once was. Before heading out for winter break later this week, be sure to get your applications in for the Jan. 3 deadline for the Teacher and Student of the Year Awards sponsored by the Chesapeake Bay Trust!

To help honor those creative individuals in Maryland, the Chesapeake Bay Trust created its annual awards program.

Each year, the Trust awards more than $20,000 in grants, scholarships and monetary gifts to educators, students, and individuals committed to improving the health of the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Through our awards program, we recognize individuals who stand out for their dedication to environmental education, community outreach, and on-the-ground restoration projects and programs.  Recipients are judged based on criteria specific to each award category.  Collectively, however, all recipients have one trait in common: a passion for the Chesapeake Bay and protecting its future.

The deadline is quickly approaching for two of the Trust’s award programs. A Jan. 3, 2011 deadline will be imposed on the Teacher of the Year Award and the brand new Student of the Year Award.  Recipients for each will be announced during the Trust’s Legislative Reception in January.

The Trust wants to celebrate the good work being done here in Maryland and hopes that you will help identify candidates who should be recognized for their contributions.

Do you know a student or teacher making a difference in their local communities and the environment? Then PLEASE encourage them to apply.

Student of the Year Award
$5,000 scholarship to an outstanding student in Maryland
The Trust’s Student of the Year Scholarship recognizes a Maryland high school or college student who has shown an outstanding commitment to environmental stewardship, Chesapeake Bay restoration and community involvement. You can access the complete eligibility requirements and apply online here.

Teacher of the Year Award
$2,500 award to an outstanding educator in Maryland
The Chesapeake Bay Trust’s Teacher of the Year Award recognizes a Maryland educator who has shown an outstanding commitment to environmental education. The winning applicant will receive a $2,500 cash prize as well as (up to) a $5,000 mini grant to the winner’s school. You can access the complete eligibility requirements and apply online here.

Help us showcase all the good work being done to restore and protect the Chesapeake Bay.

Additional Resources:
Funding opportunities – Bay Backpack

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Molly Alton Mullins is the director of communications and development for the Chesapeake Bay Trust. She can be reached at 410-974-2941, ext. 107 or at mmullins@cbtrust.org.

Chesapeake Bay Trust Awards: Recognizing Outstanding Bay Stewards

November 1st, 2010 by Molly

Every day, each of us encounters exceptional people working to make their communities and the world a better place.  Sometimes the person is a friend running a 5K to raise money to fight cancer; other times she is a colleague volunteering at a local homeless shelter.

Here in the environmental community, there are dedicated people out there every day planting trees and bay grasses, teaching our children about the ecology and history of the Bay, educating citizens about the importance of rain gardens and recycling programs – all of them working to help restore the Chesapeake to its former glory.  To help honor these creative and exceptional individuals, the Chesapeake Bay Trust created its annual awards program.

Each year, the Chesapeake Bay Trust awards more than $20,000 in grants, scholarships and monetary gifts to educators, students, and individuals committed to improving the health of the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Through our awards program, we recognize individuals who stand out for their dedication to environmental education, community outreach, and on-the-ground restoration projects and programs.  Recipients are judged based on criteria specific to each award category.  Collectively, however, all recipients have one trait in common: a passion for the Chesapeake Bay and protecting its future.

Last week, the Trust began accepting applications for three of its award programs: the Honorable Arthur Dorman scholarship, the Teacher of the Year Award and our brand new Student of the Year Award.  Recipients for each will be announced during the Trust’s Legislative Reception in January.

We want to celebrate the good work being done here in Maryland and hope that you will help identify candidates who should be recognized for their contributions.

Do you know a student or teacher making a difference in their local communities and the environment? Then PLEASE encourage them to apply.

More details can be found at www.cbtrust.org.

Help us showcase all the good work being done to restore and protect the Chesapeake Bay.

Additional Resources:
Funding opportunities – Bay Backpack

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Molly Alton Mullins is the director of communications and development for the Chesapeake Bay Trust. She can be reached at 410-974-2941, ext. 107 or at mmullins@cbtrust.org.