This Earth Day (April 22nd, 2009), Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) and Congressman John Sarbanes (D-MD) introduced the Senate and House versions of the historic No Child Left Inside Act (NCLI). No Child Left Inside passed the House in last September, but since the 110th Congress ended before the Senate took action, the companion bills had to be reintroduced into the 111th Congress.
Don Baugh, Chesapeake Bay Foundation Vice President for Education
and Director of the No Child Left Inside Coalition, noted the significance of these bills being introduced on Earth Day. "That this legislation is introduced on Earth Day, with critical environmental issues looming on the horizon, should be a reminder to us not to take environmental education for granted," noted Baugh. “There is nothing like hands-on environmental education to engage children and pique their curiosity. We are grateful to Senator Reed and Congressman Sarbanes for their leadership in championing an issue that is so fundamental to our long-term success in educating the next generation of environmental stewards.”
This press release from the No Child Left Inside Coalition has details, including House and Senate co-sponsors of the bills. EE News Tips will provide updates on the progress of NCLI. There is also more information on the NCLI Coaltion Web site.
If passed into law, this bill could benefit North Carolina as it would provide two competitive grant funds--one to support professional development of teachers and educators, and one to build "national capacity" for environmental education. The capacity building grant would directly address programs "that strengthen environmental education as an integral part of the elementary school and secondary school curriculum." A wide variety of government agencies, institutes of higher learning, and non-profit and for-profit entities could be eligible for the grants. The bill also has provisions to measure environmental literacy.
In order to be eligible for the grants, a state must have an "environmental literacy plan" in place. Grant funds can be used to develop this plan, however, in 2008 the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the N.C. Department of Public Instruction took a proactive step by forming a partnership to develop a plan for North Carolina that involves key stakeholders, such as the Environmental Educators of North Carolina (EENC). The N.C. Office of Environmental Education, N.C. DPI and EENC have already started preliminary work on the document in anticipation of the bill's passage.
North Carolina EE Week / Earth Day Blog Contest
Did your environmental education center, nonprofit organization or government agency hold an Environmental Education Week or Earth Day Event? Did you or your family go to an Earth Day event, or even just get outside and enjoy nature this month? Did you take some good photos?
If you did, the N.C. Office of Environmental Education is looking for photos and stories that feature your Earth Day and EE Week activities.
To bring to attention to the great things happening in environmental education in North Carolina, the Office of Environmental Education has started the
North Carolina EE Week/Earth Day 2009 Blog that features stories and photos from events around the state during the month of April. In May, a winner will be chosen and featured in EE News Tips (there may be a prize or two as well)!
Send one or two photos (no more than two, please) and a brief "story" describing your event or the activity you participated in to Marty.Wiggins@ncdenr.gov.
It does not have to be a specific event that was labled "Earth Day" or "EE Week"--any outdoor activity that also supports the goals of National Environmental Education Week is welcome!
Federal Funding for Environmental Education Included in Appropriations Bill
(From North American Association for Environmental Education Reports)
For more about the relationship bewteen the No Child Left Inside act and the National Environmental Education Act, read this piece from NAAEE:
Why We Need Both
Congress passed an “Omnibus Appropriations” Bill last month for the second half of FY 2009 that largely continued the level-funding of environmental education programs for the rest of the year. But there were a couple of surprises totaling about $15 million in new funds for the field. There's a detailed breakdown by department and an analysis posted on the Web site of the Campaign for Environmental Literacy www.fundEE.org.
The NAAEE is already working on the FY 2010 Federal budget, specifically increased funding for programs under the National Environmental Education Act like the EPA Office of Environmental Education and its critical grant program, and the National Environmental Education Foundation. NAAEE is also working on the important first year funding for the new University Sustainability Program.
In other NAAEE News...
40th NAAEE National Conference to be held in North Carolina!
The North American Association for Environmental Education has announced that its 2011 conference will be held at the Raleigh Convention Center. North Carolina's active environmental education community and infrastructure, including the Environmental Educators of North Carolina, the N.C. Office of Environmental Education and the N.C. Association of Environmental Education Centers, were certainly factors in attracting this major conference. Of course, it is still in its early planning stages, but information about this and the 2009 and 2010 conferences are available on the NAAEE Web site.
EE News Clips!
An environmental education news round up from around the state.
 Environmental Education Center News
Stories about the EE Centers listed on www.eenorthcarolina.org!
Parent News
Updated list of articles related to children and caregivers.
EE School News
Stories about public and private elementary and secondary schools and education policy.
College News
Same as above, but from higher education.
Research and Resources on EE, Learning, and Behavior
Articles, reports and peer-reviewed literature on the benefits of environmental education
Informed Consumer News!
The Office of Environmental Education also maintains the "Eco-Smart Consumer" Blog and an Informed Consumer Section that has several lists of updated news articles that cover many topic areas, including farming, food, green building, rivers, outdoor recreation, energy, lawn and garden care and more. These article posts are part of our consumer education and healthy community intiatives. Check them out!
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