Promoting Jobs and Internships in North Carolina
The office connects organizations and agencies with educators seeking jobs and internships though our NC-EE email listserv and Jobs and Internships page. This fiscal year, job and internship listings were viewed 74,838 times.
Professional Development
Fifty-two educators completed the NC Environmental Educator Certification, which is also managed by the DEQ environmental education program. New enrollments totaled 106 individuals. The certification provides a professional development credential for both non-formal educators and classroom teachers that requires a commitment of 200 hours of professional development, teaching, and community leadership. There are currently more than 705 active certified North Carolina environmental educators, with more than 683 enrolled in the program. Educators complete a community partnership project as part of earning their certification. These projects directly benefit communities across the state.
Access to Resources
DEQ’s environmental education program serves the public as an environmental education information clearinghouse of resources, events, grants, jobs and facilities through its website, online calendar, and email lists. In this fiscal year, it provided educators with access to professional development workshops, field experiences, webinars, conferences, curriculum, and online programming statewide with the website attracting more than 1 million eight hundred views over a 12 month period. The office’s calendar of events averages more than 600 events each year that include professional development for educators and public programs. The program continues to leverage social media to keep program participants informed and to share environmental education and science information and related opportunities with the public and program partners. This fiscal year, Facebook followers reached 4,900 and Instagram 2,200. The office also manages the popular NC-EE email listserv, which allows members to post workshops, events and other information. Current membership is 2,200.
Science Education and Outreach
The program hosted 30 livestreamed talks with top researchers and educators in partnership with the NC Museum of Natural Sciences. These talks are broadcast on YouTube and shared with schools, universities and colleges, state agencies and the public and have reached more than 7,600 viewers this fiscal year.
K-12 Environmental Literacy Plan
The office provides a K-12 Environmental Literacy Plan to teachers and school administrators. The K-12 Environmental Literacy Plan is a collaboration between DEQ’s environmental education program, the Department of Public Instruction and the nonprofit Environmental Educators of North Carolina, which serves as the state’s professional association for environmental education. The Plan provides schools and nonformal educators guidance for increasing environmental literacy and preparing students for environmental and STEM careers. Lincoln Heights has incorporated an environmental connections magnet theme since the 2017-18 school year, when the original Environmental Literacy Plan was used to develop the program. Lincoln Heights was named Top Magnet School of Excellence this year. Lincoln Heights has truly embraced the ELP and “environmental connections” magnet theme by providing all students with hands-on learning and by nurturing students’ strengths and interests through real-world connections with professionals and the community. The impact on the school has been significant. Its overall school performance score rose from a "D" in 2017 to a "B" score in 2024. Science scores rose from 57 percent in 2022 to 82 percent in 2024, and the school saw notable increases in reading and math scores as well.
Supporting K-12 Teachers through Nonformal Partnerships
In a unique partnership with the NC Department of Public Instruction, the environmental education program collaborated with the NC DPI Science Section to cohost a gathering of more than 100 educators to build connections between formal and nonformal educators to advance science education in the state. The collaboration has brought hundreds of educators together encouraging partnerships between nonformal science education facilities, program providers and classroom teachers, schools and school districts. This 15 year partnership was highlighted in the National Science Teachers Association's Connected Learning Journal in 2017: Collaboration + Good Coffee = Connected Science Learning Success - State Agencies Partner to Unite Formal and Informal Educators in North Carolina.
Career Development
The office hosted 300 students from Oberlin Magnet Middle School as part of the NC Business Committee for Education’s Students@Work℠ program which introduces middle school students to businesses and careers in STEM. Throughout the year, the program also coordinated career development and learning opportunities for high school students, including regular meetings with the Governor’s Page Program and providing activities for the Lady Cardinal Program.
