Back to listing
Training Future CIANJ Environmental Business Council Professionals
July 7th, 2016
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) awarded a $91,000 environmental education grant to the Greater Newark Conservancy to expand its environmental education program to include 1,750 kindergarten through sixth grade students in Newark Public Schools.
“This program could be training future CIANJ Environmental Business Council professionals,” says CIANJ President John Galandak.
The expansion focuses on teaching these students environmental stewardship, using outdoor hands-on learning as a learning tool. The project includes visits to the Conservancy’s 1.3-acre Outdoor Learning Center, as well its 2.5-acre Hawthorne Avenue urban farm.
“By giving these students knowledge of their relationship with the environment, this project gives Newark elementary school students the tools they need to learn more about environmental protection,” explains USEPA Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck.
The primary goal of the Greater Newark Conservancy’s project is to increase environmental literacy among the participating students and encourage behavior that benefits the environment by demonstrating that care of trees, water resources and the natural environment is critical to a sustainable and healthy community. The project includes a “Sustainable Cities” curriculum of urban sustainable planning, lessons based on the protection of water ecosystems and compositing among other environmental topics.