NOAA Grant for K-12 Environmental Education in the Delaware Bay Watershed

The Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) program is a competitive grants program that provides funding for locally relevant environmental education projects for K-12 audiences. This funding opportunity supports programming throughout the Delaware Bay watershed in Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. Funded projects promote Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEEs). The MWEE is a learner-centered framework that focuses on investigating local environmental issues and leads to informed action. MWEEs are composed of multiple components that include learning both outdoors and in the classroom as students engage in issue definition, outdoor field experiences, synthesis and conclusions, and environmental action projects. MWEEs aim to increase understanding and stewardship of the Delaware Bay and local watersheds, including the rivers, upland streams, and natural habitats found throughout the region. In these experiences, the core ideas of multiple disciplines are applied to make sense of the relationships between the natural world and the communities that rely on it. MWEEs help connect students with their local environment and equip them to make decisions and take actions that contribute to stronger communities. B-WET funding supports school districts and their partners to develop high-quality environmental education experiences for students, rigorous teacher training opportunities, and capacity-building efforts that underpin the implementation of high-quality environmental literacy programming. Projects advance regional fisheries initiatives, state and local education and environmental priorities, and the NOAA Education Strategic Plan. The priority for this funding announcement is: Supporting systemic and sustainable MWEEs.