NY Sea Grant, DEC Launch K-12 Great Lakes Ecosystem Education Exchange

New York Sea Grant, in partnership with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, has announced the New York Great Lakes Ecosystem Education Exchange program, also known as NYGLEEE, for K-12 teachers and environmental educators.

This program provides hands-on, experiential learning opportunities focused on Great Lakes Literacy Principles and stewardship at www.nyseagrant.org/educationexchange.

“The New York Great Lakes Ecosystem Education Exchange project provides educators with an easy-access point for issue-based learning materials and teacher-tested, hands-on classroom and field experiences that encourage localized stewardship to the benefit of communities and economies throughout the Great Lakes region in New York,” said New York Sea Grant Associate Director Katherine Bunting-Howarth, assistant director of Cornell University Cooperative Extension, Ithaca.

DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos said, “The New York Great Lake Ecosystem Education Exchange program was developed in coordination with educators to advance the next generation of environmentally literate, stewardship-minded citizens and environmental professionals in New York’s Great Lakes. By providing educators and teachers with professional development opportunities, resources and standards-based curricula, DEC and our partners are working to empower educators and students to gain the experience they need to protect local watersheds for the next generation.”

The NYGLEEE clearinghouse website was designed to provide materials that meet New York State Learning Standards, promote place-based education, encourage service-learning strategies such as beach cleanups, and equip stewardship opportunities.

The NYGLEEE website also provides information on environmental careers, educational institutions, and scholarships.

NYGLEEE Basin Bins provide 25 hands-on resources to incorporate the Great Lakes into classroom education. In addition to such resources as a life-size replica of a Lake Sturgeon or preserved Round Goby specimen, the Basin Bins include four classroom-ready Great Lakes activities and a resource notebook stocked with fact sheets, articles, pamphlets and brochures on invasive species, native fish and wildlife, and other Great Lakes-related issues.

This new educational outreach program by New York Sea Grant and DEC developed a NYGLEEE Great Lakes Model Educators Network as a community of teachers and educators with a common goal of promoting Great Lakes literacy and stewardship in K-12 classrooms and nature center programs throughout the Great Lakes Basin in New York.

Educators are encouraged to become part of this network of peers promoting Great Lakes environmental stewardship and providing each other with shared professional development and educational experiences.

NYGLEEE workshops to date have provided more than 80 educators the opportunity to learn about NYGLEEE and the Great Lakes, and interact with other educators.

Additional workshops will be held for Great Lakes Model Educators Network members.

Those interested in joining the network can find the NYGLEEE application online at www.nyseagrant.org/educationexchange.

NYGLEEE was developed with support from the Environmental Protection Fund, in support of the Ocean and Great Lakes Ecosystem Conservation Act of 2006. NYGLEEE achieves the outreach, education and coordination goals of the NY Great Lakes Action Agenda, fostering environmental literacy, awareness of issues, and promoting stewardship.

New York Sea Grant and DEC administer NYGLEEE in cooperation with educators throughout the New York Great Lakes watershed.

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