NOAA Great Lakes Bay Watershed Education and Training Funds Spark Flint River Environmental Leaders Program for Youth and Educators
We are pleased to announce new funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Great Lakes Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) program. We aim to bring together middle and high school youth, community partners, and educators who are eager to solve problems facing local streams. The inclusive Flint River Environmental Leaders program will include after-school and in-school educators and student representatives throughout the Flint River watershed. They will decide which issues to explore in their own communities and share ideas with others for how to protect and improve the Flint River and the surrounding area.
FRWC will work with the Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative (GLSI) and Michigan State University Extension (MSUE) on this project. Fifteen teachers and community program educators and fourteen youth will be selected from diverse regions of the watershed. FRWC seeks a broad variety of applicants from youth organizations and schools from Genesee, Lapeer, Oakland, Saginaw, Sanilac, Shiawassee, and Tuscola counties within the watershed. Youth-adult partnerships are a core principle of the environmental leadership program, and youth and adult participants representing the same school or community organization are encouraged to apply together. Educators will choose from a menu of topics to learn strategies for sharing meaningful watershed experiences with their students. Youth will meet monthly to explore current issues and learn effective ways to make their voices heard. The two groups will work together frequently on existing community projects to build youth-adult partnerships throughout the watershed.
Participants will receive continuing education credits and monetary stipends up to $650 for completed efforts. The program will launch in July 2022 and run through August 2023. Information sessions are scheduled for June 6th and 7th at 6pm.
Virtual Educator Information Session for teachers and youth-serving organization leaders: June 6 @ 6 pm
Virtual Youth Council Information Session for students and families: June 7th @ 6pm
Contact: Autumn Mitchell, 810-767-9491, amitchell@flintriver.org
