Water Environment Studies in Schools (WESS) Teacher Training Institute Project Director:  JoAnne M. Favors, Ph.D. Agricultural Experiment Station (202) 274-7170

The University of the District of Columbia (UDC) Agricultural Experimental Station (AES), in collaboration with junior high and middle schools in the District of Columbia, has developed a Water Environment Studies In Schools (WESS) Teacher Training Institute (TTI) and School Based Program (SBP).  The WESS program is designed to respond to the need for 1) Environmental education in the schools; 2) Teachers proficient in the writing of curriculum around the newly designed DCPS performance standards; 3) Innovative practices to improve math, science and technology teaching and learning of teachers and students;

and 4) Total community involvement in the conservation of the Anacostia River Watershed.  The WESS program focus is the Anacostia River Watershed in which the students and teachers are residents.

The WESS Teacher Training Institute provides teachers with the following:  1) a critical overview of the need for a citizenry knowledgeable of their environment and the causes and effects of their own actions.  Specifically using the Anacostia River as the model in this case; 2) Knowledge and skills in the scientific testing, measurement and assessment and remote sensing of rivers, particularly the Anacostia River; 3)Curriculum development skills that integrate the Anacostia River scientific, social/political, and cultural aspects with the school's performance standards; and 4) Planning Methods and Strategies for implementing a Water Studies program.  Additionally, this program utilizes the research outcomes of AES and WRRC that a) provides experiences in data gathering and using skills; b) provides resources and skills to support independent searches for appropriate materials and equipment;  c) uses the metropolitan area as a bank of people, places and things that can be called upon to serve as viable elements of a hands-on curriculum; d) provides teachers with the ability to design and implement a plan and process for restoring the River and promote its popularity to the general public as well as to the students; and e) encourages student career choices in environmental areas.

The WESS program currently uses national organizations as workshop leaders, i.e., Project WET, the Anacostia Watershed Society, USA Today newspaper, the National Aquarium of Baltimore.  WESS also provides teachers with the National Performance Standards, the four-part publication of the United States Department of Agriculture “Educating Young People about Water”.  A major highlight of the TTI program is the use of the internet to demonstrate the many national websites available to the teachers in their on-going search for relevant materials and programs.

The WESS Teacher Training Institute (TTI) has been implemented for the past five summers. WESS TTI’s principal recruits have been certified teachers in the public schools.  150 have completed the ten-day program over these five years.  Recently, Water Environment Studies In Schools Teacher Training Institute (WESS TTI)  Teacher Training Guide was developed.  This guide is a “Compilation of Activities on Water Environment” which demonstrates the activities, encountered by teachers during the Teacher Training Institute of Summer 2005, that most impressed them.

 

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If we take just a minute to stop, look, and listen, we will find that there is a beautiful ecosystem that surrounds us.  Grass that feeds and beautifies, trees that bear fruit as well as provide lumber and shade, soil that is the foundation of the earth, water that is the life line of the earth, and plants galore, to eat and/or adore.  These gifts are so precious!  All of us enjoy them and it is our duty to share these gifts with generations to come.  Our environment belongs to all of us and each of us has a responsibility to conserve it.  Through learning, practicing, and teaching, we can fulfill our duty and become good stewards.

The Urban Agriculture Grasshoppers (UAG) is a program designed to educate young minds about Urban Agriculture and to help them better understand and appreciate the greatness and importance of their environment. 

Instilling good stewardship skills now will undoubtedly lead to conservation of our natural resources. As a Classroom Visitation Program, the club aims to 1) Increase awareness of the environment; 2) Broaden knowledge and understanding of urban agriculture; 3) Increase understanding regarding the need for stewardship of the urban environment; 4) Promote the development and application of stewardship skills; and 5) Foster creativity and expression through hands-on activities and field trips. 

UAG operates as a six week program (April – May) that engages fourth grade students in indoor and outdoor experimental activities that promote stewardship, creativity, and exploration.  Module topics include:  1) What’s so good about Grass; 2) The Benefits of the Bean; 3) Earth Quilt 101; 4) The Role of Water in Each Season; 5) Soil/Plant Relationship; 6) Basic Plant Production Principles; and 7) Protecting our Natural Resources.  Program activities include lectures; arts and crafts; indoor classroom projects; outdoor field projects; field trips; journal writing; and a poster contest.
 
Parents who have children participating in the program are invited and encouraged to attend classroom sessions and field trips. Students enjoy learning new things about their environment and are eager to share them with their families, friends, and neighbors.

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The Academic Support After School Program
Project Directors:	Alberta Paul Agricultural Experiment Station (202) 584-3890 Ivy Short Agricultural Experiment Station (202) 274-7171
The Academic Support After School Program (ASP) is designed to increase the participation and knowledge of minority youth in environmental issues and enhance their perspective of the effect they have on the environment through project focus on the Anacostia River.  The program seeks to put together the most meaningful set of experts, materials and activities for the type of environmental education program that can inspire and maintain an informed stewardship philosophy among the citizens of the District of Columbia.

The program is currently being administered from three schools in the Southeast sector of the city to include Patricia R. Harris Education Center (PRH), Clara Mohammed Muslim School (CMS) and Campbell AME Church (CAMEC).  The goals of the ASP are:

1)   To increase the participation and knowledge of minority youth in environmental issues and enhance their perspective of the effect they have on the environment through project focus on the Anacostia River; and

2)   To put together the most meaningful set of experts, materials and activities for the type of environmental education program that can inspire and maintain an informed stewardship philosophy among the citizens of the District of Columbia.

Some of the approaches in the classroom include creative writing, illustration, identification, Jeopardy-style quizzes, speakers from local environmental organizations, and hands-on experiments.  Use of books and literature are used to demonstrate competency and retention levels and the ability to relate what is read to topical classroom discussion.  Trips have been taken down to the Anacostia River located within walking distance of two of the programs.  Test kits are used to determine chemical content and other pollutants in ground water and runoff.  Personal consumption and use compiled by students in journals are used as measures to illustrate lessons on responsible stewardship.

One of the mayor’s initiatives includes the Clean City Initiative which encourages and supports the development of programs to educate children on safety, sanitation "Do's and Don'ts," and litter prevention.  From the Initiative, the Adopt-A-Block program was established as an innovative approach to beautifying neighborhoods, enabling citizens to take an active role in the “clean&greenDC” Clean City Initiative. The program offers an innovative project for civic-minded individuals and organizations and gives community members the

satisfaction of making a notable contribution to their communities.

The Adopt-A-Block Youth Environmental and Life Science Education program includes school site based beautification, street side walk clean-ups and beautification in the blocks of the targeted communities.  The program is continuing to expand the educational components to include more detail emphasis on watersheds and natural resources.  Such projects include providing assistance to instructors in guiding students through the design of small gardens that abate water run-off that leads to soil erosion. This includes tree planting, planting of flowers and or grasses.

This program also provides for DC Public School Teachers, in targeted schools in Wards 7 & 8, the opportunity to participate in an environmental education curriculum project that includes staff development and training, materials, school wide projects and technology.  This project continues to integrate skill based work sheets, field trips, poster contests and landscaping projects, or in class seed growing projects designed by each classroom with guidance from the instructor.  All activities are correlated with the District of Columbia Public Schools standards for environmental education K-12.  In collaboration with the State Education Agency and the Washington East Foundation, we have also involved parent tutors, mentors, chaperones, and assistants in landscaping projects. Another aspect of this program is to encourage the use of technology by teachers and students to aid in all research in Environmental and Life Science Education.

Other components of the program are increasing professional development and training opportunities for all instructors through collaborative partnerships with DCPS and DPW, Sierra Club, the Living Classroom, and other groups and organizations.

This program is making a difference in the District of Columbia and in our neighborhood by establishing a cleaner and more beautiful environment to live, work, and play.

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Much can be attributed to the lack of performance of inner-city youths for national academic standards.  Some would argue that it is a result of the lack of desire on the student’s part; the lack of parental support; lack of social skills; poor instruction; inability of teachers to spend time with students that need additional help; lack of books, supplies, and state-of-the-art equipment; the structure of DCPS; and the overall lack of funding for DCPS.  Whatever the reason(s), the politicians and religious leaders of our community are aware that there is a gap that needs to be filled.  Thus, The Standing in the Gap (STING) Program is designed to focus on the enhancement of 7th, 8th, and 9th grade students, academically, socially, and spiritually.   The program combines academic enrichment, life and social skills, and spiritual counseling.  Thus, we offer to provide overall enhancement of the student.  The program will also offer moral support for the

caretaker/parent(s) for youth enrolled in the program.  The program, as it embraces caretakers, mirrors aspects of the “PTA” idea.  However, parental involvement as configured in the STING program would embrace outreach, mission, and nurture to the parent.  The STING program seeks to engage and inform the nascent Christian conscience that can be found within youth and families today.  STING seeks to engage, inform, educate, and channel the naturally emerging maturity of 7th, 8th, and 9th graders in the D.C. Public School System.  There are six aspects to the STING Program:  1) Christian Growth; 2) Education; 3) Nurture; 4) Positive Group Identity; 5) Nutrition; and 6) Financial Support.

The program is housed at a church in the community and operates as a six week Summer Youth Educational Institute and a Year-Round Saturday Youth Education Seminar Institute.  An ordained minister will participate in the program as a counseling consultant.  Additionally, instructors teach algebra, literary skills, life and social skills, and provide training for peer counseling.  Students receive a stipend for their participation to assist with personal and school expenses.  The program provides nutritious snacks and lunch for students.  An Awards Ceremony is held at the end of the program to acknowledge program participants, volunteers, and caretakers.

 

 

 

 

National Youth Sports Program (NYSP)
Program Administrator:	Gloria S. Wyche-Moore, Ph.D. Associate Dean/Director Agricultural Experiment Station
Project Director:	Mrs. Lucille Hester Agricultural Experiment Station (202) 274-5031
The National Youth Sports Program (NYSP) annually provides economically disadvantaged youth, ages 10-16, with opportunities to benefit from resources made available by local colleges and universities.  NYSP is an instructional program for boys and girls from low-income households.  The program uses sports instruction and competition as a vehicle to enhance self-esteem and respect.  Program participants are provided with instruction in career and educational opportunities and exposure to the college environment and follow-up, if necessary and at least one free meal daily.  The aim of the NYSP is to help youth learn to “walk tall – talk tall – stand tall.”

Objectives of the program are to 1) serve underserved youth between the ages of 10 – 16;2) provide a healthy start through good nutrition and physical fitness; 3) teach youth-centered activities in a safe, positive and enjoyable college/university; 4) provide youth-centered activities that nurture the dreams and aspirations of youth; 5) promote respect, citizenship and sportsmanship in a diverse society; and 6) provide quality service and reward excellent performance.

As a participant of NYSP, youth receive 1) at least three hours of instructions in the benefits of higher education; 2) at least 2 hours of physical activity daily and instruction on nutrition and personal health; 3) health screening for appropriate referral and early intervention; 4) sports and education instruction, including conflict resolution skills, in a safe, positive and structured environment; 5) instruction to break the cycle through at least 7 ½ hours of instruction in substance-abuse prevention; 6)  mentoring via summer programs that are connected with experience educators, community trained volunteers, law enforcement officers and other positive role models; 7) mentoring that includes hands-on, interactive activities in the education program, including math/science discovery program and standardized test taking skills; 8) safe transportation to and from the higher education setting; and 9) two USDA-approved meals daily during the program.

THE NYSP CREED

I am a good sport at all times and conduct myself with
decency and honesty.  I do my best to get along with others
and have pride in myself.  I put forth my best effort in all
competition and always compete fairly.
“Walk tall, talk tall, stand tall”

 

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