March 2019

Annapolis, MD – The Chesapeake Bay Trust announced the approval of 12 grants totaling $417,823 to enable a wide range of organizations to implement on-the-ground restoration and education projects and programs. Four times each year the Trust’s board of trustees announces its grant approvals which help local nonprofit organizations, local governments, and schools improve water quality and better local communities through a variety of outreach and restoration techniques. In fiscal year 2018, the Chesapeake Bay Trust awarded more than $13 million in grants.

The Chesapeake Bay Trust is a nonprofit, grant-making organization dedicated to improving the streams, rivers, and other natural resources of the Chesapeake Bay region through environmental education, community outreach, and local watershed restoration. In addition to private and public partnerships, the Chesapeake Bay Trust’s funding comes from two other major sources: the Treasure the Chesapeake license plate program and donations to the Chesapeake Bay and Endangered Species Fund on the Maryland state income tax form. Since 1985, the Trust has awarded more than $90 million in grants that have engaged hundreds of thousands of area residents in efforts designed to improve water quality and better local communities. For more information on the Trust’s grant programs and how to get involved, visit www.cbtrust.org.

About the Awards:
The Community Engagement and Restoration Small Grant program is designed to engage new applicants and organizations from a diverse array of communities in small-scale projects that enhance communities, engage residents, and, ultimately, improve natural resources. This program provides funding to groups that have traditionally been under-engaged with environmental issues and to provide to applicants who may not be experienced in applying for grants.

Four awards totaling $17,823 were made to:

Cedar Haven Civic Association on the Patuxent River, Inc.: for educational workshops regarding small-scale stormwater management practices in a coastal community.
Lead for Future Academy: for support of four community clean-up projects in Clarksburg, Maryland.
Project Bright Future: for the “Canvassing Water for Life” project.
ShoreRivers: for the production and distribution of the 2018 State of the Rivers Report Card and for support of the State of the Rivers presentations on the Eastern Shore.

The Environmental Education Grant Program (see lower half of page on-line) was designed to increase environmental stewardship though hands-on education and public involvement in the Bay and its rivers by providing grants that build and expand K through 12 environmental education programs and increase student access to Meaningful Watershed Experiences (MWEE).

Eight awards totaling $400,000 were made to:

Calvert County Public Schools: for a proposed project building on a long-standing fifth grade oyster program. Students will use what they have learned in the classroom and during field experiences to assist in the construction of sanctuary oyster reefs in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. Students will work in partnership with local conservation organizations to complete this project.
Charles County Public Schools: for partnership with The Alice Ferguson Foundation to implement an environmental literacy program for 3^rd grade students. CCPS and AFF will expand on existing curricula to develop an interdisciplinary full Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience (MWEE) for all 3rd grade students. The MWEE will be driven by the investigative question, “How can I impact my schoolyard ecosystem?” The systemic program will guide students through outdoor experiences and classroom learning resulting in action to address local environmental issues.
Parks and People: for the delivery of environmental educational lessons to 500 Baltimore elementary students created and led by 10 City high school students to improve academic performance and promote environmental stewardship. Youth will use their knowledge of Baltimore and lessons learned in a MWEE to form a claim using the scientific method; and, identify and undertake potential actions. Actions will connect to Baltimore’s streams and align with the P&P SuperKids Camp summer program.
ShoreRivers: for the implementation of our Students for Streams MWEE program in 7 public high schools across 4 counties in Maryland. ShoreRivers will work with Sassafras Environmental Education Center to develop and co-lead Kent County Public High School teachers through their first sustainable MWEE. ShoreRivers will continue to work with Dorchester, Queen Anne, and Talbot County Public Schools in order to provide professional development specifically designed to tackle obstacles that teachers identified in creating a completely sustainable MWEE.
Somerset County Public Schools: for a collaborative initiative between Somerset County Public Schools, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, and the Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (CBNERR) to create systemic MWEEs in three grade levels, 5th, 7th and 9th, in order to address regional vulnerability to climate impacts and community resilience in the face of those impacts. Ensuing student inquiry into related topics will occur through a combination of classroom work and field experiences, collecting and analyzing data; and will culminate in student-led stewardship to address resiliency in various ways. The project will help students to make sense of the science behind these forces and what they can do to help “shore up” their community’s future. This project will enable the school system to meet its commitment under the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement to provide MWEEs for elementary, middle and high school students.
Washington County Public Schools: for the continued implementation of a foundation MWEE and Environmental Literacy lessons in grades 4, 6, and high school. Cohorts were trained in the MWEEs and in designing lessons aimed at identifying environmental issues and developing solutions to related problems. Additional funding allows WCPS to continue to build strong experiences for K-12 students and teachers, create a sustainable program that incorporates the MWEES, and provide rich opportunities for ALL students to identify issues in their communities and practice service and good citizenship through vetted project and lessons.
Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore, Inc.: for a program led by Waterfront Partnership and the Towson University Center for STEM Excellence, aims to increase teacher capacity to provide high-quality MWEEs for fifth grade students in Baltimore City. During this grant period, we will provide up to 18 fifth grade teachers with a five-day professional learning workshop, an Inner Harbor field trip for their classes, and action project guidance and supplies. Specifically, the program will increase teacher capacity to: 1) lead students in implementing more integrated and impactful action projects, 2) foster student-centered inquiry, 3) teach the relevant science content, and 4) effectively engage students outdoors.
Wicomico County Board of Education/Public Schools: for a partnership with the Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art at Salisbury University to plan and implement a systemic program of environmental education for kindergarten and ninth grade students; expanding the current pilot programs and allowing for a formalization into the WCPS curriculum as systemic MWEEs and help us to meet the expectation of having systemic E-Lit programs in each grade band.

For more information on any of these specific grant awards, email Cindy Edson at cedson@cbtrust.org.
For more information on all our grant programs and open grant application opportunities, please visit https://cbtrust.org/grants/
The next meeting of the Chesapeake Bay Trust Board of Trustees is scheduled for May 2019.