Events and Competitions
2020 Green Schools Conference and Expo
The eleventh annual Green Schools Conference and Expo will be held at the Hilton Portland Downtown in Portland, Oregon, March 2 – 4, 2020. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from and network with educational leaders, green building professionals, nonprofit partners, and others who are passionate about the future of green schools.
Registration for the conference is now open. Both full and daily passes are available. Register before December 20, 2019 to save with early bird rates. Special room discounts are also available at the Hilton Portland Downtown until February 17, 2020.
Five tracks of programming will be offered at the 2020 conference. Learn more about each track and view the full line-up of education sessions.
2020 Nature-Based Early Learning Conference
The Natural Start Alliance’s annual conference is the nation’s largest professional event for teaching, administration, research, educator preparation, and advocacy in nature-based early learning. Next year’s conference will take place July 29 – August 1, 2020 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Take part in engaging presentations, experiential workshops, site tours, and professional networking with nature-based early childhood professionals from around the country and beyond.
The sixth annual national Carton 2 Garden Contest, sponsored by Evergreen Packaging, is now accepting registrations! Open to public and private schools, contest winners will be selected based on their implementation of an innovative garden creation featuring creative and sustainable uses for repurposed milk and juice cartons. Your school can get started by collecting at least 100 empty cartons from home, the community, or the cafeteria.
Fifteen entries will be selected to receive award packages for their efforts. Entries are due by April 1, 2020 by Midnight PST.
National Farm to Cafeteria Conference
The 10th National Farm to Cafeteria Conference will be held April 20 – 24, 2020 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Hosted by the National Farm to School Network, this biennial event convenes stakeholders engaged in farm to cafeteria activities who are working to source local food and promote a culture of food and agricultural literacy across the country. Conference registration will open in January 2020.
Students in grades K-12 are invited to participate in a national recycling awareness contest sponsored by the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) and JASON Learning. The theme of this year’s contest is Recycling: Then, Now, and into the Future.
The challenge: create an original video or poster that imagines what recycling will look like in 50, 75, or even 100 years from now by designing a solution to a current problem in recycling today. Students can enter as individuals or as a team of up to four individuals. One video and one poster will be selected as a finalist from each of three grade bands: K-4, 5-8, and 9-12. Up to two grand prize winners will be selected. Grand prize winners will receive a trip for one team representative and a parent/guardian chaperone to ISRI’s Annual Convention and Expo to be held April 27 – 30, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Entries are due December 20, 2019.
‘See a Bloom, Give it Room’ High School Video Challenge
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has launched the ‘See a Bloom, Give it Room’ video challenge to promote public awareness of harmful algal blooms through creative problem solving. The contest is open to high school students or teams (grades 9 – 12) in EPA Regions 7 and 8: Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. This includes students in public, private, and tribal high schools, and home school programs. Students are asked to create public safety videos (under two minutes in length) that explain how to spot harmful algal blooms and how people and their pets should be safe around them. A winner from each state, along with two regional tribal winners, will be selected by judging panels to each receive a $2,000 cash prize. Two grand prize winners will also be selected to receive $4,000 each. Winning videos will be highlighted at the EPA Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) Conference in February; featured on EPA web and social media channels; and used by the Agency and its state environmental partners in HAB safety outreach efforts. Submissions are due by 11:00pm ET on January 3, 2020.
Professional Development and GSNN PD Partner Resources
The Biomimicry Institute is the world’s leading nonprofit dedicated to innovation inspired by nature. Biomimicry offers an exciting project-based approach that helps teachers blend STEM and environmental education in creative, hands-on lessons students love. The Biomimicry Institute helps educators and organizations bring biomimicry into their teaching by providing curriculum and training, networking opportunities, and content development support. Learn more about our services and visit the online library, AskNature, for the resources and information you need to bring biomimicry into your teaching practice.
Calling All Educators!
Registration for Biomimicry Youth Design Challenge coaches is open until March 1, 2020. Educators who register as coaches gain access to challenge curriculum and resources that can be used to integrate biomimicry study into classroom instruction. Register here.
Captain Planet Foundation supports educators with grants, resources, tools, and models to spark children’s curiosity, cultivate a love of nature, and engage students in science and engineering practices to solve real-world problems. Our programs and materials have co-evolved with education priorities over the years to ensure educators have the tools and strategies to meet their needs in and out of the classroom.
Children’s Environmental Literacy Foundation
The Children’s Environmental Literacy Foundation (CELF) was founded in 2003 on the principle that education for sustainability is essential for today’s K-12 students. CELF programs use real-world problem-solving to prepare students with the holistic thinking skills and motivation to become agents of change for a healthier, more stable, and sustainable future.
Upcoming Programming
CELF Annual Summer Institutes in Education for Sustainability
The Annual CELF Summer Institute in Education for Sustainability (EfS) is an intensive multi-day workshop that enables teachers to integrate the concepts of sustainability into their existing curricula. The Institute equips K-12 teachers with practices and teaching methods to address the core concepts of EfS – the intersection of social, economic, and ecological systems – and how the balance of those three systems is vital to a sustainable future and relevant to all subject areas.
New York and Houston, Texas Locations!
In partnership with Manhattanville College in Purchase, New York (July 13-16, 2020) and New York University, Wallerstein Collaborative for Urban Environmental Education and Sustainability (August 2020)
In partnership with the University of Houston, Clear Lake and Lone Star College Kingwood (dates coming soon)
The Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education
The Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education works with schools and school districts to help them integrate Education for Sustainability (EfS) into their curriculum. Core services include consulting and leadership development (on-site and off-site); professional development and faculty coaching; curriculum design, assessment, mapping, and alignment; and school and community partnerships. The Cloud Institute holds an annual Summer Design Studio that enables educators, administrators, and program designers to learn how to design and embed EfS into curriculum, assessments, and programs.
Community Works Institute (CWI) directly supports K-16 educators and schools in making their local community the focus and context for powerful student learning experiences. CWI’s work with educators is focused on using the local community as the classroom through the lens of place-based service-learning, sustainability, and social justice. CWI particularly emphasizes student voice and reciprocity in its program design work. Since 1995, CWI has provided powerful on-site support and professional development for educators around the globe, including its acclaimed annual Summer Institutes in Brooklyn and Los Angeles. CWI’s Summer Institutes are the longest running professional development events of their kind. CWI also provides resources for educators, including its digital magazine Community Works Journal.
Upcoming Programming
Early bird and team rates are available for all Institutes. Scholarship support is available on a need basis. Please see CWI’s website for additional information.
January 13 – 17, 2020
Lima, Peru (in partnership with Otis College of Art and Design)
Saturday, February 29, 2020, 8:30am – 4:30pm
Brooklyn, New York
CWI’s 2020 Summer EAST Institute on Place Based Service-Learning, Sustainability, and Social Justice
June 22 – 26, 2020
Brooklyn, New York (in partnership with Berkeley Carroll School and Otis College of Art and Design)
CWI’s 2020 Summer WEST Institute on Place Based Service-Learning, Sustainability, and Social Justice
July 27 – 31, 2020
Los Angeles, California (in partnership with Otis College of Art and Design)
EcoRise’s school-based program empowers youth to tackle real-world challenges in their schools and communities by teaching sustainability, design innovation, and social entrepreneurship. Our curriculum, classroom grants, ongoing training, and support engages educators and students in meaningful learning experiences. Our program empowers teachers to confidently champion sustainability and innovation in their classrooms, while students cultivate 21st century skills and sustainable living practices.
Facing the Future is an international program, based out of Western Washington University, creating tools for educators that equip and motivate students to develop critical thinking skills, build global awareness, and engage in positive solutions for a sustainable future. The curriculum is organized around eight sustainability big ideas: Connecting with Nature; Equity and Justice; Health and Resiliency; Interconnectedness; Local to Global; Peace and Collaboration; Respect for Limits; and Universal Responsibility.
Facing the Future curriculum materials and resources are available for K-12 teachers, teachers in colleges of education, and for some community college and undergraduate classes. All materials are developed for teachers, by teachers, with best teaching and learning practices in mind and are aligned with Common Core Standards, Next Generation Science Standards, and most state standards frameworks.
Green Apple Day of Service gives parents, teachers, students, companies, and local organizations the opportunity to transform all schools into healthy, safe, and productive learning environments through local service projects. Check out project ideas, pick up helpful event resources, and register your project online. Register by December 31, 2019 to be eligible for the 2020 Green Apple Awards.
Green Strides Webinar Series Calendar
The Green Strides Webinar Series provides school communities with the tools they need to reduce their schools’ environmental impact and costs; improve health and wellness; and teach effective environmental education. It provides all schools access to the resources that help them move toward the Pillars of the U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools recognition award. Sign up for Green Strides Webinar Series email updates to receive information on future webinars.
Using Geocaching and Orienteering as Engaging Learning Tools
Wednesday, December 4th, 7:30 – 8:30 pm EST
If students are asking to stay outside even during inclement weather, your lesson is making an impact. It’s especially rewarding when this lesson requires students to use critical thinking and transferable practical skills. See how Becky Lewis is augmenting her teaching by using geocaching and orienteering.
Knowles Teaching Fellows Program
The Knowles Science Teaching Foundation was established in 1999 to increase the number of high-quality high school science and mathematics teachers with the ultimate goal of improving STEM education in the United States. The Knowles Teaching Fellows Program, the Foundation’s signature program, is one of the most comprehensive fellowship programs in the nation for mathematics and science teachers starting their first or second year of teaching. During the five-year program, Fellows receive professional development from experienced educators and financial support for professional development, classroom materials, and more. Applications for 2020 Teaching Fellowships are due December 1, 2019 at 11:59pm PST.
A product of the U.S. Green Building Council’s The Center for Green Schools, Learning Lab provides K-12 teachers and school leaders with comprehensive, project- and STEM-based curriculum that encourages student leadership, environmental literacy, and real-world action. Discover best-in-class content, training, and tools. Access their curated catalogue of lesson plans, interactive projects, assessment opportunities, and other multimedia resources in English and Spanish. Lessons are mapped to meet current educational standards and were created by educators, for educators.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Teacher at Sea Program provides teachers with hands-on, real-world research experience working at sea with world-renowned NOAA scientists, thereby giving them unique insight into oceanic and atmospheric research crucial to the nation. The program provides a unique opportunity for kindergarten through college-level teachers to sail aboard NOAA research ships to work under the tutelage of scientists and crew.
Since its inception in 1990, NOAA’s Teacher at Sea Program has enabled nearly 700 teachers to gain first-hand experience of science and life at sea. By participating in this program, teachers profoundly enrich their classroom curricula, enhance their approaches to teaching science, and engage their local community with knowledge that can only be gained by living and working side-by-side, day and night, with scientists who contribute to the world’s oceanic and atmospheric scientific research.
Applications are now being accepted for their 2020 season. The deadline to submit applications is November 30, 2019.
Ocean Exploration Trust Science Communication Fellowship
The Ocean Exploration Trust’s Science Communication Fellowship Program immerses formal and non-formal educators in the Nautilus Corps of Exploration and empowers them to bring ocean exploration – specifically in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) – to a global audience via the Nautilus Live website. Science Communication Fellows bring their expedition experience back to their own classrooms, organizations, and communities in the form of engaging lesson plans and activities centered around their time at sea aboard Nautilus and other vessels. Applications are due January 10, 2020.
Shelburne Farms is a nonprofit organization educating for a sustainable future. That means learning that links knowledge, inquiry, and action to help students build a healthy future for their communities and the planet. Its home campus is a 1,400-acre working farm, forest, and National Historic Landmark. Shelburne Farms’ school programs staff support student learning and educator professional development by offering experiences that inspire deep connections to community and a commitment to a healthy future.
Upcoming Programming
Project Seasons for Young Learners: Cultivating Joy & Wonder
July 13 – 17, 2020
Join us for a week of fun and learning on the Farm while using the Big Ideas of Sustainability to inspire your curriculum with fresh ideas. We will use lots of hands-on activities, protocols, and shared learning to examine how these ideas can instill a deep love and appreciation for the natural world in you and your students. Rediscover your own curiosity and joy by connecting with peers; engaging with our farmyard, forest, lake, and wetlands; and learning practical activities and pedagogy you can easily employ in your own place.
Cost $575. Includes light breakfast and lunch; excludes accommodations and graduate credit. Scholarships may be available on a need-based scale. Learn more and register here.
Education for Sustainability: Summer Institute
July 27 – 31, 2020
Spend five rich days with colleagues from around the country at an informative and restorative institute created to give you the opportunity to deepen your understanding of education for sustainability. This week is part conference, part workshop, part retreat. The 2020 Summer Institute will use the lens of sustainability to focus on health and the environment. Topics might include: Individual to Global Wellness, Food and Health; and Health in the Climate Crisis.
Cost $600. Includes light breakfast and lunch; excludes travel and graduate credit. Limited on-site accommodations are available on a first come, first serve basis. Scholarships may be available on a need-based scale. Learn more and register here.
Education for Sustainability Immersion
August 13 – 14, 2020
For those who already have a strong foundation in education for sustainability, our two-day Immersion will provide you with the opportunity to reflect, learn, and collaborate with a small group of colleagues from across the country in a residential, retreat-like setting here at Shelburne Farms. The Immersion has a design studio feel with participants self-directing much of their work with a few inspirational speakers and workshops/explore times. Expect to take a deep dive into such topic areas as place-based education, social justice, systems thinking, or other topics in the field of education for sustainability that are important to you. This course is action-oriented with an expectation at the end that each participant has a solid project or curriculum to implement.
Cost $375. Includes meals and accommodations; excludes graduate credits. Limited to 16 participants. Scholarships may be available on a need-based scale. Learn more and register here.
Strategic Energy Innovations (SEI) is a nonprofit that builds leaders to drive climate solutions. For over 20 years, SEI’s focus has been on building capacity to create sustainable communities through scalable programs and models. Its flagship programs (Energize Schools, Energize Colleges, School of Environmental Leadership, and Climate Corps) integrate climate education, training, and career development. From young students to emerging professionals to communities, SEI programs engage local talent to directly address their community’s sustainability goals by leading projects with measurable environmental, economic, and social benefits.
Susan Santone is an internationally recognized educator with over 20 years of experience in curriculum reform, educational policy, and sustainability. Through her nonprofit Creative Change Educational Solutions, Susan has led teacher education and curriculum reform initiatives with clients ranging from K-12 districts to universities to the United Nations. Susan offers facilitator training to prepare school and university teams to lead professional development in their own settings; leadership development and strategic communication to advance understanding of sustainability and social justice, and consultation services for schools, universities, and other entities.
Learn more about online courses that Susan has developed in partnership with Kappa Delta Pi: Introduction to Sustainability and Introduction to Social Justice.
Teach Earth Fellowship from Earthwatch Institute
Teach Earth is built upon the principle that every individual can contribute to a sustainable planet, regardless of scientific background or skill. Each year, Earthwatch Institute selects talented teachers from all subject areas to participate in a 7-14 day immersive learning experience, working side-by-side with world-class scientists on field research expeditions around the world. From the edge of the Arctic to the coast of Maine, these teachers collect data on climate change, ecology, wildlife, and more. Teachers have an opportunity to learn the scientific process first-hand and help to solve some of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges. Teachers return to the classroom with new perspectives and knowledge, invigorated and inspired to share the experience of real discovery with their students.
Visit Earthwatch’s Institute website to learn more about qualifications and award details and to fill out an interest form. 2020 Fellowship Applications are due January 10, 2020.
Teaching Our Cities Practice Toolkits
Teaching Our Cities, a project of Common Ground, is creating a collection of toolkits that share best practices that are working at partner schools. Toolkits include videos, blog-style reflections, resources, and practice descriptions. Current toolkits cover teaching a sense of place, learning expeditions, green exhibitions, environmental leadership portfolios, and magnet theme days.
Celebrating Diverse Cultures in Green Schools Related Resources
EdChange’s Multicultural Pavilion
The Multicultural Pavilion is an award-winning website that houses free resources for educators dedicated to equity and social justice in schools. Resources of interest for K-12 educators include the Teachers Corner, with curricular and pedagogical tools for educators at all levels, and a collection of awareness activities that can be adapted for classroom use.
Edutopia’s Culturally Responsive Teaching Resource Library
This resource roundup includes articles and videos to help educators engage students by connecting to and honoring their cultures, experiences, and backgrounds.
The Inclusive Schools Network is a web-based educational resource for families, schools, and communities that promotes inclusive educational practices. Its library of resources covers a range of topics on diversity. Categories include inclusion basics, culturally responsive instruction, family involvement, instruction for diverse learners, school climate, and student engagement.
National Education Association’s Diversity Toolkit
This online toolkit provides an introduction to the multiple facets of diversity. It offers basic information, a short list of strategies and tools, and suggestions for how to find out more. Topics covered include class and income, cultural competence, English Language Learners, gender, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender identity, and social justice.
Reframing the Curriculum: Design for Social Justice and Sustainability
From Routledge: Reframing the Curriculum is a practical, hands-on guide to weaving the concepts of healthy communities, democratic societies, and social justice into academic disciplines. Developed for future and practicing teachers, this volume is perfect for teacher education courses in instructional design, social foundations, and general education, as well as for study in professional learning communities. The author outlines the philosophies, movements, and narratives shaping the future, both in and out of classrooms, and then challenges readers to consider the larger story and respond with curriculum makeovers that engage students in solving problems in their schools, communities, and the larger world. The book’s proven method for designing units gives educators across grades and disciplines the tools to bring sustainability and social justice into experiential, project-based instructional approaches.
Pedagogical features include:
- Specific examples and templates that offer readers a framework for reworking their units and courses while meeting required standards and incorporating innovative classroom practices.
- Activities and discussion questions that bring to life and establish ties with the curriculum.
- eResources, including a facilitator’s guide, offering examples of fully developed units created with this model and an editable template for redesigning existing units.
Scholastic Multiculturalism and Diversity Resources
This resource collection includes tips, strategies, lesson plan ideas, and ready-to-go activities to help educators engage students and families from diverse backgrounds.
TeacherVision Culture and Diversity Resources
This resource collection offers activities, lesson plans, and printables for teaching students to respect differences among people in their community, promoting tolerance and understanding, and familiarizing students with the history and traditions of different religions and ethnic groups.
Teaching for Change is a nonprofit that provides teachers with the tools they need to create schools where students learn to read, write, and change the world. The organization’s website features teacher resources, lesson plans, and book recommendations for teaching about race and diversity in the classroom.
A project of the Southern Poverty Law Center, Teaching Tolerance helps teachers and schools educate children and youth to be active participants in a diverse democracy. The organization’s classroom resources page offers free lessons, learning plans, teacher strategies, and film kits that educators can use to explore topics like race and ethnicity, gender equality, and sexual orientation with students.
Grants and Awards
2020 KidsGardening Youth Garden Grants
The 2020 KidsGardening Youth Garden Grant is designed to support school and youth educational garden projects that enhance the quality of life for students and their communities. Any nonprofit organization, public or private school, or youth program in the United States or U.S. Territories planning a new garden program or expanding an established one that serves at least 15 youth between the ages of 3 and 18 is eligible to apply. Twenty-five programs will be awarded grant packages. Winners are selected based on demonstrated program impact and sustainability. Applications are due by December 16, 2019.
ASM Materials Education Foundation K-12 Education Grants
The ASM Materials Education Foundation awards 20 grants of $500 annually to help K-12 teachers bring the real world of materials science into their classrooms. “Living in a Material World” grants recognize creativity and enhance awareness of materials science and the role that materials play in society. Teachers must describe a hands-on, curriculum-based K-12 project that involves student observation, teamwork, mathematics, and science skills that enhance student awareness of the everyday materials around them. The deadline for applications is May 25, 2020.
Captain Planet Foundation ecoSolution Grants
The Captain Planet Foundation’s ecoSolution Grants (previously called “Small Grants”) have been the defining basis of the organization’s work over the last 25 years. The Foundation has funded over 2,100 projects that have impacted 1.2 million youth around the world – actively fulfilling its mission to build the next generation of environmental stewards and change agents.
ecoSolution Grants range from $500 – $2,500 and are intended to support solution-oriented, youth-led projects that result in real environmental outcomes. Visit the website to learn more about eligibility and restrictions and to fill out an application. The deadline to submit applications for the current grant cycle is January 15, 2020.
Captain Planet Foundation ecoTECH Grants
Originally developed in partnership with the Ray C. Anderson Foundation and with ongoing support from Voya Financial, ecoTech Grants are specifically offered to engage children in inquiry-based, STEM-related projects that leverage technology and/or use nature-based design to address environmental problems in local communities. ecoTech Grants were created to combat the notion that students needed to choose between “the screen” or “the green” and to encourage educators and students to explore the role technology can play in designing and implementing solutions to some of our most pressing environmental challenges. ecoTECH grant projects must:
- Be based in the U.S.
- Integrate the use of technology to address environmental problems (not iPads or other tablets)
- Be project-based
- Be youth-led
- Result in real, demonstrable environmental outcomes
ecoTECH grants are available as cash grants of up to $2,500 and support the purchase of materials and other project implementation expenses. The deadline to submit applications for the current grant cycle is January 15, 2020.
Dorothy Stout Professional Development Awards
The National Association of Geoscience Teachers gives these professional development awards to faculty and students at two year colleges and to K-12 teachers in support of:
- Participation in Earth Science classes or workshops
- Attendance at professional scientific or science education meetings
- Participation in Earth Science field trips
- Purchase of Earth Science materials for classroom use
Awards of $750 are made annually in three categories: Community College Faculty, Community College Student, and K-12 Educator. Award winners are also given a one-year membership to the National Association of Geoscience Teachers, which includes an online subscription to the Journal of Geoscience Education and the In The Trenches magazine. The deadline to apply is April 15, 2020.
GetEdFunding is a curated collection of grants and awards created by education professionals for education professionals. Its database was designed to be easy-to-use and reliable, and all grant and funding opportunities are updated daily. Users can search by six criteria, including 43 areas of focus, 8 content areas, and 14 twenty-first century themes and skills, including environmental literacy. Once registered on the site, users can save grants of interest and return to them at any time.
Fund for Teachers provides educators the resources and funding they need to pursue self-designed professional learning experiences. Fund for Teachers grant awards support a variety of projects, all designed to create enhanced learning environments for teachers, their students, and school communities. Since 2001, Fund for Teachers has invested $32 million in nearly 8,500 teachers. Applications for 2020 are being accepted through January 31, 2020. Learn more about the application process and what current and past fellows have accomplished.
FY 2020 Farm to School Grant Program
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will award up to $10 million in competitive grants to eligible entities through the Farm to School Grant Program in fiscal year (FY) 2020. Each grant helps implement Farm to School programs that increase access to local food in eligible schools, providing students with quality meals at a reasonable cost while also supporting local producers. In FY 2019, USDA awarded 126 grants across the United States.
The 2020 Request for Applications includes three tracks—Implementation, Planning, and State Agency. Each track provides funding for a specific range of activities:
- Implementation grants are intended to help schools, school districts, state and local agencies, Indian tribal organizations, small- and medium-sized agricultural producers or groups of small- and medium-sized agricultural producers, and nonprofit entities working with schools or school districts to scale or further develop existing farm to school initiatives. Implementation awards range from $50,000 – $100,000.
- Planning grants are for schools or school districts, state and local agencies, Indian tribal organizations, small- and medium-sized agricultural producers or groups of small- and medium-sized agricultural producers, and nonprofit entities working with schools or school districts that are just getting started on farm to school activities. These funds are intended to help these entities organize and structure their efforts for maximum impact by embedding known best practices into early design considerations. Planning awards range from $20,000 – $50,000.
- State Agency grants help state agencies seeking to improve access to local food served in eligible Child Nutrition Programs (CNP) by incorporating local procurement and agricultural education activities. Eligible state agencies include any state level agency working to promote farm to CNP activities, such as State Departments of Education, Health, or Agriculture. State Agency awards range from $50,000 – $100,000.
Deadline for application submissions is December 13, 2019.
NSTA’s Shell Science Lab Program
Shell and the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) have partnered to recognize outstanding middle and high school programs for their exemplary approaches to science lab instruction utilizing limited school and laboratory resources. The Shell Science Lab Challenge showcases the work of teachers who submit innovative, replicable strategies to deliver quality lab experiences with limited equipment/resources, and award teachers/schools with additional tools, resources, and rich professional development opportunities needed to support high-quality science teaching and strengthen their existing capabilities. To be eligible:
- Applicants may be individual teachers or teams of teachers of science in grades 6-12, in the United States and Canada, representing their schools.
- A teacher is limited to one application per year (whether submitting as an individual or team applicant).
- A school may submit an unlimited number of applications.
Shell Science Lab Challenge national winners will be honored during a black-tie dinner gala at the NSTA National Conference on Science Education. The grand prize winner will receive a lab makeover support package valued at $20,000.
Applications are due by Midnight EST on January 15, 2020 via online submission.
Salad Bars to Schools launched in 2010 with the mission of donating salad bars to U.S. schools so that every child has daily access to fresh fruits and vegetables. Any district or independent school participating in the National School Lunch Program is invited to apply. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Visit the website to learn about eligibility, award criteria, and the application process.
The Shell Science Teaching Award
A partnership between Shell Oil Company and the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), this award recognizes one outstanding classroom teacher (grades K–12) who has had a positive impact on his or her students, school, and the community through exemplary science teaching. The recipient of the Shell Science Teaching Award will receive $10,000, as well as an all-expense-paid trip (along with the two finalists) to attend the NSTA National Conference on Science Education. All three will be honored at the Awards Banquet. The recipient will also be recognized at the Teacher Awards Banquet. The 10 semifinalists will receive certificates of distinction. Completed applications must be received by December 18, 2019.
Teaching Tolerance Educator Grants
Teaching Tolerance Educator Grants support educators who embrace and embed anti-bias principles throughout their schools. These grants, ranging from $500 – $10,000, support projects that promote affirming school climates and educate youth to thrive in a diverse democracy. Grants fund projects on three levels: classroom, school, and district. Educators nationwide in public or private K-12 spaces, as well as in alternative schools, therapeutic schools, and juvenile justice facilities, are eligible to apply.
Applications for Teaching Tolerance Educator Grants are reviewed on a rolling basis. There is no deadline to apply.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s 2020 Environmental Education Local Grant Program
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will award up to $3 million in funding to eligible entities through the 2020 Environmental Education Local Grants Program. This grant program supports locally-focused environmental education projects that increase public awareness and knowledge about environmental and conservation issues and provides the skills that participants in its funded projects need to make informed decisions and take responsible actions toward the environment. EPA will award three to four grants in each of its ten regions, for no less than $50,000 and no more than $100,000 each, for a total of 30-35 grants nationwide. Proposals are due January 6, 2020.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s 2020 Presidential Environmental Youth Awards and Presidential Innovation Awards for Environmental Educators
The Presidential Environmental Youth Awards (PEYA) recognizes outstanding K-12 environmental stewardship projects that promote environmental awareness and encourage community involvement. EPA will select up to two winners in each of EPA’s 10 Regions – one regional winner for grades K-5, and one regional winner for grades 6-12. Winners will be invited to participate in an awards ceremony and poster session in Washington, D.C. in mid-2020 and their projects will be highlighted on EPA’s website. Application and eligibility information can be found here.
The Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators (PIAEE) recognizes outstanding K-12 teachers who employ innovative approaches to environmental education. Up to two teachers from each of EPA’s 10 regions, from different states, will be selected to receive this award. Teachers will receive a Presidential plaque and an award of up to $2,500 to be used to further professional development in environmental education. Winning teachers’ local education agencies will also receive awards of up to $2,500 to fund environmental education activities and programs. Winners will be invited to participate in an awards ceremony and poster session in Washington, D.C. in mid-2020 and their projects will be highlighted on EPA’s website. Application and eligibility information can be found here.
EPA is seeking 2020 PEYA and PIAEE award applications for projects on a variety of environmental topics, including (but not limited to):
- reducing food waste and loss and excess food recovery efforts;
- reducing contributions to ocean and marine litter;
- solutions in recycling;
- using science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) to teach environmental education;
- environmental sustainability;
- sustainable agricultural practices; and
- healthy school environments.
Applications for both awards programs are due no later than January 15, 2020.
Voya Foundation grants are focused on Financial Resilience. We work to ensure that youth are equipped with Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) expertise and financial knowledge necessary to compete in the 21st century workforce and make smart financial decisions that lead to a secure retirement.
We accomplish this by accepting year-round grant applications from organizations that:
- Provide innovative and experiential K-8 STEM learning opportunities to promote an early interest in STEM career fields and improve teachers’ capabilities in STEM; or
- Provide financial education curriculum to grade 9-12 students focused on navigating major financial milestones including student debt, credit, home ownership, financial products and services/financial capability, and family needs.
