Kentucky Environmental Literacy Plan approved by Kentucky Board of Education

Press Release from the Education Cabinet

Kentucky Environmental Literacy Plan approved by Kentucky Board of Education

FRANKFORT, Ky. (Dec. 7, 2011) – The Kentucky Board of Education today approved the implementation of the Kentucky Environmental Literacy Plan (KELP) by the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE). The plan’s objective is to ensure that Kentucky students are educated about the environment when they graduate from high school.

The plan was developed by the KELP Task Force, which includes a diverse group of educators and other key stakeholders appointed by Kentucky Education Commissioner Terry Holliday. Environmental literacy is defined by the KELP Task Force as “the ability to recognize the components of healthy natural and man-made systems and the actions necessary to maintain, restore or improve them.”

Kentucky First Lady Jane Beshear applauded the approval of plan. “The Kentucky Environmental Literacy Plan uniquely promotes energy efficiency, sustainability and environmental preservation through valuable classroom learning,” said Mrs. Beshear. “Providing students with a strong foundation in environmental knowledge and practices today will benefit the overall environmental quality of the Commonwealth for future generations.”

Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet Secretary Joseph U. Meyer, said, “Innovative approaches are essential to helping Kentucky meet our goals of workforce development and college preparedness. Implementing this plan will help our students develop important collaboration, teamwork and problem-solving skills in the context of real world concerns that we face in Kentucky.”

Felicia Smith, KELP Task Force co-chair and associate commissioner for KDE, said that the plan will help students reach proficiency in all subject areas, including science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). “The Kentucky Environmental Literacy Plan is ambitious, but achievable as a means for reaching core competencies in STEM education and across the curriculum,” she said.

Research demonstrates that using the environment as a framework for study across academic disciplines, including math, language arts, science and social studies promotes academic achievement. In addition, this type of instruction positively impacts cognitive development, child health, workforce development and a healthy environment, said Kentucky Environmental Education Council (KEEC) Executive Director Elizabeth Schmitz. The agency is in the Education and Workforce Development Cabinet. 

 "Among other benefits, studies show that student motivation increases when environment-based education is incorporated into schools, as measured by increased attendance, decreased tardiness and fewer discipline referrals,” said Schmitz. “This occurs at the same time that standardized test scores improve, especially in language arts. The marked improvement in language arts shows the truly interdisciplinary nature of environmental education.” 

 Dr. Melinda Wilder, KELP Task Force co-chair and director of Natural Areas at Eastern Kentucky University, said, “Taking our students outside, for even 15 minutes, to write an essay about something that they can see and touch – for example, a tree – gives students experiences that help them include vivid, real life details in their descriptions. That same tree can be used to learn math – calculating the tree height, circumference, and board feet, for example. It can also be used to teach about scientific concepts, social studies and history.”

 The KELP Task Force also was co-chaired by Billy Bennett, director of the Center for Environmental Education at EKU.

 Development of KELP was funded by the Kentucky Environmental Education Council using America Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) money. The next phase of the KELP is to develop an Implementation Plan as directed by the Board of Education. This effort will be led by the KELP co-chairs and an Implementation Advisory Team named by Commissioner Holliday. The Implementation Plan will be completed in spring of 2012.

 The Kentucky Environmental Literacy Plan can be viewed on the KEEC website at http://www.keec.ky.gov.

Contacts:

Felicia Cumings Smith 

(502) 564-9850

Dr. Melinda Wilder

(859) 622-1476

Billy Bennett
(859) 622-2902

For updates and to show your support of this plan, join the Kentucky Environmental Literacy Alliance (KELA), a coalition of businesses, agencies, schools, citizens, and non-profits voicing their support for an environmentally literate Commonwealth.  Join for FREE at thekela.com. 

Connecting Kids with Nature

Here are some ways you can support connecting kids with nature in the coming days:

Join the Healthy Kids Outdoors Act Group Sign-On Letter

Join the EPA Environmental Education Funding Sign-On Letter

Support Conservation Funding in Congress

Support the No Child Left Inside Act

Healthy Kids Outdoor Act Introduced in Congress

On November 3rd, Congressman Ron Kind (WI) and Senator Mark Udall (CO) introduced the Healthy Kids Outdoors Act in Congress!  This is a huge milestone for all of us working to reconnect children, youth and families with nature.

You can read more here and see Congressman Kind’s blog on the bill here.  The Outdoors Alliance for Kids press release is attached.

We believe that the policies proposed by the Healthy Kids Outdoors Act will advance our collective efforts to reconnect children, youth and families with the natural world, while improving our children's health, supporting economic growth and strengthening the future of conservation in America.  The legislation will achieve these goals by:

• Directing the President to develop an inter-agency federal strategy and action plan to connect children, youth and families with the natural world;
• Encouraging states to develop similar state-based strategies that incorporate public health, parks and recreation, transportation and other initiatives at the local level; and
• Supporting research documenting the health, conservation and other benefits of active time spent outdoors in the natural world.

The legislation encourages solutions that include connecting communities with green spaces, providing opportunities for outdoor recreation, engaging the health community to educate parents and caregivers and much more.  We believe that the Healthy Kids Outdoors Act’s focus on health and recreation solutions will be an excellent complement to the No Child Left Inside (NCLI) Act's systemic approach of getting environmental education back into our nation's schools.

Save the Date: December 1, 2011, The Release of a Framework for Assessing Environmental Literacy

On December 1, join NAAEE for the roll-out of "A Framework for Assessing Environmental Literacy" at the National Press Club, Washington, DC, and live via the Internet.

This new framework for assessing environmental literacy was developed with experts from the fields of environmental education, social studies education, and science education, plus related policy and social science fields. The development team will be joined by leaders from large-scale national and international assessments to discuss how to define and assess environmental literacy. The NAAEE spearheaded this project with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), and is partnering with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation (NMSF) to release the framework.

Mark your calendars for Thursday, December 1, 2011, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time

To register for this important event, visit:  www.naaee.net/framework

Development of the Kentucky Environmental Literacy Plan

For the first time ever, environmental education and literacy are included as a part of a federal grants program to promote a “Well-Rounded Education”.  The No Child Left Inside Act has been submitted as a stand-alone bill and included in the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).  This Act would increase environmental literacy among elementary and secondary students by providing federal assistance for the development and implementation of state environmental literacy plans to help implement these experiences into schools and classrooms.

In preparation for this, almost every state in the U.S. is currently working on or has recently completed a state environmental literacy plan.  Environmental education has been shown to have a beneficial effect on student achievement and engagement in a variety of school settings.  Kentucky recently finalized a K-12 Environmental Literacy Plan.  This plan was completed by a task force appointed by Commissioner Terry Holliday and headed up by the Kentucky Environmental Education Council and the Kentucky Department of Education.  This plan will be presented to the Kentucky Department of Education on December 7, 2011. 

Kentucky’s plan addresses seven distinct elements:

1.       How will environmental literacy relate to content standards.

2.       Description of the relationship of the plan to graduation requirements.

3.       Professional development for teachers to improve their EE knowledge.

4.       How student’s environmental literacy will be measured.

5.       Description of how the plan will be implemented.

6.       How the state education agency will encourage schools to “green” the buildings and grounds.

7.       How the state education agency will encourage teachers and administrators to provide significant outdoor experiences for their students.

If you are a supporter of environmental education and increasing environmental literacy in Kentucky, please show your support for this plan by joining the Kentucky Environmental Literacy Alliance as an individual, school, organization, or business at www.thekela.com.  Here you can also find updates on the plan and the status of federal legislation in Kentucky. 

KAEE Outdoor Photography Contest

As Environmental Educators, we are continually striving to reconnect people with nature and get outdoors!  What better way to do this than by going outside to take pictures of nature and all the wonders it holds in store for us?  There are prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in each category, AND a grand prize $500 gift certificate to Outdoor Photo Gear!  Show your love of Kentucky nature by taking part in the 2011 KAEE Outdoor Photography Contest, sponsored by Outdoor Photo Gear.  For contest details, please visit our website at www.kaee.org/photography-contest.

 

Field to Fork Festival

Takes place on July 16th from 9-6pm in Paint Lick, KY. Join us and look for the KAEE booth!

In today’s economy, we are all looking for ways to cut our expenditures! Adults, 18 and older, are just $35 per person. With a selection of eight workshop sessions included in your registration fee, the cost breakdown is just $4.38 per workshop session.  Visit http://fieldtoforkfestival.blogspot.com/ for coupons to the event!

Additionally, all participants have the opportunity to freely shop in the farmers’ market and vendor/exhibitors’ areas of the Festival grounds. Individual food vendors, including Kidd Family Farms serving grass-fed beef burgers and sides; Joe Yoder and family serving fresh roasted pork sandwiches and sides; Main Street Cafe serving a variety of locally produced / grown meats and vegetarian entrees; and the Kentucky Department of Aquaculture providing samples of Kentucky freshwater prawns will be open throughout the festival hours to provide participants with a selection of breakfast and lunch entrees.

Youth, ages 6-17, are encouraged to participate at just $10 per youth; with children under 6 free of charge. All children under the age of 18 must be supervised by at least one adult at all times while attending the festival.

To purchase tickets in advance at the reduced rate, visit the Field to Fork Festival website at www.fieldtoforkfestival.com or call 859-619-0334.

Field to Fork Festival is held in partnership with Berea Tourist and Conventions Commission, Garrard County Chamber of Commerce, and Garrard and Madison County Farmers’ Markets to support the Appalachian regional families in central Kentucky through education and outreach focused on production, processing, and marketing techniques that boost community sustainable gardening and small farm profitability.

KAEE Early Bird Conference Registration is Now Open!

KAEE's 35th Annual Conference will take place on September 16-17, 2011 at The Brown Hotel in Louisville.

Are you interested in getting professional development experience, learning more about the field of environmental education, and having a great time? Join us for workshops sessions, exhibitors, networking, speakers, and more! The KAEE conference is open to people from all walks of life- teachers, administrators, government and agency personnel, business and industry representatives and private citizens. We welcome anyone with an interest in the environment and education. Please join us in our mission to "build a sustainable environment through education".

This year's conference theme is Environmental Education: Everywhere for Everyone. We all know that environmental education is at home in the forests and fields, but it has a well-established foot-hold in the cities as well. Urban gardening, green building design, and cleaner transportation are all areas of focus in population centers. Wherever people live, there is a need for environmental education. 

 Don't delay! Registration is now open!  There is a limited number of slots available for workshops that require pre-registration so register now to ensure you will get a spot!  For information about workshops that require pre-registration, please see our Onsite and Offsite Workshop Pre-Registration Brochure.  More information on the conference will be coming soon.  To register now, visit our conference page at www.kaee.org/conference.

On Friday, our keynote speaker will be Dudley Edmonson, author of "Black & Brown Faces in America's Wild Places".  Dudley Edmonson is a nature photography, filmmaker, author, and all around outdoor enthusiast.  On Saturday, our keynote speaker will be Dr. Mamie Parker, a professional fish and wildlife biologist.  For more information on our keynote speakers, please visit www.kaee.org/conference/keynote-speakers.