Latest news with #ChesapeakeBayTrust
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
FCPS awarded $40K grant for environmental literacy and sustainability plan
Frederick County Public Schools was awarded a $40,000 grant to create a comprehensive environmental literacy and sustainability plan. The Chesapeake Bay Trust awarded the money last month to the school district. Colleen Beall, secondary science curriculum specialist for FCPS, said in an interview on Thursday that the district has been trying to refocus on environmental literacy and sustainability over the past year. She said the goal of the plan is to increase educators' ability to teach environmental education, and to standardize sustainability efforts districtwide. "We've really grown to make sure that curriculum and facilities are working together to support our schools and teachers," Beall said. She added that another goal is to increase the number of Maryland Green Certified schools in FCPS. The Maryland Green School Program recognizes schools across the state that include environmental education in their curricula. FCPS currently has 13 Green Certified schools * Butterfly Ridge Elementary * Carroll Creek Montessori Public Charter * Catoctin High * Frederick High * Lincoln Elementary * Middletown High * Myersville Elementary * Oakdale High * Sabillasville Environmental * Sugarloaf Elementary * Urbana High * Windsor Knolls Middle * Wolfsville Elementary Beall said the grant program runs through December 2026, and the school district will have a comprehensive plan created before then. "We also want to just formalize our procedures for engaging with all of our community partners because we have some amazing community partners who want to support us," she said. "We just want to make sure that we're all communicating. So, it's just very exciting and helps us keep our momentum going."
CBS News
15-04-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Maryland leaders announce $1.7 million in grant funding for environmental cleanup projects
The Maryland Department of the Environment, Chesapeake Bay Trust, along with Baltimore City Mayor Brandon Scott announced $1.7 million in grant funding for 21 environmental projects. The funding will support projects ranging from trash removal and stormwater management to increasing green spaces in communities affected by past pollution. "This is environmental justice in action," Maryland Environment Secretary Serena McIlwain said. "These actions are about fairness, and people, and prosperity." The grant funding comes from a settlement of a lawsuit filed by Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown on behalf of the Department of the Environment, requiring Baltimore City to address unauthorized pollution discharges. Among the largest grants is $655,363 for the Back River Restoration Committee to design and build a trash wheel on Back River. Other funded initiatives include community cleanups, permeable pavement projects, youth educational programs, and native plantings. "With these projects, we're creating good-paying jobs, cleaning up trash, improving drainage, planting trees, and establishing new green spaces," Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said. "We aren't just repairing damage; we're building more sustainable neighborhoods." Other awards include $7,729 for Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Baltimore County to start a water testing and pollution monitoring program on Back River, $154,263 to The 6th Branch, for a program offering interactive workshops to install pollinator gardens at three urban farms, and $222,539 to the Living Classrooms Foundation to install "greening practices" that will improve water in the Lancaster Street canal. The funding complements Gov. Wes Moore's FY26 budget, which includes over $400 million for wastewater plant upgrades and other Chesapeake Bay-related projects. Last October, Baltimore City's Department of Public Works said it was operating at "historic" levels when it comes to wastewater treatment. In Tuesday's announcement, officials reported significant improvements at Maryland's two largest wastewater treatment plants, with nitrogen pollution dropping over 60 percent at Back River and 78 percent at Patapsco since 2022.
