Who are we: All Boston-based organizations with programming or interest in environmental education are considered to be part of the network. The Network and this event is guided by two steering committees with representatives from the following organizations: Boston Public Schools Science Department, Appalachian Mountain Club, Arnold Arboretum, Boston Nature Center, Boston School Yards Initiative, Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy, The Boston Children’s Museum, UMASS Boston Oceanography Department, Urban Ecology Institute and Zoo New England.
Our Mission: Boston Environmental Education Network is a group of organizations dedicated to advancing environmental literacy and stewardship. We speak with a single voice to inform policy. We work together to develop relationships, strategies, opportunities and resources by informing and partnering with teachers, families, children, policy makers and each other.
Our Vision: By the year 2020 young people in Boston’s K-12 schools, after-school and summer programs will have an appreciation for the environment that is based on high quality, active, engaging and culturally relevant learning and employment opportunities in their communities and beyond.
We believe:
Environmental education fosters engagement in learning about the world around us, including our own communities.
In using interdisciplinary, hands-on, inquiry-based learning about and in the natural and built environment to foster knowledge, appreciation and stewardship.
Having outdoor, hands-on experiences is an essential part of gaining appreciation for the environment.
Being in the Network opens up opportunities for collaboration.
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Get Out And Learn! (G.O.A.L.) Initiative Launched
-Funding Environmental Learning Experiences-
BYEN is excited to announce a pilot grant program: G.O.A.L. (Get Out And Learn), helping to fund Environmental Field Experiences for Boston Public Schools. This new initiative has been planned by the BYEN –K12 steering committee and has been informed by meetings with Environmental Education program providers and Boston Public School (BPS) teachers and BPS Science Professional Development Specialists.
GOAL is an effort to further environmental literacy and stewardship through science based field experiences. GOAL seeks to catalyze partnerships between Boston-based organizations and Boston Public School teachers to plan field experiences that are in support of the BPS science curriculum. It aims to do this by providing resources (e.g., funding for transportation and program fees) to directly support classrooms embarking on field experiences connected to the BPS science curriculum.
In our pilot year we are offering grants to partnerships between Boston school teachers in grades 3, 4, 7, and 8 and a qualified BYEN environmental organization (see the Network Directory for a list of participating organizations and contacts). Funds will be awarded to the environmental education partner to be used toward the BPS teacher/school partner field experience.
If you are a teacher who is interested in participating in an outdoor field experience with your students that supports the science curriculum and you are looking for a group to help you may either contact the organization directly or get in touch with Dawn Chávez at 617-345-5322, x110 or dchavez@environetwork.org for suggestions on possible Environmental Education Partners.
Due Dates: Applications should be e-mailed to GOAL2009@environetwork.org by the end of the business day on September 23, 2009. A second grant round will be closing on October 30, 2009. GOAL Field Experiences will be financially supported until funds are expended. Field trips can occur either in the fall of 2009 or spring of 2010. All applicants will be contacted within in a week of the deadlines. Please note that before the program occurs, and funds are released, a school representative and a representative of the EE organization are each required to complete a short on-line survey.
See GOAL featured on The Green Blog on Boston.com.
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Get Out and Learn! Environmental Education Showcase
The Boston Youth Environmental Network partners to bring science curriculum to life and students outdoors.
On Friday, October 16, 2009, over 200 Boston Public School teachers and Boston-based environmental education professionals gathered to celebrate, network and learn about the wide array of outdoor environmental learning opportunities available to students in Boston. Superintendent Carol Johnson addressed the group with words of inspiration, thanking teachers and community partners for their hard work and innovative partnerships, and challenging all to continue in their efforts to enrich the lives of Boston Public School students.
With over 60 schools and 50 Environmental Education organizations represented at the gathering, participants had the opportunity to network with each other and visit more than 30 display tables showcasing the partnerships between schools and a diverse array of community partners, including institutions of higher education, government agencies, and non-profit organizations.
Guest speakers from the network provided insights into Environmental Education from their unique perspectives. Jose Masso, grandparent of a student at Young Achievers Science and Math Pilot School in Mattapan and WBUR radio host of Con Salsa!, described how experiential learning nurtures creativity, community involvement and scientific curiosity - even among 2nd graders! Harbor School 7th grade teacher Virginia McNally shared stories from her field experiences with students on the Boston Harbor Islands and Savin Hill in Dorchester, relating how she saw her reluctant students getting truly excited about learning and applying classroom concepts to real-world situations. Nataka Crayton, President of the United Neighbors of Lower Roxbury and a Village at Work, spoke to the continuum of environmental experiences available to young people, culminating in environmental employment opportunities, such as the community work that teens employed by UNLR completed this summer.
The event capped off a week (October 12-16) of teacher-led, hands-on outdoor learning experiences for students across Boston. During this shortened week (Monday was a school holiday) which included lots of rain and a Nor'easter, teachers registered to bring nearly 1,500 Boston Public School students outdoors to learn.
What did that outdoor learning look like? Students all the way from Kindergarteners at the Philbrick, the Haley, the Edison and the Ellis up to high school students in AP Environmental Science at the TechBoston Academy were engaged in hands-on learning connected to the science curriculum. Children and youth were planting spring bulbs and trees, sailing the harbor, collecting freshly laid eggs, exploring tide pools on the Islands, and lifting boulders in order to understand levers.
Students were also practicing writing skills through journaling, recording observations, and responding to thought provoking questions in the form of writing prompts.
As teachers and educators, we have seen the less tangible benefits of environmental education when friendships form, reluctant learners blossom, and self-confidence is strengthened on these field experiences.
In addition to getting outdoors to learn this week, teachers and environmental education partners participating in the Get Out and Learn! (GOAL) Initiative have engaged nearly 2400 BPS students in meaningful field experiences connected to the science curriculum. Through the GOAL Initiative, BYEN is helping to develop and strengthen relationships between schools and community partners. GOAL supported field experiences are the result of collaborative planning that takes place between school teachers and environmental educators, and are then drawn upon back in the classroom to enrich science learning. With close alignment to the science curriculum and an individual teacher’s learning objectives for his/her students, the field experiences become a support and a resource rather than an add-on or a distraction.