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The Bay Backpack logo. A school backpack followed by a stylized writing of the words Bay Backpack.

Living in Your Watershed

by
Andrew Pizzala
Photo courtesy of Image courtesy Virginia Department of Environmental Quality

Twenty-five community educators from Virginia Cooperative Extension and the VA Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts participated in a 3-day leadership program April 11-13, 2017. The workshop, Living in Your Watershed, was held on the James River at the Jamestown 4-H Center, and prepared agents and district educators to conduct meaningful watershed educational experiences (MWEEs) in their localities. These leaders were provided with resources from Project WET, Project Learning Tree and Flying WILD so they will be able to offer professional development to their local teachers, support student investigations and provide high-quality STEM experiences in their youth programming. The principles of meaningful environmental watershed education were reviewed and dozens of activities were demonstrated that support the essential elements of student preparation, stewardship and assessment. The event, supported by the VA Departments Environmental Quality, Game & Inland Fisheries, Forestry and NOAA’s BWET capacity building program, is an important step in Virginia’s implementation plan to meet the environmental literacy goal of the Chesapeake Bay Agreement. DOE staff, Dr. Anne Peterson, provided insights into statewide and local implementation of the goal.