The Bay Backpack e-Newsletter is a great opportunity to see what events, professional development opportunities, and funding sources are available to environmental educators around the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. New this time around is a section titled “Schools in the News” where we have shared the recently announced Green Ribbon School winners! Subscribe to the e-Newsletter by visiting baybackpack.com and navigating to the bottom of the homepage.

The Conservation Trust for North Carolina AmeriCorps program seeks to reconnect people with the outdoors and to develop future leaders in conservation. CTNC AmeriCorps members will develop service projects that help remove barriers to environmental education throughout North Carolina, as well as help expand the diversity of backgrounds among conservation leaders in the state.

National Environmental Education Week will be held April 23rd-29th and is the nation’s largest annual celebration of environmental education. The event brings together educators, students, government agencies, businesses, communities, nonprofit organizations, and others to inspire environmental learning and encourage stewardship of our essential resources: land, air, and water.

Join us for a five-day professional learning adventure on the Chesapeake Bay or one of its tributaries in summer 2018. CBF is offering more than 30 courses that will explore the mountains of Virginia, the rivers of Pennsylvania, the islands of the Bay, and many places in between. Learn how to integrate the environment into your classroom and to help your students achieve environmental literacy success.

RESET is a volunteer organization of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) professionals whose mission is to motivate children to discover and explore the worlds of science and math, and to encourage them to consider educational and career choices in related fields.

This inspiring article by the Washington Post shares how Environmental Literacy Standards have influenced green schools to affect positive change inside and outside the classroom through environmental education.

The Green Schools Conference & Expo (GSCE) is the only national event to bring together all the players involved in making green schools a reality: people who lead, operate, build and teach in U.S. schools. Two days of programming offer inspiring keynote speakers, informative workshops and breakout sessions and the chance to network with colleagues from across the country. This year, GSCE will be hosted in partnership with Rocky Mountain Green, a regional sustainability conference. Early bird registration ends March 2nd.

From July 10-14 and from August 7-11, The Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve-Maryland (CBNERR) will be holding its annual Teen Paddles where teens will paddle the scenic Patuxent River, doing citizen science and building leadership skills through team activities.

Teachers on the Estuary-Data Edition, a professional development opportunity offered by the Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve-MD and the NOAA Environmental Training Center, is a middle and high school level course designed to support teachers’ understanding of the environment using technology and scientific instrumentation to enhance local, participant-driven field experiences and authentic research.

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.