Contact

Gilda Allen, Environmental Specialist

Location

51 N Street, NE, Room 5025
Washington, DC 20002
Phone: (202) 535-2239

What Do We Do?

Through its environmental education and outreach staff, the Nonpoint Source Management Branch of the Watershed Protection Division (WPD) educates young people about the environment, while seeking to promote in them a stewardship ethic. Providing a wide range of conservation education opportunities and environmental activities, WPD targets the youth to help them make informed decisions and take responsible action regarding pollution prevention and the conservation of our soil and water resources.

• Environmental Education Programs
• Anacostia River Environmental Fair
• Schoolyard Conservation
• Environmental Education Camping
• District of Columbia Environmental Education Consortium (DCEEC)
• Environmental Education Resource Center

• Anacostia River Environmental Fair
  EHA/WPD organizes an annual outdoor fair in Anacostia Park to celebrate the Anacostia River as a vital natural resource, while educating students about pollution prevention and the impact of trash on the river.

• Project Learning Tree, Project WET, Project WILD
  EHA/WPD utilizes Project Learning Tree, Project Wet, and Project WILD (internationally recognized conservation education programs) to provide hands-on, multi-disciplinary training for teachers and community educators working with students in pre-K through grade 12.

• Teacher Training Workshops
  EHA/WPD offers workshops and training opportunities that assist District of Columbia schoolteachers in fulfilling the standards for teaching and learning while helping students develop environmental ethics and responsible stewardship.

• Schoolyard Conservation Projects
  EHA/WPD provides grants and technical assistance to District schools that wish to undertake schoolyard conservation projects. These conservation sites enhance school properties while putting students in touch with the natural environment. Students, teachers and the community learn to develop and maintain their sites, implementing conservation techniques to protect the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers and the Chesapeake Bay from nonpoint source pollution.

• Environmental Education Resource Center
  EHA/WPD has developed an environmental education resource center to act as a “one-stop-shop” for teachers and other environmental educators seeking high quality environmental education materials that promote interdisciplinary learning, reinforce science, math and reading skills, and adhere to the national education standards. The center (located at 51 N Street, N.E., Room 5015) maintains a variety of curricula, audio-visual materials, kits, gardening tools, lab equipment, references, models, brochures, maps, posters, etc. Educators may browse, borrow materials, and take advantage of give-away items.

• Volunteer Action Stewardship Opportunities (Tree Plantings, Stream Cleanups, etc.)
  EHA/WPD offers volunteer action stewardship opportunities such as tree plantings and stream cleanups to area school groups. These activities foster community stewardship and promote environmental awareness and responsible action. These activities can remove a source of pollution.

• Environmental Education Camping Experience
  EHA is one of the District partners of Wonderful Outdoor World (WOW), a nationally sponsored program which introduces inner-city youth, ages 8 to 12, to outdoor recreation and environmental education during overnight campouts in nearby parks. Kids are taught practical outdoor skills such as tent set-up, camp stove cooking, and emergency preparedness, while learning to make informed choices about how to protect and preserve the natural landscape. Through its affiliation with WOW, EHA may sponsor several campouts during the year for interested District of Columbia school groups.

Anacostia River Environmental Fair
Since 1995, the Environmental Health Administration (EHA) has conducted an annual environmental education fair at Anacostia Park in the District of Columbia for school children in grades 5 through 12. The fair strives to inspire an appreciation of the Anacostia River as a vital natural resource, while educating students about pollution prevention and the impact of trash on our rivers and the Chesapeake Bay.

Each year, 800 to 1,000 students from area schools attend this day-long, outdoor event, during which they connect with the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers and the Chesapeake Bay through carefully selected, hands-on learning experiences, reinforcing an ethic of responsible citizenship. Students and teachers interact with exhibitors from numerous public and private environmental organizations and take part in a variety of scheduled water activities such as guided boat tours, canoeing, rowing clinics and fishing. Over the years, this celebration has called out many notables, including former Vice President, Al Gore.

The fair is a partnership effort between EHA and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency/Chesapeake Bay Program, USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management, National Capitol Park Service-East, Capitol Rowing Club, Anacostia Watershed Society, District of Columbia Public Schools, many public and private environmental organizations and a number of community-based organizations.

Schoolyard Conservation
There is growing interest throughout the United States in reconnecting our children to the land. Many teachers and environmental educators have developed schoolyard conservation sites in response to this trend. In addition to putting students in touch with the natural environment, conservation sites enhance school properties, turning ordinary schoolyards into lush environments for hands-on learning.

Creating wetlands, ponds and meadows or planting trees, shrubs and gardens can add beauty and diversity to a site, while fostering ecological awareness and global thinking in those who participate. Using school grounds as teaching tools, educators can help students implement conservation techniques to correct erosion problems, improve the water quality of a neighboring stream or river, provide or conserve wildlife habitats, or address an environmental problem or concern in the community.

To encourage the development of conservation projects on school sites, EHA provides grant funds, technical assistance, and resource materials to District schools. Students, teachers and the community learn to develop and maintain their sites in ways that protect the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers from non-point source pollution and contribute to the health of the land, air and rivers that lead into the Chesapeake Bay.

Environmental Education Camping 
Many of today’s urban youth exist with minimal exposure to, and little understanding of, the great outdoors. To fill the void in the lives of those youngsters, a coalition of government organizations and companies interested in outdoor recreation and the environment brought the Wonderful Outdoor World (WOW) program to the District of Columbia.

WOW is a nationally sponsored program, which introduces inner-city youth, ages 8 to 12, to outdoor recreation and environmental education during overnight campouts in nearby parks. Kids are taught practical outdoor skills such as tent set-up, camp stove cooking, and emergency preparedness. They take part in fishing, hiking, and a variety of environmental education activities, while learning to make informed choices about how to protect and preserve the natural landscape. As a partner of the WOW program in the District of Columbia, the Environmental Health Administration is able to sponsor several campouts during the year for interested school groups located in the District.

This program has evolved from the cooperative sponsorship of organizations such as The Coleman Company, The Walt Disney Company, Wells Fargo, the U.S. Department of the Interior, the Natural Resources and Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. National Parks Service, D.C. Department of Recreation and Parks, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Student Conservation Association, the Greater Washington Urban League, American Recreation Coalition, and the D.C. Department of Health, Environmental Health Administration, to name a few.

District of Columbia Environmental Education Consortium (DCEEC)
DCEEC is a coalition of individuals, local groups and national organizations, whose mission is to promote environmental education and stewardship for the District’s youth.

DCEEC will sponsor teachers who wish to attend conferences or workshops focusing on training in outdoor environmental education methods.

Workshops conducted through DCEEC provide hands-on, interactive environmental education activities that can be integrated into school subject areas to teach required skills and concepts. In most instances, teachers in D.C. Public Schools can receive seat hours, re-certification and graduate credits for their participation.

Environmental Education Resource Center  
The Environmental Health Administration has established an environmental education resource center to act as a “one-stop-shop” for teachers and other environmental educators seeking high quality environmental education materials. Teachers can utilize up-to-date resource materials that promote interdisciplinary learning, reinforce science, math and reading skills, and adhere to the national education standards.