Overview of the Program
Created by L.D. 1902, this pilot program awards grants for high-quality climate-related interdisciplinary professional learning designed and carried out in partnership with community-based nonprofit organizations. Grant awards are designed to be accessible to all local education providers throughout the state for Pre-K through grade 12 with a priority on applications that serve historically underserved by climate education communities and are first-time applicants to the program.
Programs
The Maine Department of Education funded 7 programs throughout the state for the first phase of the Climate Education Professional Development Pilot Program. Programs were held in the spring and summer of 2024.
- 128 teachers participated from 50 schools
- 17 community-based partners
- Over 4000 students reached
Ten programs are funded by the Maine Department of Education during the 2024 and 2025 school year under Phase 2 of this Grant Program.
2024 Project Pilots
In June of 2024, Saco, Dayton, & Biddeford partnered with a community-based organization, The Ecology School, for a Climate Education Teacher Institute and a series of virtual meetings.
Five schools on the Blue Hill Peninsula in School Union 93 came together to partner with Maine TREE and the Woodlawn Museum for a four-day teacher professional learning week.
- Project StoryMap
Partnered with Hurricane Island Center for Science and Leadership:
"Teaching Resilience: Professional Development for Climate Curricula, was a three-phased program to support teachers from a variety of grade levels and disciplines. It emphasized interdisciplinary, place-based, and project-based curriculum development, bringing teachers together to form a connected cohort of professionals across two island communities."
Partnered with Rural Aspirations Project, Greenville created a program to "offer our rural students an opportunity to play a part in reducing climate change through offering climate educational learning opportunities that promote outdoor learning and a sense of place."
Fryeburg Academy created the Climate Action Progress Team lead by their Director of Outdoor Learning and Research Center. The CAPT developed partnerships throughout their area and worked with those partners to explore new content areas for the classroom.
RSU 12 partnered with The Friends of Cobbossee Watershed and hosted a three-day workshop focused on local ecology and conservation.
Partnered with Hirundo Wildlife Preserve, RSU 64 brought outdoor training to educators including macrovertebrates and Educational Trip Leader and Wilderness First Aid certifications in order to safely bring students into the outdoors.