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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 12, 1995
95-152
CONTACT:
Jan Ramos, Quincy Jr. High (509) 787-4435; home 884-3805
Annie Phillips, Ecology (360) 407-6408
Mary Getchell, Ecology (360) 407-6157
ECOLOGY AWARDS MAGIC APPLE GRANT TO QUINCY TEACHERS
OLYMPIA, WA -- This school year, sixth grade teachers at Quincy Jr. High will get extra help for environmental education projects from a Magic Apple grant of $750 from the Washington State Department of Ecology. Jan Ramos and her colleagues will guide six classrooms through on-site investigations of the effects of acid rain, pesticides and herbicides on the water quality in Quincy, Burke and Evergreen Lakes.
Each May, Ecology presents "Magic Apple” grants to nine teachers throughout the state in recognition of outstanding water quality education projects, and to support activities in the coming school year. The money is part of a larger environmental education grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
"Teachers can really influence whether a student becomes a steward of our natural resources,” said Linda Crerar, Ecology assistant director for the water division. "These educators are teaching stewardship along with their traditional subjects of science, language arts and social studies.”
On Arbor Day, 1996, the students will plant ponderosa pine seedlings and pick up all the trash around the lakes. The grant will also enable Ramos and two other Quincy Jr. High teachers to attend a workshop on the new "Project WET (Water Education for Teachers) curriculum.
Ramos’ focus on Quincy Lakes as a classroom began in 1992. Hands-on projects like water quality testing, cleanup and writing letters to their congressmen about the need to protect water gave her students a special feeling for the nearby lakes.
"We couldn’t believe the impact of the project on the students!” said Ramos. "The lakes are just seven miles from the school, but three-fourths of our students had never been there. They had no comprehension of water quality, conservation, or that trash was piling up a few miles from where they lived and played. The students learned that if they want safe water their grandchildren can fish in, they must voice their concern, vote for environmental issues and lend a hand themselves for it to work.”
Jan Alexander, whose son participated in the Quincy Lakes project in 1992, said he "learned about water quality, how to test it, what may contaminate it and how to protect it. . . he developed a sense of responsibility toward his community.”
Teachers interested in applying for a "Magic Apple” grant for the 1996-97 school year should contact Annie Phillips at the Department of Ecology, (360) 407-6408.
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
