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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 13, 1995
95-155
CONTACT:
Patti Troutman, Okanogan Jr./Sr. High School (509) 422-3770, home 686-2061
Annie Phillips, Ecology (360) 407-6408
Mary Getchell, Ecology (360) 407-6157
ECOLOGY AWARDS MAGIC APPLE GRANT TO OKANOGAN TEACHER
OLYMPIA, WA -- This school year, a life science teacher at Okanogan High School will get extra help for environmental education projects from a $750 Magic Apple grant from the Washington State Department of Ecology. The Okanogan teacher, Patti Troutman, plans to use the money to pay for field trips for her classes to monitor water quality, and for telephone costs so the students can share their data with others via Internet.
Last May, Ecology presented "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 grows up to cherish or to misuse our natural resources," said Linda Crerar, Ecology assistant director for the water and shorelands division. "These educators are teaching stewardship along with their traditional subjects of science, language arts and social studies."
Troutman has created an original water quality curriculum for grades nine through twelve. Her students learn about watersheds, soils, the scientific method, testing and interpretation of nine different water quality indicators, and communication skills.
"We’ve developed a set of baseline data at both of our monthly monitoring sites,” said Troutman. "It’s really exciting to get this Magic Apple grant so we can continue our testing for another year. The kids are very enthusiastic about being able to actually enter their data into a database in Idaho with the new modem hookup we got with the grant. This connects us to the outside world so we can share our data - not just write it on paper for ourselves.”
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.
