FEF grantee, program honored by Environmental Protection Agency
Captain Sara B. Newman, Director of Public Health for the National Park Service, presents Christine Brothers of Falmouth High School with the Presidential Award for Innovation for Environmental Educators at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on September 21.
Photo by Eric Vance, USEPA
Falmouth High School Science Teacher Christine Brothers was awarded the Presidential Award for Innovation for Environmental Educators at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D.C. on September 21. Brothers, who is the grade 7-12 Science Department Head for Falmouth Public Schools, was one of ten teachers recognized nationally for their innovative work in bringing environmental education into their classrooms through hands-on, experiential approaches.
Brothers was recognized for her "Living Laboratories: Vernal Pools and Pollinator Gardens" project in which teachers and students constructed vernal pools and planted pollinator gardens at Falmouth High School and the Lawrence Junior High School. The vernal pools and pollinator gardens form the basis for an outdoor classroom at each school and were the result of a partnership with the Massachusetts Audubon Society Long Pasture Wildlife Sanctuary and the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Friends of the Mashpee National Wildlife Refuge. The project received substantial funding from the Falmouth Education Foundation and the Salt Pond Areas Bird Sanctuaries.
Brothers was also recognized for starting the high school’s FEF-funded Advanced Placement Environmental Science course five years ago and for the many environmental stewardship projects she has conducted with the high school’s Ecology Club over the 23 years she has served as its adviser.
A morning awards ceremony was followed by an afternoon poster session at which the ten teachers and 49 students who received the President’s Environmental Youth Award presented their work to fellow attendees and EPA staff.