Students and the Ann Arbor Public Schools environmental education program two teachers shared information on the more than 60 year history of the program, what’s happening now and a few of the future plans at the Board of Education meeting on Wednesday April 8th.
The program dates to the late 1950’s when Dr. Bill Stapp, Eunice Hendrix and other local environmental advocates worked to integrate environmental education into our schools. Since then under the leadership of Bill Browning, Dave Szczygiel and now Coert Ambrosino the program has grown. This year the program will hold approximately 500 classes serving about 10,000 AAPS students.
Current programs are designed for students from young fives through seventh grade and high school environmental science classes. The programs are designed to extend and expand on grade level life science curriculum standards. The focus for first grade students on animal adaptations and a focus on birds aligns with a module of the new Arts and Letters curriculum.
The creation of the 40 acre Freeman Environmental Education Center in 2018 offers an additional resource for environmental education. It hosts over 75 field trips annually, is used for Rec and Ed summer camps, and is now home to a native plant nursery program. Work is currently underway on a solar canopy to offset 100 percent of the electricity used at Freeman and will provide a covered outdoor space. Wayfinding signs to help visitors navigate trails, share expectations of use of the site and teach about habitats will soon be added as well.
High school students across Ann Arbor also have the opportunity to explore their passion around environmental education through the Freeman Environmental Youth Council. This year there are 26 students participating in the council with subcommittees focused on service, education and advocacy and action. The complete report presented to the Board of Education is available here.
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