News Release
For Immediate Release April 20, 2010
Contact: Charles Pyle, Director of Communications (804) 371-2420
Julie C. Grimes, Communications Manager, (804) 225-2775
Students and teachers from two Virginia high schools will be in Washington, DC, on April 23, to make presentations on their efforts to improve water quality in streams, rivers and lakes in their communities. Students from St. Paul High School in Wise County and the Chesapeake Bay Governor’s School for Marine and Environmental Science have been invited to discuss their results at a federal interagency service-learning and environmental-education forum at the Corporation for National and Community Service. They also have been invited to share information about their environmental projects during the Earth Week celebration on the National Mall April 24.
Both schools received three-year "Learn and Serve" grants from the Virginia Department of Education and the Corporation for National and Community Service in 2006 for projects designed to integrate Standards of Learning-based instruction with meaningful community services related to watershed stewardship. The students used knowledge and skills acquired in the classroom to conduct biological, chemical and physical analyses of water bodies to identify water quality threats and improve stream health.
Beginning at 1 p.m. Friday, Wise County’s St. Paul High School students will describe their work to create an Appalachian wetlands preserve, an interpretive walking trail and a community environmental education center with support of the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and several private companies.
Chesapeake Bay Governor’s School students will discuss their experiences with water quality monitoring, oyster reef restoration, tree planting and environmental education opportunities for local elementary and middle school children. Their project partners included the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, Friends of Dragon Run, Virginia Oyster Reef Keepers Foundation, Urbanna Oyster Festival Foundation, Belle Isle State Park, Virginia Department of Forestry, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, and 14 Middle Peninsula and Northern Neck counties.
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