[May 2016 Submission]  Environmental Education for Louisiana Youth

The future of Louisiana’s natural environment depends on the awareness, caring, and responsiveness of younger state residents.  The environmental movement of the 1960s and 70s saw the creation of the EPA and Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, and this concern for resource conservation and sustainability has continued and intensified for many.   Youth organizations such as the Boy Scouts, FFA, and 4-H, have long fostered aspects of environmental learning and skill development.  Many parents, also, have had a huge role in passing on these values and knowledge to their children.

Public and private schools certainly shape the environmental literacy and commitment of students through their curricula and courses in basic biology and other sciences.  The extent to which these academic courses really promote student environmental values and knowledge is a function of individual teaching excellence and a variety of school resources that can help teachers attract student attention and stimulate their imaginations.  Learning is often enhanced when students can work together in outdoor settings and can bounce questions and viewpoints off one another and teachers.   If we could visit individual primary, middle, and secondary schools in this state, it probably wouldn’t take us that long to determine which schools and classes were really stimulating a lot of student interest, interaction and involvement.

Our public and private sectors have key roles to play in encouraging and supporting environmental education in our schools. The Louisiana Environmental Education Commission (LEEC), under the direction of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) has held symposia, provided educational programming for students and teachers, and given awards and grants to public and private schools.  LEEC grants are awarded annually to individual and team educators in K-12 grade schools as well as to post-graduate university researchers.  Part of the LEEC’s role is also to publicize schools that have had exemplary student programs and achievements. A recent and specific initiative of LEEC along these lines of encouragement and recognition is the Green Schools Program.  These programs are designed to reduce negative environmental impacts and costs, improve public health and wellness, and promote effective environmental and sustainability education.  Its Green School Grants, up to a maximum of $5000, support projects that further the mission and goals of the U.S. Department of Education’s Green Ribbon Schools Program.

Green School grant recipients in 2015 included KIPP Central City Primary (New Orleans), Arthur F. Smith Middle Magnet School (Alexandria), St. Martin’s Episcopal School (Metairie), and Nesom Middle School (Tickfaw).  Westdale Heights Academic Magnet School (Baton Rouge), Benjamin Franklin High School (New Orleans), and Baton Rouge Magnet High School were selected as Green Ribbon School Honorees in 2016, the first such recognition for Louisiana Schools.  Brian Gautreau, appointed last year as Green Schools Coordinator, commented that there had been relatively less headway made so far in discovering exemplary environmental education programs in north Louisiana schools.  Exceptions do exist, though, such as at West Ouachita High School.  The West Ouachita FFA chapter in West Monroe was awarded a $2,000 grant in 2015 from the national FFA organization for its service-learning sustainable recycling project.

The future of environmental education in Louisiana faces challenges, including current state budgetary concerns and perhaps less funding for these and other worthwhile state programs.  One way that outdoor enthusiasts can help at least a little is to purchase the specialty state vehicle license plate for environmental education.  Purchase helps to fund grants for educators and students, the annual Environmental Education State Symposium, and other programs designed to further environmental knowledge and stewardship in Louisiana.  The Office of Motor Vehicles can be contacted at 1-225-925-6146 to ask for the Environmental Education Plate and obtain a quote, or secured online at https://expresslane.dps.louisiana.gov/SpecialPlatesPublic/SpecialPlates1.aspx.