Mon, 01/02/2023 - 09:23

Photo from Sweetland School’s organic gardening project funded by SE.A. in March, 2022. (Photo courtesy Stewardship Education Alliance)

Thanks to the generosity of donors, Stewardship Education Alliance was able to offer a second grant cycle to fund four additional grants to teachers in local schools for a total of ten in 2022.

“Members of the Board and Advisory Board of S.E.A. are delighted to announce the following awards to area schools,” said S.E.A., in a news release.

Children’s House Montessori School: Teacher Germaine Koomen will receive funding for binoculars for her class and share them with another teacher. Her students will gather and submit data to Signs of the Seasons offered by Maine Sea Grant.

Hope Elementary School: Teacher Colin Admundsen has designed an innovative project to study micro-plastics in the air. He explains: “This research project aims to examine for the presence or absence of atmospheric microplastics around the Alford Lake watershed and Hope Elementary School.

The project is asking the questions:

Are microplastics being transported in the winds, rains and snows of Hope, Maine?
In comparison to other towns/cities around the world, how much atmospheric plastic is being recovered at HES? (If that data exists).
Are microplastics entering into the local Alford Lake watershed?

The project also aims to establish research protocols that can be followed by other schools with the hopes of establishing a data base of information about the microplastics and educate schools and students about the topic of microplastics.”

The Riley School: Teachers and students will work with Hurricane Island Center for Science and Leadership in researching the effects of green crab predation on clam populations. Their study will include a trip to Hurricane Island and training in monitoring predation exclusion boxes and analyzing data.

Watershed School: Educators from Herring Gut Coastal Science Center will work with students to collect data on the populations of native Jonah and rock crabs and the non-native European Green Crabs and Asian Shore Crabs in three Midcoast locations in Rockland, Rockport and Camden. Students will learn about data collection and have opportunities for field work.

The next grant cycle will open in February 2023 to teachers in all schools in Appleton, Camden, Hope, Lincolnville, and Rockport.