Virginia Beach program includes field trips to the Bay

VIRGINIA BEACH

Environmental education will be expanded in Virginia Beach public schools to include more outdoor experiences, student research projects and in-depth teacher and principal training on the Chesapeake Bay, officials announced Monday.

The initiative, called the Virginia Beach Systemic Environmental Literacy Program, is being launched with a $120,000 grant from the federal government and a $55,000 gift from CSX Transportation, a railroad company.

It will be supported by scientists and equipment from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center, Lynnhaven River Now, the Elizabeth River Project and Oyster Reef Keepers of Virginia.

These experts will guide students on field trips onto the Bay, to area creeks and rivers, and into wetlands and oyster reefs. They also will help high school biology and oceanography students tackle environmental research projects of their choosing.

Speaking against a scenic backdrop of Long Creek, a Lynnhaven River tributary, program partners said Monday they hope the new push for ecological literacy in Beach middle and high schools will become a model across the state and the mid-Atlantic.

"This is about turning knowledge into jobs, understanding the need for healthier waters, and for better academic achievement," said Don Baugh, vice president for education with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

The program has already begun. Some sixth-grade teachers worked over the summer to start shaping a new and deeper environmental-science curriculum for their students. They will continue to do so next summer and then begin rolling it out the following academic year, said Joe Burnsworth, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction.

But the full switch could take as long as three years to become ingrained in Beach middle and high schools, Burnsworth added.

"We want to add sustainability into our curriculum," he said, "so students understand the need to preserve our natural resources, and to save perhaps our most important resource - the Chesapeake Bay."

The grant money will pay for teachers to develop their new coursework, and it will cover costs for more than 90 teachers and principals to travel to environmental education centers run by the Bay foundation.

The Beach for years has budgeted money for students to take environmental field trips. But those opportunities can be "hit or miss," Burns-worth said, with some classes getting out into nature and others not.

"The idea is to make sure everyone gets their hands wet and dirty," he said, "then to build on that practical experience with targeted classroom instruction."

Program sponsors said tough economic times make it imperative for schools to seek out private partners in business and environmental circles. Otherwise, it will be difficult to pursue new initiatives like the one announced Monday, they said.

Peyton Robertson, a Virginia Beach native and director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Chesapeake Bay Office, said, "If we don't instill an environmental stewardship in this next generation, we won't be able to protect the Bay or protect this planet."

Scott Harper, (757) 446-2340, scott.harper@pilotonline.com