2023 Grant Recipients
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATOR
OF THE YEAR AWARDS
Each year, outstanding classroom and community educators are recognized for their unique and invaluable contributions to the field of Environmental Education. Please nominate an elementary teacher, secondary teacher, non-formal educator and volunteer.​
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ELEMENTARY OR SECONDARY ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR
Teachers working in public or private schools.
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATORS
OF THE YEAR - 2024
Kelly Brown
ELEMENTARY ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR
Kelly teaches 6th grade at Mountain View Elementary School in Boise, ID, where she helped to craft the Boise District Climate and Weather Unit for 6th grade. Kelly’s passion project was to lead her students on a Boise River Rewild Project. They serviced a large plot of land out past Barber Park, where they removed invasive weeds, replanted, and stewarded habitat restoration. Her students gained a strong sense of community and were proud to make things better for their own future children and generations to come. Thank you, Kelly, for your continued impactful work in environmental education.
PAST AWARD RECIPIENTS
2021
Susan Wolfe Elementary
Jamie Brunnmeier Secondary
Elizabeth Dickey Non-formal
2019
Lauresta Welty Elementary
Melyssa Ferro Secondary
Stephanie Day Non-formal
Kimberly Semple Volunteer
2016
Amy Silver Elementary
Mary Engels Non-formal
Jane Matthews Volunteer
2014
Sandy Kindt Elementary
John Schisel Secondary
Lori Adams Non-formal
Liana Litzsinger Volunteer
2012
Sheryce Davis Elementary
John Hastings Secondary
Sara Focht Non-formal
2010
Sue Hansen Barber Elementary
Gina Lockwood Secondary
Michelle Youngquist Non-formal
2008
Dan Hines Elementary
Gregg Losinski Non-formal
2006
Christenia Coast Elementary
Carri Thomason Elementary
Diane Welch Elementary
Amy Luft Non-formal
2004
Renee McNally Elementary
Robert Beckwith Secondary
Greg Kaltenecker Non-formal
2002
Teri Burch Elementary
Kris Ablin-Stone Secondary
Jennie Rylee Non-formal
Paul Johnson Elementary
Allison Fowle Secondary
Jenny Wolf Non-formal
Greg Dye Volunteer
2022
2020
Misha Smith Elementary
Ali Ward Secondary
Matt Podolsky Non-formal
Sandy Racine Volunteer
2018
Debbie Bell Elementary
Steve Demers Secondary
Courtney Couch Non-formal
Jennifer Ellis Volunteer
2015
Erin Stutzman Secondary
Tate Mason Non-formal
Denise Keyser Volunteer
Julie Scanlin Lifetime Achievement
2013
Purley Decker Elementary
Arlene Wolf Secondary
Rena Ashton Non-formal
Ann Christensen Volunteer
2011
Cara Sonnemann Elementary
Clint Kennedy Secondary
Adare Evans Non-formal
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2009
Dick Jordan Secondary
Dick McCloskey Non-formal
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2007
Jane Thornes Elementary
Charlie Kator Secondary
Steven Hines Non-formal
2005
Molly Pannkuk Elementary
K.C. Jones Secondary
Alana Jensen Non-formal
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2003
Donna Kent Elementary
Doreen Beck Elementary
Jan Wathen Elementary
Darin Zarbnisky Secondary
Denise Burnett Non-formal
Lynette Weller Elementary
Maggie Stover Secondary
Augie Gabrielli Non-formal
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2023
EE Grant Opportunity
IdEEA is pleased to offer Environmental Education Grants to support environmental education for Idaho’s youth.
We invite proposals from formal/informal educators, parents, students, and student groups for projects that help youth learn more about environmental education and/or enhance their connection with nature. Grant funds can be used to develop or continue community or school environmental projects, for teachers to develop or purchase new materials, and more. Special consideration will be given to projects that provide hands-on learning opportunities for youth and can provide a resource for other educators.
Grant window is currently closed.
Watch our newsletter for the next grant opportunity!
Amy Brownlee: Boise School District
I wrote a 5th grade GATE unit exploring forestry, jobs in the industry and giving students the chance to experience the tools of the trade (loggers tape, diameter tapes and clinometers) and the opportunity to try their hand at plot mapping and land management. I needed funding for the tools so I wrote a grant and was awarded $500 by the Idaho Environmental Education Association. I quickly bought the tools I needed...so excited!
The essential question for this unit is “How can we support a balanced forest?” We then jumped right into learning about a foresters job and the tools they use to help manage ground. We are lucky to have a nice yard in front of our school with lots of trees to go outside and immediately put these tools to good use! Students learned to use a clinometer to measure the height of trees, a diameter tape to measure the diameter of trees and a loggers tape to measure accurate distance. We also spent time learning to identify trees, specifically conifers.
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Students entered this unit with limited knowledge of the forestry industry, they had opinions based on their own personal exposure to information and experience. They had never thought about the various players in managing land and above all they, for the most part, hadn’t even thought about forestry as a career field and certainly were blown away by the vast opportunities it holds. One of the most rewarding outcomes is the first hand opportunity to be in contact with the professionals doing the work.
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During our reflection activity students wrote they were surprised by how many jobs there were in relation to forestry. “I was surprised that forestry jobs aren’t just loggers and scientists but architects and managers.” “It shows how much work is put into our forests.” They also wrote about how their thinking had changed or been supported. “I was against cutting down trees but then I realized that supports the forest.” “I thought a healthy forest was a forest that never had fire and never cut down trees. But now I know it’s natural to have fires in forests and some trees need it.”