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. Nominations are made in the spring and awards are given out at the Project Green Sustainability Summit each year.
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATORS
OF THE YEAR - 2025
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Julia Sanderson
ELEMENTARY ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR
Julia has gone above and beyond in her role as the Idaho 4-H STEM AmeriCorps Youth Instructor for the Boise School District. I think initially the role was in place to support Green Teams, but she's supported so much more than just our green teams (in addition to doing tons of work with green teams. She has taught students at many schools about winter sowing and gardening best practices. She also has a really neat connection she does to the 4th grade social studies standards where she teaches about the Indigenous Three Sisters planting technique. She has supported Green Teams to do a Tree inventory at their school and will be coming out to do this with my students. Julia has gotten so many BSD students outside and learning about ecology, and nature principles. She has had such an amazing impact on our K-6 students district-wide! One of the most amazing things is how Julia has not only connected with our school teams, but with our executive leadership team. Through Julia's example of, "let's get after it and help teachers get kids outdoors more often," our whole leadership team sees clearly how much our schools want to facilitate more outdoor learning, and our students are benefiting from those opportunities. By having Julia meet educators where they are at and help them pull these lessons together, by helping them tend their school gardens, there is this feeling of boundless potential in the outdoor learning space. Julia's time and generosity to reach across all levels of our organization to do what is best for kids and the planet is remarkable; through her work, we are all benefiting.
PAST AWARD RECIPIENTS
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.
Grants are offered each fall and have currently been allocated for this school year.
2025 Grant Recipients
One Stone
High School
One Stone High School in Boise will offer several winter term immersions, which are experiential courses to inspire passion and curiosity. An example of such an immersion experience is Solitude and Survival Stories: “Using Pete Fromm’s memoir (Indian Creek Chronicles) of a winter alone in the Selway–Bitterroot Wilderness as our guide, we’ll explore what it takes to spend the winter outdoors, as well as what we stand to gain by spending alone time in nature.” This grant was generously sponsored by Cap Ed Credit Union.
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Farmin Stidwell Elementary
The Farmin Stidwell Elementary School in Sandpoint will introduce over 500 students to the vital role of pollinators and native wildflowers through hands-on experience centered around flower pressing. Students will use a handmade flower press, and collect, identify and press wildflowers they collect from their own homes or neighborhoods in early spring. To further enrich the experience, the project will incorporate pollinator-focused lessons using curriculum provided by Idaho Fish and Game, and host a visit from a local beekeeper.
Salmon Outdoor Classroom
The Salmon Outdoor Classroom in Salmon, a four-acre ecological learning space owned by IDFG, located within walking distance of both Pioneer Elementary and Salmon Junior/Senior High School, will install a live-streaming camera on an active osprey nesting platform and integrate it into SVS’s Outdoor Education programming for students from the two schools.
Thurkill Elementary
Thurkill Elementary in Soda Springs will enhance its existing science curriculum by offering after-school STEM nights. These activities will deepen students’ knowledge of science, foster an appreciation for local industries and resources, and encourage responsible environmental stewardship—ultimately helping prepare a strong, informed future workforce.
Coeur d'Alene
High School
Coeur d’Alene High School in Coeur d’ Alene will recreate their current Environmental Science course with focus on the Pacific Northwest (mainly forestry and water resources). The project would take two classes to off-site experiences (i.e. University of Idaho Experimental Forest, simulators, and other nearby forested and wild landscapes.) for interactive learning experiences.
Previous Grant Projects
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.
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.
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.”