A collaboration of environmental organizations will present the first Great Lakes Academy in Erie County for teachers from July 16 – 20.  Additionally, the coalition is offering a series of one-day “Great Lakes Institutes” for teachers in Erie, Niagara, and Monroe counties.

With funding from an EPA Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grant, Friends of Reinstein Nature Preserve, Inc., Buffalo Audubon Society, Buffalo Urban Outdoor Education and Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper are able to provide this free teacher training.

The Great Lakes Academy will give educators the resources they need to connect their students to the water resources of the Great Lakes region.  Educators will receive a $200 stipend for attending the Academy and doing a service project with their students.  Academy participants will enjoy field experiences at local nature centers and will also explore the Buffalo River and Lake Erie aboard Buffalo Urban Outdoor Education’s schooner the Spirit of Buffalo.

Each participant will receive training in national, standards-based curricula including Project WET (Water Education for Teachers) and Project WILD Aquatic with activity guides that include more than 100 lesson plans to help them connect their students to the resources of the Great Lakes.

The one-day “Great Lakes Institute” workshops will be held from 9:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. in different locations from May - October and will familiarize teachers with a specific Great Lakes Area of Concern in Erie, Monroe and Niagara counties.  An Area of Concern is a watershed along the Great Lakes that has suffered from degraded environmental conditions. Participants will receive training in the Project WET and Project WILD Aquatic curricula, as well as receiving site-specific information about the Area of Concern.