There are many wonderful initiatives in the works right here in Maryland to reconnect kids with nature. There are three main entities (National No Child Left Inside Coalition, Maryland No Child Left Inside Coalition, and the Maryland Partnership for Children in Nature) working on two initiatives (National No Child Left Inside legislation and Maryland Children in Nature Recommendations). This brief summary is designed to provide a basic overview of these organizations and their efforts:
The No Child Left Inside Coalition represents over 1800 organizations (50million individuals) in support of legislation and efforts to get kids back outside and reconnected to nature. The No Child Left Inside Act provides for:
- Funding to train teachers to deliver high quality Environmental Education and utilize the local environment as an extension of the classroom.
- Incentives for states to develop State Environmental Literacy Plans
- Encouragement for teachers, administrators, and school systems to make time and resources available for environmental education for all students.
- Environmental Education will be integrated across core subject areas.
President Obama’s budget includes environmental literacy in the U.S. Department of Education budget for the very first time, a major victory for No Child Left Inside. Promising discussions have been under way to encourage the inclusion of language from the No Child Left Inside Act in President Obama’s education bill: the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), formerly known as No Child Left Behind. Currently, the No Child Left Inside Act is now listed as one of four key pieces of legislation in front of the Education & Labor Committee for the reauthorization of ESEA, and environmental education has been included in President Obama’s “Blueprint for Reform.”
In April 2008, Governor O’Malley issued a groundbreaking Executive Order establishing the Maryland Partnership for Children in Nature. Co-chaired by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Secretary and State School Superintendent, the Partnership was charged with developing and implementing a plan to provide youth with structured and unstructured opportunities for play, outdoor recreation, learning and scientific study and a state environmental literacy plan. One year later, the Maryland Partnership for Children in Nature Report & Recommendations was released to the public. There are ten recommendations addressing three overarching goals, listed on the back of this sheet.
The Maryland No Child Left Inside Coalition www.mdncli.org
The Maryland No Child Left Inside Coalition is now over 220 organizations strong, representing over 630,000 Marylanders. The Coalition represents education, environment, recreation, religion, youth, health and business interests across Maryland. The Coalition supports the efforts of the Maryland Children in Nature Partnership to ensure that all Maryland youth have access to recreational and educational outdoor experiences and graduate environmentally literate. In addition to providing support for Partnership efforts, the MDNCLI Coalition focuses on public outreach, keeping Marylanders informed of the progress of the Children in Nature recommendations and national No Child Left Inside legislation, as well exciting opportunities for people of all ages, backgrounds & professions to become involved.
In April 2009, The Maryland Partnership for Children in Nature Report & Recommendations for Governor Martin O’Malley was released. There are ten recommendations aimed at addressing three overarching goals:
Connecting communities & families to nature:
1. Incorporate nature play spaces into community health planning, land use planning and community development design.
2. Establish a Maryland Trail Development Office to address trail planning and funding, trail advocacy, a one-stop trail GIS database, and the development of a new Maryland Trail Town Program.
3. Develop a strategic state park and public lands Interpretive and Outdoor Classroom Plan, identifying funding needs to support a greater presence of park rangers and seasonal naturalist staff.
Reaching out to underserved communities:
4. Develop and implement a comprehensive program to increase access and utilization of public lands and waterways for underserved communities.
5. Expand and improve the existing Civic Justice Corps (CJC) model to serve 1,000 at-risk youth statewide by 2015 with summer conservation jobs and outdoor enrichment activities.
Strengthening student’s connection to nature during the school day:
6. Provide an annual meaningful outdoor environmental education experience for every student every year, pre-K through grade 12.
7. Require for graduation that every high school student take and pass a designated course of study on environmental literacy
8. Establish a comprehensive initiative to green all schools and school grounds, and embed schoolyard habitat programs as integrated indoor and outdoor instructional components of the curriculum.
9. Provide professional development for teachers, state park rangers and naturalists, and other service providers.
10. Adopt the Maryland State Environmental Literacy Standards
Julie Dieguez
Coordinator, Maryland No Child Left Inside Coalition
www.mdncli.org
jdieguez@cbf.org