Stockton University has received a $650,000 state grant to help K-12 schools teach lessons in climate change.
The grant is from the Department of Education to put climate-change instruction into the classroom. New Jersey became the first state in the nation to integrate climate change across multiple teaching areas, including science, social studies, world languages and the arts four years ago.
Stockton is one of four universities in the state to win the $650,000 grant. The others are Monmouth, Rutgers New Brunswick, and Ramapo.
“What we are offering is a set of six core workshops that repeat over the course of a year,” Kimberly Lebak, professor of Education and co-director of the school’s Climate Change Learning Collaborative, told NJ Advance Media. “The teachers will get an overall lesson in what climate change is. We’ll be modeling specific activities that are appropriate for elementary schools and opportunities that would be appropriate for secondary teachers to use.”
Leback said Stockton’s campus locations, including 1,600 acres in the state Pinelands National Reserve Galloway Township and a campus near the Atlantic City Boardwalk, will provide areas for hands-on learning about climate change. The collaborative has designed a program that will provide K-12 educators with strong content knowledge on climate change and how climate change directly impacts South Jersey communities.
“These grants will ensure our state’s climate change instruction remains at the highest academic standard and that our educators are supported as they prepare new and innovative lessons,” First Lady Tammy Murphy said in a statement provided by Stockton. “I am eager to see the creative approach each school will take to continue the successful rollout of this critical instruction across all learning standards.”
Stockton credits Murphy for spearheading the program.
Community-based organizations such as The Wetlands Institute, Save Barnegat Bay, NJ Audubon, the Center for Aquatic Sciences and Sustainable NJ will connect interactive experiences with content knowledge on climate change, Stockton said. Nearly 10,000 educators participate in CCLC programs and activities in topics that include technology integration, core curriculum, instructional strategies, school leadership, special education and social and emotional learning.
Stockton will provide curriculum for schools in eight counties, including Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Ocean and Salem counties. The instruction will start in the next academic year.
“We’re really building off of our community,” Leback said. “This is where kids are going up. How’s climate change impacting the Pine Barrens? How’s it impacting the coastal areas?The climate awareness education has been an initiative that is really New Jersey specific.”
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Bill Duhart may be reached at bduhart@njadvancemedia.com.
