OCCA's Bay Watershed Education and Training Program
If you are a teacher who is passionate about bringing real world, hands-on watershed education into your classroom, OCCA’s B-WET program is for you! Funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), this program is a three-year professional development initiative that will increase the development and implementation of Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEEs) throughout the New York portion of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. MWEEs are learner-centered experiences in which students investigate local environmental issues and complete informed action projects. MWEEs advance environmental literacy and stewardship while increasing standards-based student achievement.
Summer Institute 2023!
The centerpiece of the program is our summer institute, an intensive, multi-day experience that will help teachers develop and deliver MWEEs in their schools. Planning is underway for a fully in-person institute, which will be offered twice: July 10 – 12 and July 14 – 16, 2023, at Hartwick College’s Pine Lake Environmental Campus. An optional training in the Project WET curriculum will be offered exclusively to institute participants on the interim day of July 13th. The application for this summer’s institute is linked below. If you are interested in the Project WET training, please make sure to indicate your preference on your application.
Highlights of the institute will include:
- Participating in exciting hands-on classroom and field activities
- Networking with fellow teachers, environmental education professionals and scientific experts
- Developing a full understanding of the structure of a MWEE
- Examining your current activities and lessons to see how they can fit into a MWEE
- Unstructured time to work on your projects
Contact us at nywen@occainfo.org or call 607-547-4488 if you have any questions or would like additional information.
Check out some photos from our summer institute in 2022
View this video for a short overview of a MWEE
OCCA has been holding informational webinars on the program and MWEEs.
If you have additional questions, email us at nywen@occainfo.org.
Thank you to the Catskill Regional Teacher Center for their support of this project and for providing CTLE credits for the institute.
Funding for the Chesapeake Bay Headwaters Educational Ecosystem is provided through a cooperative agreement with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) program.