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Great Lakes Education Celebrated in “20 Years and Growing” with the NOAA B-WET Program!

Flint River GREEN Bridges students from Kuehn-Haven Middle School plant native riparian plants along the Flint River at Barber Park in Montrose, Michigan. (Credit: Kelly Sanborn)
Flint River GREEN Bridges students from Kuehn-Haven Middle School plant native riparian plants along the Flint River at Barber Park in Montrose, Michigan. (Credit: Kelly Sanborn)

This year marks the Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) program’s 20-year anniversary. In the 20 years the program has been working around the country, B-WET has been a powerful catalyst for environmental literacy. The B-WET program and the Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience framework support environmental education, foster student success and interest in learning, and empower students to implement environmental solutions in their own communities. This in turn supports NOAA’s mission of science, service, and stewardship, and the GLRI commitment to promote Great Lakes stewardship through supporting experience-based learning opportunities for youth.

As part of the 20th anniversary celebration, Great Lakes B-WET is excited to share participant perspectives on how the program benefits funded organizations and the educators and students those organizations serve. Read about the Southeast Michigan Stewardship Coalition and how their work has resulted in student action projects like stormwater mitigation on school campuses in Ypsilanti, Michigan, or 6th-grade teacher Kelly Sanborn’s story of planting a riparian zone in the community park with her class in Montrose, Michigan.

Visit the B-WET anniversary website for more stories that illustrate how the B-WET program has impacted students, schools, and communities over the past 20 years.

The NOAA Great Lakes B-WET program is supported by the GLRI.