Ipswich River Watershed Association (IRWA) is excited to announce we received a $100,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to help break down barriers to place-based education and environmental careers for youth within the Ipswich River watershed. IRWA is one of 38 organizations nationwide to receive funding under EPA’s Environmental Education Grants Program.
“Environmental education isn’t just about learning facts and figures; it’s about equipping young people with the skills and knowledge to find solutions to real-world problems and make a real difference in their daily lives and communities,” said EPA New England Regional Administrator David W. Cash.
“The best way to address our collective environmental problems is to support and center those people who are most impacted – and in our view, that includes young people across the North Shore. Young people have first-hand experience with climate change in their communities, and they have great ideas about how to address problems affecting the rivers they rely on. I’m so proud that IRWA is able to uplift these young people and provide them with the training and experiences they need to be environmental leaders – not just in their adulthood, but right now.”
These funds will support environmental education for youth in the Ipswich River watershed and nearby communities in Essex and Middlesex Counties, including Peabody, Salem, Lynn, Lawrence, and Gloucester, MA. These communities are identified as having environmental justice concerns by the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool.
This award will support the ongoing Floating Classroom program at Ipswich River Watershed Association, which brings youth to the river for experiential programming and environmental education. During summer 2025, 600 youth and 60 adult chaperones will benefit from experiential learning, kayaking and canoeing, and watershed education on the Ipswich River.
Additionally, this project will support the development of a place-based watershed study curriculum reaching 200 Ipswich River middle schoolers and at least 20 7th-grade teachers and paraprofessionals in the 2024-2025 school year. Eight Title 1 middle schools in Salem, Lynn, North Reading, and Andover will be invited to participate in the 7th grade program, along with other interested middle schools.
This project will also support two high school youths’ 6-week internship in summer 2025 exploring environmental careers in monitoring, restoration, and environmental education. The project will ensure that our internships are available to a diverse pool of applicants, allowing young people who may experience barriers to participating in internships to have an opportunity to explore an environmental career.