Norman Bird Sanctuary > a 300+ acre wildlife refuge near Newport RI, offering over 7 miles of hiking trails.

Ocean State Environmental Education Collaborative (OSEEC) AmeriCorps

Since 2004, the Norman Bird Sanctuary has partnered with Save the Bay and the Roger Williams Park Zoo in a unique collaboration - the Ocean State Environmental Education Collaborative, or OSEEC. Through this innovative program, the sites host seasonal AmeriCorps members, who help to expand each organizations' capacity and reach underserved populations throughout Rhode Island.

This year, NBS is thrilled to host two new and two returning AmeriCorps members: Sarah Jane Fischer, Yvette Haughney, Jaclyn Hochreiter, and Katrina McIsaac. The group has already begun teaching a variety of Sanctuary programs, including popular afterschools and school field trips, as well as vacation camps!

The Ocean State Environmental Education Collaborative’s AmeriCorps Program

“I feel that working at NBS has really helped make me aware of how exciting and rewarding teaching outside of the classroom really is. After teaching for one full year inside at a school, the connection with the environment and the ability to pick up a specimen and let the children touch and feel nature opened my eyes to new and creative ways of teaching. Hands-on education is very important for the conservation of the world around us. I feel there is no better way to teach about it, and that the children who came to NBS all individually gained a better understanding from walking through the forest, eating edible plants, and engaging in other endless opportunities.” - NBS member, August 2009

The Ocean State Environmental Education Collaborative's AmeriCorps Program (OSEEC) is a strategic effort by Rhode Island's top environmental education organizations -- the Norman Bird Sanctuary, Save The Bay, and the Roger Williams Park Zoo -- to address the lack of science proficiency and environmental literacy among students in the state's urban core cities. Through this unique partnership, OSEEC's AmeriCorps members teach thousands of underprivileged and underperforming students with no- and low-cost environmental education programs in schools and community after-school programs each year. Over the past six years, members have delivered 1,789 hands-on, field-based science programs, reaching 112,627 students in Rhode Island’s urban communities. The OSEEC AmeriCorps Program is a long-term commitment to community-centered education as a vehicle to promote science, connect children to their natural environment, and cultivate environmentally literate, active citizens.

Reduced state and federal funding have left Rhode Island's urban schools with extremely limited resources. Field-based science programs have been eliminated in many core city schools, leaving urban students with little or no inquiry-based science instruction. Yet, research conducted by the State Education and Environment Roundtable indicates that the benefits of hands-on education programs include better performance on standardized tests, increased self esteem, reduced discipline problems, increased enthusiasm for learning and greater pride and ownership in accomplishments. Given the huge gap in Rhode Island's science test scores between urban and non-urban students, quality environmental education programs such as those provided by OSEEC are especially critical.

OSEEC’s 15 AmeriCorps members serve one year equal to 1700 hours at the Norman Bird Sanctuary (4 members), Save The Bay (5 members), and the Roger Williams Park Zoo (6 members). The members train as environmental educators and provide environmental education programs to schools and community organizations in the core cities of Providence, Newport, Central Falls, West Warwick, Pawtucket and Woonsocket.

For more information about OSEEC’s AmeriCorps Program, please contact Lisa Milano Kuffner, AmeriCorps Program Director at 401-272-3540 x 124 or lkuffner@savebay.org

AmeriCorps
www.americorps.gov

Save The Bay

www.savebay.org

Roger Williams Park Zoo
www.rwpzoo.org