The Columbia Basin Environmental Education Network’s (CBEEN) Wild Voices for Kids (WVFK) Program has been named a finalist for BC Hydro’s 2013 Community Champions Program.
If CBEEN was to win this award, it would allow 1,000 more students from the Columbia Basin with the opportunity to take part in environmental education field trips and presentations.
This award program recognizes non-profit organizations within British Columbia that demonstrate environmental leadership in their community. It provides these non-profit organizations a platform to highlight their initiatives that support conservation and the environment for the chance to win one of five $10,000 Community Champions conservation awards. The public can vote for CBEEN daily until November 15 by going to https://champions.bchydro.com.
Last year alone, CBEEN made it possible for over 8,000 students to take part in 345 environmental education presentations and field trips across the 6 School Districts of the Columbia Basin. These included outdoor excursions such as snowshoeing, avalanche safety training, pond explorations and opportunities to see Kokanee Salmon spawning. In-class presentations cover topics such as endangered local wildlife and the history of our area in the form of fossils and archeology. CBEEN currently has 79 local community educators who deliver over 150 curriculum linked programs. The public can learn more about WVFK and the programs available by going to www.cbeen.org/wvfk.
The Community Champions Program also engages youth via BC school classrooms on conservation projects by offering valuable lesson plans around sustainability and asking classrooms to determine which non-profit organization participating in the program they wish to support. By participating, their classroom is entered into a random draw for a chance to win a $1,000 award to use towards their own school-based conservation project.
CBEEN is a registered non-profit society and charity. To make a donation or to learn more about CBEEN go to www.cbeen.org.