The Chesapeake Bay Trust is excited to announce that the Youth Environmental Education Grant Program is currently accepting applications and has a deadline of January 16th, 2025, at 4pm EST!

The Youth Environmental Education Grant Program was established to provide accessible funds to schools, organizations, and agencies for youth environmental education opportunities and educator support.

To accomplish this goal the program funds projects that involve youth and students investigating a local environmental issue, problem, or phenomenon through indoor and outdoor research culminating in developing solutions and taking action in their school or community – also known as the Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience (MWEE) model. Funds can cover a multitude of items including costs for field trips, fieldwork, transportation, substitute fees, and supplies for projects. This grant program also supports the construction of outdoor classrooms, school-yard habitats, or community-based improvements. Through the professional development track, this grant program aims to build educator capacity and comfort in leading environmental education programs by funding the attendance to or development of professional development trainings for educators.

This grant program welcomes applications for projects in the state of Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay watershed portions of D.C., Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Applicants can request funds from one of the following tracks.

  • Track 1: Out-of-School Outdoor Investigations for Youth Provided by Community-Based Organizations (up to $10,000)
  • Track 2: Outdoor Classroom, School-Yard Habitat, or Community-Based Improvement Requests (up to $10,000)
  • Track 3: Professional Development for Formal, Non-Formal, and Community Educators (up to $5,000)
  • Track 4: In-school MWEEs for Pre-K-12 Students (up to $5,000)

All applications must be submitted through the Trust’s online system by Thursday, January 16, 2025 at 4:00 pm EST. Visit the Youth Environmental Education Grant Program page of the Trust website to view the Request for Proposals or start a new application at Youth Environmental Education Grant Program – Chesapeake Bay Trust.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to Jaren Baluyot, Program Coordinator, at (jbaluyot@cbtrust.org), if you have any questions or would like to discuss a project idea.