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White House Grades Washington State School Teachers "A+" for Environmental Excellence

Release Date: 06/20/2012
Contact Information: Mark MacIntyre, EPA/Seattle, 206-553-7302, macintyre.mark@epa.gov; Sally Hanft, EPA Region 10 PIAEE Coordinator, Seattle, 206-553-1207, hanft.sally@epa.gov

(Seattle, WA- June 20, 2012) Mike Town, a Redmond High School teacher, is one of 18 teachers selected nationwide to receive the Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators. Mr. Town and Susan Milan, a South Whidbey Elementary School teacher from Langley, Washington (honorable mention winner), will be recognized tonight at E3 Washington’s “Summer Evening Celebration” at McKinstry Innovation Center (210 South Hudson St) in Seattle.

Mr. Town and Ms. Milan were selected for “their demonstrated excellence in preparing classes with an environmental focus that reflected real-life community challenges and created a powerful bond between their students and the natural world.”

The Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators recognizes and supports urban and rural educators who use experiential environmental opportunities to help students develop a sense of civic responsibility and stewardship in ecosystems. The prestigious award is bestowed by the White House Council on Environmental Quality in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

“Mr. Town and Ms. Milan get ‘gold stars’ for preparing future generations of environmental stewards,” said Kate Kelly, Director of EPA’s Office of Ecosystems, Tribal and Public Affairs in Seattle. “In addition to being inspiring leaders, these educators have made learning about the environment interesting and fun.”

Nationally, this year’s winning teachers' programs ranged from field studies in watershed and wetland science in New England to the study of clean energy sources in Colorado and ocean and climate science in Texas, forest ecology and trout studies in the Pacific Northwest and water resource management projects in the desert.

For more about the other winners: https://www.epa.gov/education/teacheraward/winners.html

More information about this program: https://www.epa.gov/education/teacheraward

For more about E3 Washington: http://www.e3washington.org/