ENGAGE WITH
STUDENTS AND VOLUNTEERS
Casco Bay has shaped our history, our economy, and our communities. The Casco Bay Watershed is home to one-quarter of Maine’s population and one-third of the total jobs in the state, despite containing just 4.4 percent of the state’s land mass. Millions of visitors visit the Casco Bay region every year to enjoy its resources and scenic beauty. Protecting and restoring the health of Casco Bay and its watershed is important.
How do we communicate this to residents and visitors? How do we encourage and support people to move beyond awareness of the importance of the Bay to a position of active stewardship? We primarily do this by supporting our community partners, which have strong volunteer stewardship, education and technical assistance programs.
CBEP supports Casco Bay school districts through teacher training events, connecting expedition-based learning programs with community partners, funding projects through our Community Grants program, and other activities.
CBEP supports Cumberland County Soil and Water Conservation District’s watershed-based CONNECT program to middle school classrooms in eleven Casco Bay communities, the Southern Maine Children’s Water Festival, a day-long event aimed at middle school students, Portland Water District’s Trout Kids program, and other Bay-focused educational programs.
Through our Community Grants program, CBEP supports locally-led projects that create new partnerships and engage communities with Casco Bay and its watershed.
The Casco Bay Plan 2016-2021 frames a broader community engagement goal with a focus on experiential education, citizen stewardship, and outreach to local municipal officials and volunteers, among other actions.
RESOURCES
Education materials courtesy of Lakes Environmental Association (LEA), mainelakes.org
- Bioassessment data sheet
- Bioassessment worksheet
- Key to common benthic macroinvertebrates
- Read first Macroinvertebrate Lesson
- Read first Water Properties Lesson
- Stream sample #1 image
- Stream sample #2 image
- Water properties form
- Water properties worksheet
Education materials courtesy of Kennebec Estuary Land Trust (KELT), kennebecestuary.org
- Storybook walk program outline
- How-to Guide for students, Clam flat research and conservation
- How-to Guide for students, Learning to dig softshell clams
Videos on CBEP’s YouTube channel:
For More Information
Contact Victoria Boundy, Community Engagement Coordinator, Victoria.boundy@maine.edu, (207) 780-5843.