Posted by the Ma'at Youth Academy on January 12, 2000
Contact: Sharon Fuller, (510) 222-6594
El Sobrante, California-The National Environmental Education & Training Foundation (NEETF) announced today that The Ma'at Youth Academy has been selected to receive a National Environmental Education Achievement Award. The awards, to be presented at a January 20, 2000 ceremony in Washington, D. C., are given annually by NEETF to recognize innovative and effective environmental education programs that are preparing society to understand and address our most urgent environmental challenges.
Kevin Coyle, NEETF's president said, "As we prepare to enter the next millennium, it is becoming more and more apparent that we are not prepared to understand and address the emerging environmental issues facing our society. These awards are given to organizations that are helping to bridge that gap, by developing and implementing innovative approaches toward educating and solving complex environmental problems."
The 1999 Environmental Education Awards recognize excellence in environmental education in ten different categories: Environment and Public Health, Source Water and Watershed Protection, Land Use and Natural Resources, Eco-tourism, Multicultural Environmental Education, Integration of Environmental Education into a School System, Place-Based Environmental Education, Improving Community Quality of Life, and Pollution Prevention and Environmental Improvement in a Business Setting. The Ma'at Youth Academy is being honored in the Multicultural Environmental Education category.
Sharon Fuller, MYA's executive director noted, "Most environmental education programs focus on wildlife and wilderness areas, even though 50 percent of the world population and 70 percent of the US population live in cities. Therefore, the task at hand is to broaden the understanding of environmental education to include the urban environment where most people live. The Ma'at Youth Academy help high school students and adults make their communities healthier and safer for all species-including human beings. MYA links urban high school students to hands-on environmental education and community action. Our community-based environmental experiences give 14-18 year olds-and adult volunteers-an opportunity to learn and to lead."
To qualify for a National Environmental Education Achievement Award, MYA's Community and Global Ecology project was evaluated by a panel of nationally recognized leaders in environmental education from non-profit organizations, universities, private business, foundations and government agencies on basis of five criteria: An exceptional achievement level in the award category selected; measurable environmental learning in the community, the workplace, or schools; broad-based partnerships; contributions to a stronger economy, a healthier public, or livable community, and; program results that are sustainable and replicable. The Environmental Education Achievement Awards will be presented by NEETF Ex-Officio Trustees James R. Lyons, Undersecretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and the Environment, and Lois J. Schiffer, Assistant Attorney General/Environment and Natural Resources Division, U.S. Department of Justice.
The National Environmental Education & Training Foundation (NEETF) promotes the use of lifelong, environmental learning as a tool for social and economic progress, and as a way to involve small business and local communities in solving our emerging and most pressing environmental challenges. The Foundation is a private not-for-profit 501 (c) (3) organization authorized in 1990 by the US Congress to insure the infusion of environmental learning into subjects of critical national concern.
For additional information, contact:
Ma'at Youth Academy
420 Pebble Drive, Suite E
El Sobrante, CA 94803
Phone: (510) 222-6594
Web: http://www.maatyouthacademy.org
E-mail: mya@maatyouthacademy.org
