The Kentucky Environmental Education Council (KEEC) has been awarded a $91,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to train teachers about water-quality education and fund student water stewardship projects in the state through the Kentucky Green and Healthy Schools (KGHS) program.

The grant will support teacher training in scientific concepts about water. It also will allow the KGHS program to offer competitive grant funding to its network of more than 200 schools for the design and implementation of student-led projects to improve water quality and/or conservation in schools and local communities.

KEEC will work closely with its partners, the Kentucky Department of Education and the Kentucky Division of Water, and schools in the KGHS program to implement the two-year grant project.

Kentucky Education Commissioner Stephen Pruitt said the teacher workshops KEEC is planning can meet essential training needs expressed by teachers.

“Our teachers are seeking ways to help students understand science in a three-dimensional way. These workshops will give teachers additional skills, resources and increased confidence to engage students in science education that uses real-world science and engineering practices to explore and understand the natural phenomenon of water,” Pruitt said.

In its 2013 survey of Kentuckians, KEEC found that Kentuckians are more concerned with water quality and conservation than any other environmental issue.