Massachusetts Bays Education Alliance

 

 

 ORIGIN, MISSION, PRINCIPLES: 

The Mass Bays Education Alliance (MBEA) was formed in 1993 as a subcommittee of the Mass Bays Program to bring together on-going efforts in marine education. A strong, united community of educators teaching the many values of Massachusetts bays, shores, and watersheds, will help ensure their responsible use and appropriate protection. 

Under the aegis of the Mass. Bays Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP) of the Mass Bays Program, MBEA set forth the following guiding principles: 

  • Focus efforts on the educators of the region by promoting marine, coastal, and freshwater education; 
  • Encourage teachers and their schools to make use of local watersheds, shores and bays as teaching resources, guided by the CCMP and its action plans; 
  • Facilitate use of watersheds, shores, and bays by establishing working connections among schools and appropriate local organizations, agencies, and municipal departments; 
  • Encourage innovative teaching based on the latest research as it relates to the Massachusetts Bays; 
  • Promote sharing of resource materials which are frequently difficult to locate and access; 
  • Seek to achieve the goals of our mission in a coherent fashion and on a sustainable, cost effective basis across the 161 cities and towns that encompass the watersheds of the Massachusetts and Cape Cod Bays; 
  • Support current state educational reform

1) by serving as a catalyst for strategies that integrate new education initiatives(such as the PALMS program) with a watershed, shores, and bays-based focus 
2) by facilitating the use of community stewardship at the curriculum level. 

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT:  


Two types of training are offered by MBEA to further its mission: Watershed Education Training and Watershed Stewardship Training. Watershed Education: Teams of educators, Grades 4-9, have been attending workshop series on the Mass Bays Watershed Education Program which features Watershed to Bays curriculum and a WET kit. Teams share the way they adapt the curriculum materials in their classroom. Watershed Stewardship builds upon prior watershed education training to introduce concepts and activities from the Massachusetts Bays Watershed Stewardship Guide, which is a companion to the CCMP. This workshop series is offered to upper elementary to high school teachers. Both types of training emphasize problem-solving, hands-on activity and stewardship actions. Over teachers have been certified to date (June 1998) in both programs. For information on how to attend one of these workshops and receive the curriculum materials, contact Faith Burbank, home: (781) 740-4913; Fax: (781) 749-8328, SE Mass field office: (781) 293-3541; Fax: (781) 293-3916, email: fburbank@umext.umass.edu. 

STAFF AND WORKING GROUP 


MBEA STAFF: 
Faith Burbank, U Mass Extension Educator, Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation Program, a partnership grant program with the:
1) Massachusetts Bays National Estuary Program
2) Massachusetts Board of Higher Education and the Dwight D. Eisenhower Professional Development Program in the South River/South Coastal Watershed

Barbara S. Waters, Project Co-Coordinator, Environmental Education Advisor, UMass Extension, Amherst 

MBEA WORKING GROUP ORGANIZATION LIST [6/98] 
Coastal Zone Management 
UMass Extension, Natural Resources & Environmental Conservation 
Marine Adventures 
Mass. Assoc. of Science Supervisors 
Hingham High School 
Saugus River Watershed Council 
Neponset River Watershed Assoc. 
Hyannis Whale Watch 
MDC 
DEP/Office of Watershed Management 
University of Massachusetts Boston 
Massachusetts Studies Project 
NE Aquarium 
MITS/PALMS 
Needham Public School, Pollard Middle 
Mass Aududbon Society 
US EPA 
Stellwagon Bank Marine Sanctuary 
Peabody Essex Museum 
The Headwaters 
Bridgewater State College, Earth Sciencese & Geography 
Schooner Ernestina 
Retired Swampscott High School Science Supervisor 
Retired Biology Professor, Salem State College 
Ipswich Watershed Assoc. 
Merrimack Watershed Assoc.* 
Nashua Watershed Assoc.* 
Mass Riverways Program* 
Mass Div. of Fish & Wildlife* 
*past 

MBEA MEMBERSHIP 


Membership is open to all teachers and educators who teach in Massachusetts, and to educational organizations and agencies based or operating in the state. A member may choose to be "active and available" or simply "at large", a category where members can keep in touch without active participation.There is a Working Group, an Education Group, and a Steering Committee. contact Faith Burbank, home: (781) 740-4913; Fax: (781) 749-8328, SE Mass field office: (781) 293-3541; Fax: (781) 293-3916, email: fburbank@umext.umass.edu.  

MASS. BAYS WATERSHED STEWARDSHIP GUIDE 


Forward & Credits 
Overview - Index to Parts I-IV and Matrix of Activities 
Connect Massachusetts Bays to the Classroom (Part I) 
Stewardship as a Habit of Mind (Part I-3) 
Using Models (Part I-7) 
Problem Solving (Part I-11) 
CCMP 15 Action Plans (Part I-17)