Cultivating a New Generation of Lifetime Environmental Stewards
We express enormous gratitude to our funders and partners who are helping NWF achieve a future in Texas where every child has a connection to the natural world and every community is prepared to be climate resilient in the face of increasing climate change, moving us closer to ensuring people and wildlife co-exist, adapt, and thrive. This year has been a remarkable year of growth, reflection and transition fueled by an outstanding education team that leads with dedication, curiosity, professionalism, and a thirst for learning that inspires those they serve.
With your generous support, school children across Texas are developing a love for the natural world and becoming stewards of the environment. They are designing and building pollinator gardens to help recover the Monarch butterfly, grappling with the complexity of a changing climate and problem solving to create a more climate resilient campus and community, and delving into the intersection of race and environmental injustices with the support, skills, and awareness to make positive change.
We are thrilled that teachers continue to value the programming we offer, and this is affirmed by the increase in the time students are connecting to nature and learning outdoors in the pollinator gardens they have created. An inspiring hundreds of community members engage in monarch recovery and climate resilience work, and our youth leadership and environmental justice work has taken off in Houston.
With a full slate of schools on board, shovels in hand, and student climate resilient plans to implement, we are looking forward to a successful 2024-2025 school year!
Marya Fowler Director of Education, NWF, South Central Region
Introduction to Texas Education
In keeping with NWF’s strategic plan, the work we do in Texas is guided by the belief that people and wildlife will both benefit when all Americans have clean air and water, safe communities, easy and equitable access to nature, and protection from the threats of climate change.
Through a diversity of education programs, we provide access to nature, science-based resources, and quality experiential and project-based learning for teachers, students, schools, and communities to enhance wildlife habitats, be more climate resilient, and engage with nature for a lifetime.
We predominantly serve underserved communities and communities of color; communities that are disproportionately affected by environmental justice problems and least represented within environmental decision-making venues. The school districts where we work are some of the largest and most diverse in the state and include the cities of Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio.
Our Texas students learn why preserving their state’s natural resources is vital and why community-level efforts can be impactful. Learning is most successful when it is relevant to students’ lives, and we lean into project and place - based learning to help ensure students get and stay engaged.
The school districts where we work are some of the largest and most diverse in the state. In 2023-2024, we worked in the cities of Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio.
Our Broad Impact
Individuals served:
395
8,158 Teachers Students
1,145 Community Members
100 Schools
Habitat planted: 10
Acres of habitat planted along bayous
6,800
Number of native plants in the ground
10,000 Square feet of habitat planted on school grounds
62 Number of school gardens
About NWF Education
The mission of the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) is to unite all Americans to ensure that wildlife thrive in a rapidly changing world. For decades NWF has partnered on‐the‐ground and locally with urban school districts across the U.S. to provide quality nature‐based science education, through our Eco Schools US educational framework. NWF is a leader in using nature and wildlife conservation to improve student achievement, particularly in the STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) disciplines, and in fostering leadership and environmental stewardship in the next generation. Our specialty is building student interest in science through hands‐on, experiential programs connecting kids to nature, and developing the next generation of conservationists.
Pollinator Gardens and Recovery of the Monarch Butterfly Impact During the 2023-2024
Monarch Heroes - Recovery of the Monarch Butterfly
Monarch Heroes is a 2-year program that engages students in the recovery of the monarch butterfly, whose populations have plummeted in the last 25 years primarily due to the loss of native milkweed, the monarch’s sole larval host plant. NWF designed Monarch Heroes specifically to improve science engagement and motivation among under-resourced Pre K-12 students connecting them to the natural world through the use of project- and place-based learning. In Year 1, students collaborate in teams with teachers and community members to think critically as they design and implement monarch butterfly-friendly habitat on their school grounds. In Year 2, they learn to maintain and enhance their gardens for climate resiliency by increasing biodiversity and adding tree canopy. They become true Monarch Heroes as they collect migration data and contribute to national monarch research.
2023-2024 School Year
54 schools 322 teachers
6,207 students
10,000 square feet of native habitat for wildlife and outdoor learning!
Teacher Surveys say that Monarch Heroes has:
improved student attitudes toward the environment and belief in their ability to make a difference
increased students’ motivation and engagement in science been an effective way to engage students in project-based learning, STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math), and the development of leadership skills
increased students’ understanding of science concepts
1,006 community members engaged
“One student said he had never been into plants but after working on the garden, it inspired him to plant a garden at home. I was reminded that learning is more than what happens in the classroom, getting kids outside and learning in the dirt leaves a memory they will never forget.”
-Mr. Horvath McLean, 6th Grade Learning Center, Fort Worth ISD
Increasing Teacher Comfort and Managing Classes Outdoors
Outdoor Learning Cohort (OLC)
The OLC focuses on increasing comfort of managing and teaching students in the outdoors, instilling stewardship of gardens, and allowing time for lesson planning, budgeting, and community resource mapping. Lessons that increase the self-efficacy of teaching in the outdoors are combined with lessons in biodiversity and garden maintenance that help to ensure the initial investments made in school gardens endure. Through small grants, we also provide additional infrastructure to each campus that joins the OLC to more easily utilize the spaces as outdoor classrooms. A series of 3 in person professional development workshops throughout the year helps to keep the cohort connected as they experience new lessons together, enhance their existing outdoor classroom space and share challenges and successes.
“Before the Outdoor Learning Cohort, I only taught 1-2 times a year outdoors. Now I go at least once a month or more if lessons lend themselves to outdoors and/ or weather permits. PTA volunteers [have also enabled] us to break our class into small groups for observations, investigations, and workstations.” -Ms. Martinez, Helms ES, Houston ISD
8 schools
50 teachers
1,109
Data:
students
Pilot data shows this program increases time spent teaching and learning outdoors. Teaching increased from 17 mins/week to 49 mins/week.
Student learning increased from 5 mins/week to 24 mins/week during this pilot.
“I enjoyed trying to find more opportunities to get outdoors during my own class time. I think this year I spent more time outdoors than I ever have! One particular stand out moment was when my students found black swallowtail caterpillars. They self-created and designed research projects on the species. Outdoor learning gave our class a space to breath, explore, and discover. It is truly when I saw the most excitement among my students.”
-Karen Hubley, Linder ES, Austin ISD
Schools as Hubs for Climate Resilience and Community Engagement
Resilience in Schools and Communities (RiSC)
Climate change brings catastrophic environmental problems like sea level rise, wildfires, flooding, and extreme heat. As a result of this climate crisis, a majority of young people are understandably experiencing climate anxiety. Houston, a coastal city, is no stranger to the inequitable impacts of climate change.
RiSC is a 2-year program for high school students in the greater Houston area that empowers students, teachers, and community members with the knowledge and skills needed to be a part of the solution to make their schools and communities more resilient to the impacts of a changing climate. Through a watershed study and vulnerability assessment of their community, students apply critical thinking skills to identify and design practical, nature-based solutions (rain gardens, bioswales, pocket prairies, tree planting) that will mitigate flooding and/or the heat island effect on their campus or in their community. First year projects are campus based, second year projects are community based.
8 schools 16 teachers
720 students
End of Year Student Surveys say:
understand the function of a watershed
understand that a healthy watershed plays an important role in a climate resilient community
understand the issue of climate change
End of Year Teacher Surveys say:
feel comfortable using tools like NOAA’s flood hazard maps to illustrate their community’s vulnerability to their students
feel comfortable teaching students about green infrastructure and how it can mitigate flooding
feel comfortable facilitating a watershed audit with their students
“Our students valued seeing something they created completed and knowing that they made an impact in helping our community as well as the city of Houston.”
-Angel Brooks, Alief Taylor High School, Alief ISD
130 community members engaged
8 nature-based solutions to flooding
10 acres of coastal prairie habitat restored
2,950 native prairie plants in the ground
Youth Leadership and Environmental Justice
Earth Tomorrow
Cultivating a New Generation of Lifetime Environmental Stewards and EJ leaders.
Earth Tomorrow, now in its 24th year in ATL GA, is NWF’s flagship Environmental Justice and nature-based education program creating opportunities for youth in frontline communities, particularly youth of color, to deepen their understanding of environmental issues and provide solutions to address environmental injustices. Earth Tomorrow lays the groundwork needed to create life-long environmental stewards, the next generation of environmental leaders, and conservation-minded adults.
Launched in Houston in 2023, Earth Tomorrow uses a proven framework of career development, civic Engagement, leadership development, educational tools and resources, and outdoor experiences. The framework introduces students to green careers, increases student environmental literacy, supports environmental justice, builds leadership skills, promotes community and civic engagement, and fosters enjoyment and appreciation for the natural world. One of Earth Tomorrow’s biggest strengths is that it is a lifelong program, with opportunities for engagement available to students year after year. Many alumni stay connected to the program long after they graduate, either as Peer Mentors, staff, or volunteers.
“I completely achieved my goals during the summer institute. I put myself outside of my bubble by participating in the talent show and leading the action project presentation. I knew I needed to do it and luckily I had people around me to make it easier and help me through the process. I am very introverted at heart, and it is hard for me to speak up confidently without a shaky voice. This program helped me find my confidence.”
-Earth Tomorrow Summer Institute Student
122 students 30 schools from 15 different school districts 84% students of color
83% free and reduced lunch
Lists of Schools
Monarch Heroes
School Name
Address
Walnut Creek Elementary School 401 W Braker Ln, Austin, TX 78753
Garza High School 1600 Chicon, Austin, TX 78702
Gorzycki Middle School 7412 Slaughter Lane, Austin, TX 78749
Sanchez Elementary School 73 San Marcos Street, Austin, TX 78702
Doss Elementary School 7005 Northledge Dr, Austin, TX 78731
Pleasant Hill Elementary School 6405 Cir S Rd, Austin, TX 78745
