CELF and Local School Districts Chosen for   National Grant Project CELF is pleased to announce that it has been selected as the community partner for two Westchester County (NY) school districts—Scarsdale and Somers Central—in a national educational leadership project led by Eastern Michigan University (EMU) in Ypsilanti, Michigan.  Funded by a grant from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the project, called Building Leadership for Sustainability Education (BLSE), will provide strategic planning assistance to four American school districts that are using sustainability education (SE) as an approach to improve student learning.               The participating New York schools were chosen based on their efforts to reorient curriculum with an interdisciplinary, community-based focus through issues such as renewable energy, water and air quality, “green” construction, and sustainable food systems.  The two other participating school districts are Proctor Public Schools in Proctor, Minnesota and Souhegan Cooperative School District in Amherst, New Hampshire. In early December, CELF joined representatives from the districts at a two-day retreat at EMU. There, the participants received training and networking opportunities as they began to develop comprehensive strategic plans for their SE initiatives. After the retreat, teams will be supported as they complete their plans, which will focus on defining goals and assessment methods to evaluate gains in student achievement, community involvement, and district leadership.  Teams will receive ongoing technical assistance from EMU and project partner Creative Change Educational Solutions, an Ypsilanti-based nonprofit SE institution.  Scarsdale’s and Somers’ efforts will contribute to the development of national models for curriculum redesign and educational improvement, based on the principles of SE: integrated content, research-based teaching methods, and school-community collaborations that promote environmental, economic and social well-being.  The project outcomes will be disseminated nationally through conferences, educational networks, and the ongoing leadership efforts of CELF and district administrators.  The project will strengthen the capacity of these districts to re-orient themselves around sustainability and become models for other schools.  Sustainability is an educational approach that is gaining increased attention at the national and international levels.  It’s based on the view that schools have a critical role in preparing young people for the local and global economic, environmental, and social challenges of the future.  CELF is honored to collaborate with Scarsdale and Somers in this project to build their capacity as leaders in SE, both locally and nationally. Check the CELF website regulary to follow the work these schools are doing, along with CELF's support, to build leadership capacity in their districts.