Delaware Envirothon Results Announced

Wilmington Charter School Team C members are, top row: Darren Wu and Shriya Boyapati; middle row: Joanna Tan and Meghna Raj Annasagaram, and bottom: Amogh Baradwaj.

Wilmington Charter School Team C Finishes First

Charter School of Wilmington Team C is the winner of the 2021 Delaware Envirothon, an annual environmental and natural resources education competition for high school students sponsored by the Delaware Association of Conservation Districts in partnership with the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.

Charter School of Wilmington Team A finished second and Charter School of Wilmington Team B placed third out of a total of 10 teams participating in this year’s competition. In addition to the three Charter School of Wilmington teams, other teams represented Calvary Christian Academy in Dover, Middletown High School FFA, Newark Charter School, Odessa High School FFA, and the Peach Blossom 4-H team from Kent County.

Instead of an in-person competition, students competed virtually over the course of four days. Each team answered questions on topics dealing with aquatic ecology, soils/land-use, wildlife, forestry, air quality, and the current environmental issue, “Water Resources Management: Local Control and Local Solutions.” Charter School of Wilmington Team C will now represent Delaware in the virtual 2021 National Conservation Foundation Envirothon out of Lincoln, Neb., at the end of July.

Each member of the winning team earned a $500 college scholarship from the Delaware Envirothon. The winning team will also receive an award plaque for their school. The second through seventh place teams received more than $1,300 in special team awards and cash prizes. Special cash awards totaling $450 were provided to the top three Forestry teams by the Delaware Forestry Association.

Prizes in the form of gift cards and ribbons were awarded to the top seven teams. The official results are as follows:

First place: Charter School of Wilmington Team C
Second place: Charter School of Wilmington Team A
Third place: Charter School of Wilmington Team B
Fourth place: Peach Blossom 4-H Club
Fifth place: Middletown High School FFA
Sixth place: Odessa Ducks FFA
Seventh place: Newark Charter School Dino Nuggets

Since its inception, the Delaware Envirothon has awarded $6,500 in scholarships to 125 students. The competition is hosted by the Delaware Association of Conservation Districts, a voluntary, non-profit association that coordinates conservation efforts statewide to focus on natural resource issues identified by Delaware’s three local conservation districts. For more information, visit delawareenvirothon.org/.

About DNREC
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control protects and manages the state’s natural resources, protects public health, provides outdoor recreational opportunities and educates Delawareans about the environment. The DNREC Division of Watershed Stewardship develops and implements innovative watershed assessment, monitoring and implementation activities. For more information, visit the website and connect with @DelawareDNREC on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Media Contacts: Joanna Wilson, joanna.wilson@delaware.gov; Michael Globetti, michael.globetti@delaware.gov

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Governor Carney, Secretary Bunting Announce Accelerated Learning Plan

WILMINGTON, Del. – Governor John Carney and Secretary of Education Susan Bunting on Tuesday announced their plans for helping schools support students and address unfinished learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Using federal funding from the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, Delaware will focus on key areas to support districts and charter schools in helping students make up for unfinished learning.  The state received roughly $21 million for K-12 education and districts and charter schools received more than $164 million from this bill.

The Delaware Strategy to Accelerate Learning focuses on four core actions:

  • Support the Use of High-Quality Instructional Materials: Provide statewide licenses for access to high quality instructional materials such as Zearn Math for every rising 1st through 8th grader and Summer Booster Literacy for every rising 1st through 5th grader.
  • Support Training and Professional Learning: Provide initial and ongoing professional learning to support learning acceleration, which will also be open to those working in nonprofit programs and other summer and after-school programs.
  • Support Leveraging Data to Diagnose Unfinished Learning: Support schools to implement a balanced assessment system and leverage data that supports educators in diagnosing unfinished learning and providing the necessary scaffolds to ensure all students have access to grade level instruction.
  • Support Structures to Accelerate Learning: Provide high-dosage tutoring beginning this summer, with a focus on students who need the most support.

The Delaware Department of Education (DDOE) will also provide access for every student to an online text repository of roughly 3 million e-books and the Delaware public library collection. Schools will have the ability to track how many texts students have read and how much time is spent reading. These resources and trainings are also available to community organizations, other entities serving students over the summer and after school, and to families at home, to ensure no matter where children are, they are getting high-quality educational services.

Additional expenditures from this federal funding include supports for non-English speaking families and family engagement around these resources, support for Delaware’s school-based wellness centers, targeted professional learning packages for high-need schools, behavioral health supports, and more.

In addition, the American Rescue Plan Act (ARP), passed by Congress last month, will provide DDOE more than $40 million and districts and charters nearly $370 million. DDOE will be engaging stakeholders to solicit input on key areas the state can invest its portion of funding, with a particular focus on how to support students who were most affected by the pandemic. Districts and charter schools will be crafting plans on how they will spend their funds with stakeholder engagement at the local level.

DDOE will hold a Facebook Live in early May to give families and community members an overview of the state’s accelerated learning plan, take questions, and share how families can help their students using these resources.

Questions or feedback on this plan can be sent to stakeholder.feedback@doe.k12.de.us.

“I want to thank our federal delegation for their work to secure these critical funds for Delaware’s schools and communities,” said Governor John Carney. “Helping our schools make up for the unfinished learning that occurred over the past year is going to be one of the most important things we as a state do. I want to also thank our educators, district and charter leaders, principals, school nurses, and everyone who works in our schools for the work they are doing. These resources are here to help you maximize your impact.”

“Both our educators and our families are focused on preparing students for grade-level instruction at the beginning of the upcoming school year. Through our accelerated learning plan, we will be able to supplement instructional time that may have been impacted by COVID-19 closures,” said Dr. Susan Bunting, Secretary of the Delaware Department of Education. “The Delaware Department of Education is a support agency. We look forward to working with our district and charter leaders, as well as our educators and non-profit partners, to maximize academic growth during the summer.”

“We are thankful for this federal funding because it will help students and educators to recover from this public health crisis,” said Stephanie Ingram, President of the Delaware State Education Association. “It will provide those who need additional support the most with an opportunity to access this support anywhere, at any time. We are particularly encouraged by the professional development and training being provided as well as the additional mental health supports for students and educators. Such supports have become even more of a necessity over the last year.”

“As we debated economic relief packages in Congress, I would not back down when it came to prioritizing funding to states and school districts to help our students catch up on the learning they might have missed due to the pandemic,” said U.S. Senator Tom Carper. “Our children, particularly our most vulnerable students, deserve access to high-quality accelerated learning and summer school programs, and our educators will need the resources and tools to help our students clear the learning hurdles brought on by the past year. I’m proud of Delaware’s announcement, and commend Governor Carney and Secretary Bunting for their ongoing focus on community engagement and helping all students, especially those challenged the most by this pandemic.”

“The past year has posed dramatic new challenges for students, educators, and families,” said U.S. Senator Chris Coons. “I am grateful for the leadership of Delaware’s teachers and district leaders, Governor Carney, and Secretary Bunting in seeking out new ways to support our students. These critical investments will help identify areas where additional support is needed, provide instructional tools, and give students more one-on-one time for extra support.”

“The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted every part of Delawareans’ lives, including our children’s ability to learn and thrive. That’s why, as the federal delegation worked on COVID relief legislation, one of the top priorities for Senators Carper, Coons, and I was ensuring that we obtained funding to help compensate for learning loss experienced over this past school year,” said U.S. Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester. “I want to thank Governor Carney and Secretary Bunting for their efforts in ensuring that these federal resources make it to the students and educators who need them most.”

“The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our students has been truly monumental, upending the learning process in almost every way imaginable. We know that many students have fallen behind, and it’s our duty to get each and every child in our schools back on track,” said State Representative Kim Williams, Chair of the House Education Committee. “I am pleased to see that significant resources have been dedicated to this vitally important task, and am confident that educators, administrators and education professionals across Delaware will put them to good use in the months ahead.”

“I’m thrilled Governor Carney is investing federal dollars in professional development opportunities for educators in our high-needs schools — a key provision in the interim recommendations issued by the Redding Consortium for Educational Equity earlier this year,” said State Senate Majority Whip Elizabeth “Tizzy” LockmanVice Chair of the Senate Education Committee. “This is an important first step toward providing the sustained and consistent support our educators, our students and our families deserve. I look forward to working with him to make this a permanent component of our efforts to improve outcomes for students at the greatest risk of falling behind.”

“The pandemic has meant less direct instruction time for many of our students as we have worked to open schools with many mitigation strategies in place,” said Dr. Dan Shelton, Superintendent of the Christina School District. “In Christina, we are utilizing an expanded school year to ensure that we have opportunities for learning to extend beyond the traditional school year. We are also partnering with Adult Ed. so that we have multiple avenues for our High School Students to gain Credit Recovery. Partnering with the Delaware Department of Education, we will also be offering individual tutoring and online math support through the Zearn platform. We are planning to develop lessons around the resources available in SORA, in addition to the curriculum mapping our specialists have developed.”

“The Delaware Hispanic Commission has been advocating for a Language Access Plan that provides equal access to services to all non-English speaking Delawareans,” said Javier Torrijos, Chairman of the Delaware Hispanic Commission. “The Governor and the Department of Education has moved one step closer toward meeting this critical need by providing a language line where parents can call the school in their native tongue and always have an interpreter available. Many Spanish speaking parents have been unable to communicate with their children’s teacher due to the language barrier. They now can engage in a full conversation to better understand their students’ progress and find out what is going on at their school. They can be directly involved whereas previously this was not possible due to the language barrier. We congratulate Governor Carney and Secretary Bunting in taking this crucial step in providing this long overdue service.”

“As President of the Delaware School-Based Health Alliance and Director of Behavioral Health for the Colonial School District, I am very grateful for the Governor’s support of High School Wellness Centers in Delaware, which are playing a key role in supporting adolescent health both in the response to and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Jon CooperDirector of Behavioral Health at the Colonial School District. “Now more than ever, our adolescents need access to the medical and behavioral health services that School Based Wellness Centers provide.”

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Governor Carney Announces Updates to COVID-19 Vaccination Program

Educator vaccinations expanded through state events and federal partnership with Walgreens; Vaccinations also to begin at poultry plants

WILMINGTON, Del. – Governor John Carney on Friday announced an expansion of Delaware’s COVID-19 vaccination program for educators, school staff, and child care workers – in line with President Biden’s commitment to provide at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to school personnel by the end of March.

The Delaware Division of Public Health (DPH), the Delaware Emergency Management Agency (DEMA), and the Delaware Department of Education (DDOE) will host large vaccination events on Saturday, March 13 and Sunday, March 14 for educators, school staff, and child care workers at Dover International Speedway. Early next week, DDOE will extend invitations for the Speedway event to educators, school staff and child care workers who have expressed interest in vaccination.

Additionally – through a partnership between the federal government and Walgreens pharmacies – educators, school staff and child care workers can also sign up for appointments at Walgreens to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. To prioritize educator vaccinations in Delaware through March and in accordance with federal guidance, Walgreens will pause new vaccination appointments for other eligible populations.

Educators, school staff and child care workers can visit Walgreens.com to seek a vaccination appointment at Walgreens. Due to supply constraints, there are a limited number of appointments currently available today. Several thousand appointments will be available starting next week, as Walgreens receives additional supply from the federal government. Educators, school staff, and child care workers will be notified when these additional appointments become available.

The Delaware Department of Education (DDOE), in partnership with Albertsons Pharmacy, already has vaccinated more than 5,500 educators and school staff, or roughly a third of those who expressed interest in vaccination, and more than half of the 5,500 are fully vaccinated. More than 2,200 Delaware child care workers have also received at least their first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine. DDOE will continue to host regular K-12 and child care vaccination events and notify educators as additional appointments become available at Walgreens. 

Delaware is currently in Phase 1B of its COVID-19 vaccination program. Visit de.gov/covidvaccine to learn more.

Also on Friday, the State of Delaware began shipping doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to poultry companies to begin vaccinating their most vulnerable workers. The State of Delaware and its partners have administered 253,535 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine as of midnight Friday, March 5.

“We are building on our ongoing efforts to prioritize vaccinations for educators, school staff and child care workers across our state who have stepped up throughout this COVID-19 crisis,” said Governor Carney. “Our goal remains the same. We want to distribute this life-saving vaccine in a way that’s fast and fair. Until we can vaccinate enough Delawareans, let’s continue to follow the basic health precautions. Wear a mask. Avoid gatherings. Wash or sanitize your hands frequently. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. Stay vigilant.”

DDOE, through its partnership with Albertsons Pharmacy, has coordinated the vaccination of education personnel and child care providers since late January. More than 16,000 educators and school personnel requested vaccination through DDOE. Roughly 4,000 child care providers also requested vaccination.

Learn more about Delaware’s COVID-19 vaccination program at de.gov/covidvaccine

Find testing events and locations at de.gov/gettested.   

Download COVID Alert DE in the App Store or Google Play.   

Anyone with a general question about COVID-19 should call Delaware 2-1-1. Those who are deaf or hard of hearing can text their ZIP code to 898-211, or email delaware211@uwde.orgHours of operation are 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Medically related questions regarding testing, symptoms, and health-related guidance can be submitted by email at DPHCall@delaware.gov.  

Visit de.gov/coronavirus for the latest information on Delaware’s COVID-19 response.

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Students Encouraged To Enter Webapp Competition

The Delaware Department of Education, in conjunction with the state’s geospatial education community, encourages Delaware middle and high school students to join in Esri’s 2021 ArcGIS online competition. Students are challenged to create and share interactive mapping projects using ESRI ArcGIS software. Delaware entrants to this national competition must create a digital map or Storymap that highlights facts and features unique to Delaware.

Esri’s 2021 ArcGIS US School Competition is open to high school (grades 9-12) and middle school (grades 6-8) students in the United States. Assistance is available to teachers and students who have limited knowledge of how to create an ArcGIS Storymap or web app. Delaware’s top 5 middle and top 5 high school students each will be awarded a $100 cash prize. The state also will select one middle school and one high school entrant to compete nationally. Winners at the national level each will earn a trip to the 2021 Esri Education Summit in San Diego, CA.

“We’re excited to be part of a competition that gives our students a chance to practice real-world skills in both an enjoyable and a meaningful way,” Secretary of Education Susan Bunting said.

The competition closes May 10.  Find more information online here. Email maps@doe.k12.de.us with questions.

Media contact: Alison May, alison.may@doe.k12.de.us, 302-735-4006


El gobernador Carney y la DPH instan a las escuelas a retomar la educación híbrida el 11 de enero

La División de Salud Pública de Delaware lanza un nuevo tablero de control escolar

WILMINGTON, Del. – En una carta a las autoridades escolares, los docentes y los padres el pasado martes, el gobernador John Carney, la División de Salud Pública (DPH) de Delaware y el Departamento de Educación (DOE) de Delaware instaron a las escuelas de Delaware a retomar la modalidad de educación híbrida (una combinación de educación a distancia y clases presenciales) el lunes, 11 de enero. El gobernador Carney firmó la carta del martes con la Dra. Karyl Rattay, Directora de Salud Pública, y la Dra. Susan Bunting, Secretaria de Educación. La carta insta a las escuelas a retomar de manera plena la modalidad de educación híbrida este lunes y dar prioridad a los estudiantes más jóvenes y vulnerables para las clases presenciales si persisten los problemas operativos.

Lea la carta completa a las autoridades escolares, los docentes y los padres.

“Como hemos dicho muchas veces, no consideramos que haya una razón de salud pública para cerrar las escuelas”, dijeron el gobernador Carney, la Dra. Rattay y la Secretaria Bunting en la carta del martes. “Hemos pasado las últimas cuatro semanas ayudando a las escuelas a abordar los desafíos operativos que están experimentando. Y estamos todos de acuerdo en que los estudiantes aprenden mejor cuando están en la escuela. Por todas estas razones, les recomendamos a los distritos y las escuelas que hagan todo lo posible por retomar la modalidad de educación híbrida el 11 de enero”.

También el martes, la División de Salud Pública de Delaware lanzó un nuevo tablero de control de COVID-19 centrado en las escuelas. El tablero llevará un registro de la cantidad de casos contagiosos entre el personal y el alumnado de las escuelas de Delaware, y ofrecerá un panorama más detallado de la infección por COVID-19 en el ámbito escolar.

“El hecho de que la cantidad de casos positivos de COVID sea tan baja entre el alumnado y el personal es una muestra del esfuerzo que han hecho los estudiantes, los docentes y el resto del personal”, dijeron el gobernador Carney, la Dra. Rattay y la Secretaria Bunting. “Además, según los datos de nuestros epidemiólogos, la gran mayoría de los casos que afectan a los estudiantes y al personal se originaron fuera del ámbito escolar. Se ha observado que los pocos casos que se consideran consecuencia de la propagación escolar suelen originarse en entornos donde no se usa la mascarilla de manera constante”.

Lea la carta completa a las autoridades escolares, los docentes y los padres.

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