The Kentucky Association for Environmental Education will hold its annual awards dinner and program on June 6 at the Tates Creek Country Club Ballroom in Lexington.
Awards will honor outstanding achievements in environmental education by individuals, organizations, agencies, communities, schools and businesses around the state.
Tickets to the gala are $40 and sponsored tables are also available. Evening includes a reception, dinner, live band and awards ceremony.
“KAEE is a nonprofit serving as the umbrella organization for environmental education in Kentucky,” said Billie Hardin, board chair and Sustainability Project Manager for the Kentucky Community and Technical College System.
Its mission is to promote excellence in environmental education by providing support, resources, and networking opportunities to Kentucky’s community of educators.
KAEE’s goals over the next several years include: providing quality educational programs and resources for environmental education, building KAEE’s organizational effectiveness to support environmental education in Kentucky, building public support for and investment in environmental education in Kentucky, and enhancing the capacity and resiliency of the environmental education field in Kentucky and beyond.
Some of KAEE’s recent initiatives include receiving a $210,000 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant for a Region 4 Regional Sub-Grant program to the southeast states and a new initiative to assist with the development of the Kentucky Environmental Literacy Plan (funded by Pisces, JST and Turner Foundations).
In that regard, Hardin explained, KAEE works in partnership with two other statewide groups, the Kentucky Environmental Education Council (or “KEEC,” which is a state agency) and the Kentucky University Partnership for Environmental Education to advance environmental literacy in Kentucky. KUPEE is a partnership of Centers for Environmental Education located at all state universities in Kentucky and the Kentucky Community and Technical College System.
Sponsorship opportunities are available and organizers are seeking donations of items for the silent auction.
Register for the event at www.kaee.org/awards or contact Ashley Hoffman, executive director of KAEE at director@kaee.org or 270-214-0587.
