Protect The Mariners’ Lake for future generations.
The Mariners’ Environmental Co-op (B-WET Awardee) In July 2021, The Mariners’ Museum and Park was awarded the coveted NOAA Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) grant to provide meaningful watershed educational experiences (MWEE’s) for 4,500 Newport News Public Schools ninth-grade students over the next three years, through the Mariners’ Environmental Co-op.
Throughout the project period, students will lead restoration projects on Mariners’ Lake, helping to improve its health and preserve it for future generations, problem-solving around emerging environmental challenges while developing and implementing action projects for their respective school communities.
What is B-WET?
B-WET (Bay Watershed Education and Training) is a NOAA-funded environmental program for K-12 students that focuses on hands-on, place-based watershed learning. The program additionally supports up to 30 hours of teacher professional development for local participating teachers.
B-WET utilizes the learner-led and inquiry-based framework of a meaningful watershed educational experience (MWEE). MWEEs are intended to lead students to be informed on local environmental issues and contribute to solutions in the community.
Youth-led action projects during the school year empower our students to be part of a change in our watershed while promoting lifelong stewardship of our environmental resources.
NNPS TV – This Just IN:
May 2022: James River Association and Mariners’ Museum were featured.
The Mariners’ B-WET Grant Project
The Mariners’ Environmental Co-op works with Newport News Public Schools ninth-grade Environmental Science students and teachers to grow and plant native eelgrass (Vallisneria americana) in Mariners’ Lake. Mariners’ Lake is a part of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Eelgrass in the Lake will help improve water quality through substrate stabilization and increased oxygen production. The long-term goal is to send improved water into the James River, and by extension, the rest of the watershed.
During this program, students and teachers learn ways to protect our fragile watershed and are empowered to become leaders of community solutions. A unique student-led action project caps off the experience, which can help to foster a sense of stewardship with our students. Supporting student academic achievement and their understanding of the Chesapeake Bay through hands-on experiences that demonstrate environmental stewardship as an individual responsibility.
The B-WET program combines critical classroom skills, hands-on outdoor experiences at the high school level, and the goal of sustainable MWEE integration for all ninth-grade students in Newport News Public Schools. Participation in The Mariners’ Environmental Co-op increased teachers’ and students’ understanding of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed and how humans impact the health and sustainability of this important estuary.
Thank you to our partners
The Mariners’ Environmental Co-op is successful because of the contributions from our partners–from the Newport News Public School curriculum leaders and environmental science teachers, to regional environmental experts and professionals–we are humbled and grateful for your support.
Lake Stewards
In the 2024-25 academic year, we were thrilled to continue with phase two of this project, which was called Lake Stewards. The Lake Stewards program continued to offer the same core experiences and positive outcomes for NNPS students while expanding reach to ninth-grade students from Hampton City Schools and York County School District. For the spring semester, we welcomed 199 students from York County and 442 students from Hampton.
Lake Stewards is possible thanks to generous funding from the following partners:
- Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fund
- Chesapeake Bay Trust Youth Environmental Education Grant Program
- Hampton Roads Community Foundation – Harry F Wall Fund
- HRSD Strategic Environmental Grant
- Sentara Cares
- Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation
- Virginia Environmental Endowment