As the Schmidt Center is coordinating these activities, schools will adhere to the Field Trip Administrative Procedure 6153 which exempts schools participating in a field trip coordinated by the William S. Schmidt Outdoor Education Center from having to submit detailed field trip packets. Schools are required to submit a permission slip, a roster of students, teachers, and chaperones attending the trip as well as the date and destination of the trip.
Listed below are the outreach programs:
- Forest Friends (1st Grade) - Students are offered a field trip opportunity to visit a local park to learn about tree age and identification, soils and decomposition, native birds and their adaptations, animal tracks, and insects and pollinators.
- Sunfish and Students Program (3rd Grade) - Students received sunfish in October 2024 and are raising them in the classroom. Students will release them in the Chesapeake Bay watershed in the spring of 2025.
- Wild Rice Program (7th Grade) - Students will receive wild rice seeds and planting material in February 2025 to grow the bay grasses in the classroom. Students will take the wild rice plants to marshes in the Chesapeake Bay watershed and transplant them in the spring of 2025.
- Bridging the Watershed (6th - 12th Grade) - The field trip is designed to promote student academic achievement, personal connections with the natural world, lifelong civic engagement, and environmental stewardship through hands-on curriculum-based outdoor studies in national parks and public lands.
- Mussel Program (9th – 12th) - Students will receive mussels in December 2024 and will grow them in the classroom. Students will take mussels to the Chesapeake Bay watershed and release them in the spring of 2025.
- Envirothon (9th – 12th) - Schools form five-person teams, attend environmental education training at the Schmidt Center in early spring 2025, and return for a competition between schools that involves questions about the environment. The competition is also held at the Schmidt Center. The winning school will represent PGCPS in a statewide competition in June.
- Student Environmental Alliance Summit (9th – 12th) - Students in a school organization/club/class elect to attend a two-day summit at Bladensburg Waterfront Park and Bowie State University. Participants receive information regarding college and career opportunities that focus on the environment, perform community service, and collaborate to share ideas and information and formulate actions to address environmental issues. The event will be held in the spring of 2025.
- Composting Pilot Program (Grades K-12) - Students in this program compost food scraps during breakfast and lunch. Composted materials are taken to the Organics Composting Facility in our county. Students at participating schools will be provided with opportunities to visit the facility.
- Maryland Association for Environmental & Outdoor Education (MAEOE) Youth Summit (Pre-K – 12th Grades) - Schools that are awarded Maryland Green School Certification are recognized during an annual summit at Sandy Point State Park in the spring of 2025.
- The Climate and Stormwater Stewards Program (3rd – 12th Grades) - Student trips will be supported by the Anacostia Watershed Society, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and the Maryland National Capital Park & Planning Commission which align with the Climate Change Action Plan. Funding for trips is being provided by the partners to PGCPS.
- The Maryland National Capital Park & Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) (Pre-K – 12th Grades) - through its Prince George’s Parks offers opportunities for student environmental field trips. These trips align with the Maryland Environmental Literacy Standards and support the MD Green School application.
