BOSTON — Maine’s Environmental Living and Learning for Maine Students collaborative was honored in Boston on April 22 with an EPA 2015 Environmental Merit Award. The Environmental Merit Award recognizes individuals, organizations, businesses and government agencies for their environmental stewardship, activism, support and dedication to environmental progress in New England.

The ELLMS Project is a partnership among five residential environmental learning centers in Maine: Chewonki Foundation in Wiscasset, The Ecology School in Saco, Schoodic Institute at Acadia National Park in Winter Harbor, University of Maine 4-H Center at Bryant Pond and University of Maine 4-H Center at Tanglewood in Lincolnville.

The partners launched the collaborative in 2010 to engage Maine students in dynamic three-t0-five-day residential programs that build classroom community, make environmental science come alive, and nurture health, resilience and leadership in students.

The ELLMS partners have been working together to ensure that ultimately all Maine public school students have at least one outdoor residential learning experience and that the experience is accessible to students from all regions of the state. Through the ELLMS financial aid fund, public upper-elementary and middle schools can apply for scholarship funds to help send their students to any of the five organizations.

FMI: ellms.org.