Support the No Child Left Inside Act

“Teaching children about the environment and giving them a hands-on opportunity to experience nature makes them smarter and healthier,” said Democratic Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island.[1]  On July 14, 2011 Reed, along with Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Congressman John Sarbanes, (D-MD) re-introduced the No Child Left Inside Act (NCLI Act) into the House and Senate. The environmental education movement has recently been gaining traction throughout the country – with Maryland becoming the first state to require environmental literacy before high school graduation and more and more school gardens popping up in every part of the U.S. – hopefully the time is right for federal action to be taken.

The NCLI Act seeks to provide incentive to states to support outdoor learning activities at schools for students as well as opportunities for professional development for teachers. The NCLI Act uses the natural world as a teaching tool for interdisciplinary lessons. Such education has created the educational backbone of American ingenuity for decades. In fact, students receiving this kind of education grasp more fully educational principles across the broad subject spectrum, from language to science and math. Passing this legislation – which won’t add one dime to the federal budget – would proffer great benefits for future generations who will need strong environmental literacy to effectively compete in a globalized world.  But our Representatives in Congress need to know we support this legislation!

Contact your member of Congress now and ask them to support this critical piece of legislation that will guarantee environmental literacy in all of our nation’s schools!

EE can easily be incorporated into all disciplines and classrooms. Check out Earth Day Network’s Resources Library to find national standards based interdisciplinary lesson plans that are ready to teach in the classroom.

For more information on the bill, check out the No Child Left Inside Coalition’s website.