Orange County NC Website
<br />3336 <br />35. Please describe how you will <br />engage with and/or educate <br />project participants. <br />Please see above, regarding training of Orange County public <br />school teachers and students. USS Chairman Mike Dupree and <br />Education Committee Chair Suzy Schmalbeck are both former <br />school teachers with backgrounds in special education and <br />sustainable practices. These two board members are overseeing <br />the program, scheduling teacher trainings and related project <br />installations (including oversight of contractors and supplies), and <br />ensuring teachers and students are paid for their training and labor. <br />In addition, Chairpeople Dupree and Schmalbeck, along with USS <br />teachers and partners, are identifying underserved, stormwater- <br />challenged Orange County properties and meeting with residents <br />to explain the program and organize bmp installations that will <br />benefit their properties and communities. USS teachers and <br />students will engage with underserved property owners during bmp <br />installations and maintenance, enabling multigenerational <br />community building. <br />36. How will you measure the <br />success of that engagement or <br />educational effort? <br />The students will take a pretest survey and a mid-test survey to <br />measure any improvements in knowledge. After participating in the <br />job shadowing of the installation of Green Infrastructure they will <br />complete a posttest to measure progress in understanding the <br />sustainable STEM concepts they are implementing and how they <br />envision their place in their community as a result. <br />Landowners will participate in a survey conducted by Carrboro <br />Stormwater Staff to measure customer satisfaction. USS will also <br />speak with landowners annually to monitor the GI practices and <br />photo document the site. Furthermore, with OCCCA funding, USS <br />will fund a study in the Penn State University laboratory of Dr. <br />Kevin Curry to scientifically analyze and quantify the <br />environmental, student and community benefits of the 5-day rain <br />garden curriculum at the end of the grant cycle, including pre-test, <br />mid-test and post-test data collected from student participants. <br />37. Please describe any other <br />aspect of your project that is <br />relevant to the amount, or <br />quality, or length of <br />engagement and/or education <br />that your project will produce. <br />USS will continue their relationship with the property owners who <br />participate in the program by returning every year to perform <br />monitoring services to ensure that every bmp continues to function <br />as intended. <br /> <br />USS will continue to work with participating public-school teachers <br />and students to ensure that future students and low-income <br />residents benefit from the program. <br /> <br /> <br />Criterion 7 - Time to Complete <br /> <br />38. How much time will your <br />project require to demonstrate <br />the positive impacts you <br />describe? <br />12 months. As soon as we receive funding, we will collaborate with <br />existing contacts within Orange County to recruit teachers to <br />participate in the training and develop their afterschool program. <br />Training will begin as soon as each cohort is full, with afterschool <br />programs (incorporating Orange County students) starting in the <br />Spring. The BMP installations required for teacher/student training <br />will occur in both the spring of 2024 and the Fall semester of 2024. <br />DocuSign Envelope ID: 2C2F66C4-424F-4660-AF8A-A623B6D7194E