Atherton High School Teacher Wins National Environmental Award

A high school teacher from Atherton was awarded the Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Education on Friday by the Environmental Protection Agency and White House Council on Environmental Quality.

The award is "given to environmental educators who use innovative, hands-on, experiential approaches," per EPA.

James Powell, a science teacher at Menlo-Atherton High School, received the award at the White House, alongside 27 teachers and 44 students from across the country.

Powell spread environmental literacy in his classroom through innovative outdoor teaching, according to the EPA.

Powell received $2,500 to further his professional training and the high school received a matching $2,500 to support its environmental education program.

The event on Friday also awarded students with the EPA’s President’s Environmental Youth Award. This year’s regional winner was the fifth grade class at Mount Madonna School in Watsonville for their campaign to protect threatened leatherback sea turtles.

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