For the last three years, WHRO Public Media has been incorporating environmental education into the services we provide to schools and to our local community through the Batten Environmental Education Initiative. This all-encompassing initiative supports the development of a wide-range of educational products including new digital courses, a student-oriented video series, an animated series for grades 3-5, and new environmental categories in several of our annual student competitions—placing WHRO at the forefront of environmental education in Eastern Virginia and throughout the Commonwealth.

“I am thrilled to announce that Jane Batten has committed $3 million to WHRO for the creation of the first statewide Environmental Science online and video courses,” said Bert Schmidt, President and CEO of WHRO Public Media. According to the Virginia Department of Education, the Environmental Science course can count as either an Earth Science or Biology discipline credit towards graduation. “Once created, WHRO will distribute these two courses to every public, private, and homeschooler in Virginia free of charge,” said Schmidt.

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