Ninth grade earth science students at Gloucester and Mathews high schools have been participating in a program called Climate Education For a Changing Bay (CECB) through the Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (CBNERR) at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS).

The program aims to improve climate literacy within local high schools using locally relevant environmental data and information in the classroom curriculum, field experiences and teacher training. 

“Our goal in implementing CECB is to meet the requirement mandated in the Chesapeake 2000 Agreement that states all students must have a meaningful Chesapeake Bay watershed experience before they graduate from high school,” said Jaclyn Beck of CBNERR.

Beck said the program examines broad aspects of climate change, while using locally relevant data to address sea-level rise, water quality topics and impacts on coastal communities.

Each of the four classes involved in CECB received one class...