Expansion of the Bionomic Education Training Center in Piedmont, NC

Quickfacts: 

  • The BETC program has proven to be an effective E-STEM (Environment, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) program resulting in successful community stormwater projects and green infrastructure job training for teachers and students in Durham County helping to create strong partnerships between Durham Public Schools. PCC worked to expand the program within the other 9-counties.  Project accomplishments include:
  • BETC Rain Garden lessons are now available on the Canvas Commons platform for any educators and students to utilize. This was prompted by COVID 19 but since it has been completed it has allowed teachers and students in the Piedmont region greater access to the program.
  • 16 BMPs were installed in 7 PCC counties to support the curriculum. 

 March 2019-September 2022

The Piedmont Conservation Council, Inc. (PCC) secured funding to enhance the Bionomic Education Training Center (BETC) Program, aimed at providing training for secondary school teachers and Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) educators across ten counties in the Piedmont region.  The pilot program, launched in Durham County in 2010, aimed at delivering a comprehensive E-STEM (Environment, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education to middle and high school students. The curriculum included classroom lessons, community projects, work experience and more.

The initial years of the PCC grant focused on training educators on the NSCU-certified four-day rain garden curriculum. Following these beginning years, the funds were used toward sustaining teacher training and introducing educators and community members to additional best management practices (BMPs) for water quality, such as cisterns, rain barrels, rain gardens, and retention pond installations.

Teachers from the ten PCC counties received curriculum training and earned certification from North Carolina State University in rain garden implementation. These educators then delivered the curriculum and guided students in applying Stormwater Best Management Practices, including the creation of rain gardens, cisterns, and critical area plantings.

The BETC Program had three primary objectives:

  1. To provide agricultural workforce development training for youth.
  2. To improve local water quality through the implementation of rain gardens as a stormwater management practice.
  3. To enhance E-STEM knowledge among low-performing students in underperforming schools.

Location:

Educational institutions within the 10-county PCC region: Alamance, Caswell, Chatham, Durham, Guilford, Orange, Person, Randolph, Rockingham, Wake

Partners:

  • Durham County SWCD
  • Penn State University

Funding: $150,000

  • US Dpt of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)