DDE is committed to creating Young Environmental Stewards (YES!) in PreK to Grade 8.

We have received substantial grants from the Mary and Robert Pew Public Education Foundation for “Together We Grow: Creating compassionate, reflective, Young Environmental Stewards (YES!) through inquiry-based, problem-solving techniques, and arts integration.” 

We received significant support from the Ventus Charitable Foundation for, “DDE will foster and cultivate a community of environmentally conscious learners who appreciate the interconnectedness of nature through the study of environmental sciences.”

Together these generous grants support the implementation of the creation of the Gopher Tortoise Preserve, Outdoor Classroom Chickee Hut, Garden Beds and Gardening Equipment, Art Supplies, Art Club, Violin Teacher (to support a strings instrumental program), Instruments, Fish Tanks of varying ecosystems, invertebrate touch tank, professional development and planning sessions for staff to integrate the tanks into instruction, professional development for inquiry-based and problem-solving techniques, and much more.

Our Chickee Hut doubles as an outdoor classroom. It provides space to support students’ field research and environmental studies. We can house an entire grade at one time under the hut using our recycled picnic tables as a workstation. 

At Dwight D. Eisenhower K-8, we are so lucky to house a Gopher Tortoise Preserve right here on our campus. The Gopher Tortoises are an important part of the South Eastern United States ecosystems and are a protected species. We have incorporated the Gopher Tortoise Preserve into a natural outdoor learning space providing a natural ecosystem and offering our students the opportunity to be Young Environmental Stewards (YES!).