Janice Brill

Brill's "Bond With Our Pond" winning program will allow students an opportunity to deeply explore their outdoor classroom - the "Pond Room" - by incorporating Petri dishes and slides, insect nets, Secchi disk, oxygen level testing kits, field compasses and microscopes. More than 910 fifth and sixth graders will get to experience and support the environment, practice first-hand ecology, and help prevent the spread of "nature deficit disorder," the lack of outdoor exploratory time for children. The program includes a multitude of planting and harvesting projects that will allow students to go outside the classroom walls to learn hands-on in a variety of environments. Ultimately, the program is designed to cultivate a better appreciation of the land by planting seeds, caring for them and watching them grow, creating a deeper understanding of where food originates. Brill resides in Carmel.