Green Connections is a 16-week educational partnership program facilitated by the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development that seeks to create friendships among upstate and downstate students in the New York City watershed.  Over the course of the 16-week program, classes "connect" with their partners through letters, e-mails, videos, photos, and shared curriculum projects. Curriculum topics include: watershed infrastructure, protecting drinking water supplies, watershed land protection and open space, forest management in the watershed, and sustainable living.

Participating classes then go on group field trips to New York City and the upstate watershed to explore what water and forests mean to their counterparts. Such field trip locations have included Frost Valley YMCA, Ashokan Center, Inwood Hill Park, Queens Museum of Art, Central Park, New York City Harbor Cruise Tours, upstate wastewater treatment plants, and many others.

Facilitated field trips, communication, and common curriculum teach students appreciation regarding their respective urban/rural environments, and help them make connections between healthy forests, clean drinking water, and watershed protection.

Students and teachers from the following schools were accepted for participation in Green Connections for the 2012-2013 school year through a competitive application process:  Margaretville Central School, PS 57 (Staten Island), Sidney Central School, St. Clares, Windham Ashland Jewett Central School, Ps 376, Andes Central School, and Baruch Bollege Campus High School.

Applications for the 2013-2014 school year are due in November 2013.  Check back soon for an application.

Eligibility: Any 4th through 12th grade classroom teacher who has attended a previous Watershed Forestry Institute for Teachers (WFIT) is eligible to apply for the Green Connections Program.