Scholarships

OUR scholarship window is currently closed. The NEXT scholarship APPLICATION WINDOW opens february 1st - march 15th. IF YOU NEED FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE, WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO APPLY!

Thanks to the generosity of ANBE members and a recent anonymous donor's gift, we are pleased to announce the Mountain Laurel Scholarship Fund! This funding provides support for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) participants and those working in low-resourced communities who need assistance to attend professional development. Funds are awarded on a first come, first served basis as available. These funds can be used towards attendance to the Natural Wonder Summit, an Outdoor Teacher Retreat, Nature-Based Teacher Certification (live or online), or other up-coming training.

NOTE: We do not retroactively award scholarship aid to participants who have already registered and paid to attend a program.

Eligibility

You must:

Be at least 18 years old;
Be an early childhood educator, lead teacher or aide;
Demonstrate high commitment to nature-based learning with young children;
Have not received a teacher scholarship from ANBE in the last 365 days;
Demonstrate need.

Scholarship Aid Requests may be submitted during the following times:

February 1 - March 15th:
Spring and summer Nature-Based Teacher Certification courses (in-person or online), Natural Wonder Summit, spring/summer Outdoor Teacher Retreats and all other courses

September 1-October 15th:
Fall/ Winter Programs: Nature-Based Teacher Certification course (online only), Fall/winter Outdoor Teacher Retreats and all other courses

*Note: Limited funds are still available for in-person Nature-Based Teacher Certification courses.

Additional Information

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Due to the volume of requests, it can take several weeks to learn about the status of your request, but we will notify all applicants at least one week prior to training start date, if not sooner.

Scholarships are first come, first serve. Please do not apply more than once in any given year. There are many people who need them!

Scholarships are only used to cover the cost of training or event fee. Attendees must provide own travel, lodging, food, etc. as needed.

Because scholarships are limited, we cannot award more than one scholarship per organization for any given training or event. We also try to distribute scholarship funds to educators across the United States.

Recipients must sign and return the scholarship acceptance agreement within one week of notification, otherwise the scholarship will be forfeited and given to another eligible teacher. In exchange for the scholarship, recipients agree to provide a reflection (written, photo or video) within one week of the training they attend. ANBE will share this reflection in a follow-up email, blog or social media post about the training. Because ANBE members donate these scholarships, we want to show them how they are put to good use.

HOW TO APPLY
If the application window is open and you are eligible, use this Scholarship Aid Request form to submit your application. Please note it may take up to 60 days to receive a response. If you have additional questions, please contact Kirsten Mize, Program Coordintor at programs@anbe.org.

This is an equal opportunity for all applicants who meet the eligibility requirements. If you need aid, we strongly encourage you to apply!