Science Education Outreach Program (SEOP)
The TLA SEOP Grant Applications are now being accepted for the 2025-2026 school year.
Click here for information and application.
The goal of TLA’s Environmental Science Education Outreach Program is to help cultivate a sense of stewardship of the lakes, streams, and land in young people who will be part of the next generation living within the watersheds of Torch, Bellaire, and Clam Lakes. We work with science teachers and students in the school districts of Central Lake, Bellaire, Kalkaska, and Mancelona.
Science teachers are invited annually to submit a grant application for science materials or experiences that enhance science instruction, but are not within the school district’s budget. This invitation extends to the four school districts within the watersheds of Torch Lake, Clam Lake, and Lake Bellaire. TLA awards as many grants each year as its budget will allow.
Three Lakes Association has provided grants for the following to the four school districts:
- Field trips, including class field trips to Grass River Natural Area and Sleeping Bear Dunes
- Framed maps of the Elk River Chain of Lakes for school libraries
- Science conferences for teachers
- Memberships in state or national science education organizations
- Science magazine subscriptions
- Science equipment, such as microscopes, placed in classrooms
- Participating teachers received most or all of their Wish-List requests
- Serving thousands of science students – classroom and field trip experiences that enhanced their science curriculum
- Total funding from TLA since 2011: more than $76,000.
Internship Program Overview
The Three Lakes Association (TLA) summer internship program is offered to high school students of Bellaire, Central Lake, Elk Rapids, Kalkaska, Mancelona.
Under the guidance of experienced scientific mentors the program offers hands-on experience in applying scientific methods. Students develop hypotheses, design studies, create protocols, and conduct field research to gather data. They then learn how to analyze and visualize this data through graphs and tables, ultimately compiling it into a presentation or report. Students also gain valuable experience presenting their findings to the TLA board and school boards.
Adult Education
The more you know, the more you care!
Sharing the important information of what is happening around us is vital. We publish, mail and email our Quarterly Newsletter to keep people in the know.
We regularly share important updates through online events, in person events and with guest speakers at our Annual Meeting.
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