SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - Berenice Sealy, science department chair at Rancho Cucamonga High School, were honored as the 2007 Environmental Educator of the Year Award at Cal State San Bernardino's Environmental EXPO on Saturday, April 21, 2007.

In addition, a special Lifetime Achievement Award in Environmental Education was given to Maggie Foss, a San Bernardino educator since 1965. Both awards were supported by Lockheed Martin in association with Cal State San Bernardino's Environmental EXPO. The annual Environmental Educator of the Year Award, which is presented to classroom and non-formal teachers in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside and Orange counties, "is a highly competitive and prestigious recognition in Southern California," said Darleen Stoner, founder and director of Environmental EXPO and a professor of environmental education at CSUSB.

Sealy is a science and environmental science high school teacher in the Chaffey Joint Union High School District. She is the team coach for Advanced Placement students who participate annually in the Science Olympiad and advisor of the school's Environmental Club. Most recently she has been the school's coach for Metropolitan Water District's Solar Cup, an eight-month-long, solar powered boat-building effort that culminates in a race at Lake Skinner. "Sometimes, learning about the problems in our environment can be overwhelming for students and they shut down and go into 'I am just one person' mode," said Sealy about her students' initial trepidation about environmental studies. "So I try to be very positive about the things that individuals have accomplished. I want to empower them and show them that everyone matters and that everyone can make a difference."

Vicki Mata, a senior at Rancho Cucamonga High School, said Sealy "is an inspirational woman of enthusiasm and dedication, and has made it her personal duty to educate family, friends, students and colleagues into creating an environmentally sound community." In addition to her commitment to her students, Sealy has been professionally engaged in curriculum development for the California Integrated Waste Management Board, a teacher trainer for the California Science Teachers' Association and the National Science Teachers' Association, and president of the Inland Area Science Teachers' Association.

Foss has served the youth of the Inland Empire for decades. She was a Girl Scout troop leader for 13 years and the education curator at the San Bernardino County Museum for more than 15 years. For the past eight years, Foss's consulting firm, The Maggie Company, has worked for the California Forest Foundation to deliver the "Talk About Trees" program, free of charge, to thousands of elementary school students. "My idea was always that, the sooner children learn to love nature, then that'll be a thing they always do," Foss said.

Sealy and Foss received their awards during the 21st annual Environmental EXPO on April 21, 2007 at Cal State San Bernardino.