In April 2017, the National Marine Sanctuary foundation partnered with NOAA’s Office of Education and the U.S. Department of Education to bring environmental STEM experiences to students and educators all across the country. The NOAA-21st CCLC Watershed STEM Education Partnership grants program was issued by the Foundation to enable NOAA partners to deliver STEM experiences to students at 21st Century Community Learning Center (21st CCLC) program sites in the spring and summer of 2017. The goal of the program was to usher in a new era of ocean stewards and provide children with real-world learning that supplements their in-class education on the environment and other STEM subjects.