The virtual professional learning series” Our Climate is Changing, Why Aren’t We?” wrapped up it’s third session on December 17th that focused on climate learning with an emphasis on indigenous perspectives, content integration, advocacy, and hope. The event is presented as a collaborative effort by all the ESD’s east of the Cascades: NEWESD 101 (Spokane), ESD 123 (Tri-Cities), NCESD (Wenatchee), and ESD 171 (Yakima) and serves almost 100 participants from across those regions.
We (and the participants)were very grateful and excited for this session as Keith Egawa and Chenoa Egawa who are the Lummi and S’Klallam Native Authors and Illustrators of the AMAZING book “The Whale Child” that we focused on for this session. The Whale Child introduces children to existing environmental issues with a message of hope, education, sharing, and action.
Keith and Chenoa shared with participants their inspiration for writing the book, the value of storytelling when teaching about respect for nature, and the importance of protecting wild salmon, along with river and ocean habitats. Participants then had opportunities in breakout rooms to discuss the question “How can we form alliances across cultures, areas of expertise, storytelling, artistry, environmental activism and education to empower teachers, children, families and our connection to the natural world?” One educators response was, “It starts with listening and learning from one another. Bringing in diverse voices—artists, activists, and educators—helps us see the bigger picture and share ideas that resonate with different communities”.
Participants then explored a read aloud guide that was created for the book The Whale Child to support and integrate both Science and English Language Arts. This resource includes standards alignment, essential questions, vocabulary, language comprehension strategies, and graphic organizers to support before, during, and after reading.
It has truly been a pleasure for our team of Regional Science Coordinators to collaborate with Keith and Chenoa over the last few years and their willingness to share their knowledge, perspectives, and wisdom with MANY educators in Eastern Washington.
What teachers are saying after session 3:
“I LOVED hearing from the authors! Thank you for sharing your insights, expertise, and wisdom.”
“I loved having our guest speakers, but also an aligned resource for teachers that helps us tie all of these things to our standards.”
“I appreciate how much thought and coordination goes into each of these sessions! Thank you so much for making them “worth the time”.
