These stories are a collection of educator professional learning experiences and opportunities provided by ESD, CBO and Tribal School partners.
EarthGen is a statewide nonprofit organization that equips youth, educators, and school communities to become changemakers for a healthy environment. Through science-based, action-oriented programs, EarthGen engages several hundred teachers each year in climate science professional development grounded in Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and culturally sustaining pedagogy. EarthGen’s workshops feature climate scientists, focus on local issues, and highlight action and solutions. EarthGen provides teachers with data, resources, and instructional strategies to make climate change and its impacts relevant for students.
When Celia Cummings started teaching Waterville High School’s first environmental science class, she discovered that many of her students came from families that doubt the science of climate change. Celia was enrolled in a climate justice focused professional...
"Teaching climate change is very emotional, and helping students embrace those emotions is vital," shared a teacher attending EarthGen's newest training, Climate Grief and Creative Expression. This training is designed to equip teachers with skills to address their...
Teacher Casey Jones’ family includes migrant farmworkers, whose lives are directly affected by climate change and social injustice. The students at Rowena Chess Elementary School where Casey teaches also see the effects of these twin crises in their daily lives....
Climate change will affect every aspect of young people’s lives, but its incredible scale makes it hard for them to comprehend. Moreover, connecting what kids learn in school to real world problems is one of the biggest challenges teachers face. EarthGen’s training...
When Anacortes Middle School teacher Tasha Kirby had her class make applesauce last fall, she wasn’t teaching home economics. She was using locally grown apples to help her students make the connection between climate and the food they eat. Food is central to life,...
From high school students calculating the sea level rise resulting from climate change to kindergarteners tackling plastic pollution, EarthGen’s professional development workshops are bringing environmental learning and action to Washington classrooms. “Living with...
Educators learned why we had such an extreme heat wave this past summer, as they heard from Robin Fox, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Spokane. Chelsea Freeman teaches high school in Tonasket, an agricultural community hit especially hard by the...
Olympia School District teacher Heath Bingman presents economic interests in EarthGen’s mock climate summit. While youth climate leaders often make the news, many young people believe climate change is too big a problem for them to solve. But young people are natural...
Attendees of the latest cohort of the Climate Justice League left their November 6 kickoff meeting inspired. “The idea that one person can make a difference has been an inspiring addition to this learning experience, and I am motivated in figuring out how I can be a...