Habitats tour at Joint Base Lewis- McChord (JBLM)
27 teachers from the greater Olympia area attended Summer Institute For Teachers at the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually Wildlife Refuge June 27th, 28th and 29th. The enthusiastic group dove into presentations from local professional, hands-on workshops and service-learning projects. This year’s theme was climate change focusing on drought and wildfire.
Teachers playing a game a the Billy Frank Jr. Wildlife Refuge
There were activities about biodiversity in burned versus unburned habitats, local precipitation data, wildfires, native language, industrial farming practices, sense of place, nature journaling and much more. Service learning on the JBLM prairie pulling Scot’s Broom to improve prairie habitat, and in the nature play area of the wildlife refuge. Speakers presented on History of Chief Leschi and the Nisqually Tribe. Wildfires in Western Washington, PEI’s multilingual program, beavers and many climate themed curriculums.
The three-day workshop was a very successful event with enthusiastic teachers from grades 4th-12th. It was a perfect way to finish up a challenging school year before the teachers headed into Summer and some much-needed relaxation. We are so grateful for the amazing teachers that attend this training every year and look forward to working with them in the Fall.
