Teachers attending a Youth Engaged in Sustainable Systems (YESS) program workshop in May had an energizing start to their first day when an Emmy Award-winning geologist provided the keynote address. Central Washington University professor Nick Zentner, host of the ‘Nick on the Rocks’ PBS-TV geology series, provided a
Tricia Goode has heard the message before: find community partners to supplement your classroom instruction. Often, it comes with no practical tips on where to look or how to get started. Fortunately, during a Forest as a Classroom Workshop in Yacolt Burn Forest this May, she found herself
Megan Klinich has attended multiple professional development workshops where participants debated the merits of teaching about forestry. As an Advanced Placement Environmental Science teacher in the process of creating a forestry course from scratch, she found those discussions counterproductive; she already knew the relevance of this critical industry
Hannah Gomes and Emma Sweazy are just freshmen at Onalaska High School, but they’ve already presented at a statewide conference, sharing their experience as part of the school’s aquaculture & fisheries Career and Technical Education (CTE) program. “We want more people to know that this program is a
The word ‘engagement’ is right there in the title of Youth Engaged in Sustainable Systems (YESS). Students who participate in YESS contribute to their local watersheds, forests and marine ecosystems through three to six weeks of project work, guided by industry professionals. In March, students from four YESS
At its best, professional development doesn’t just introduce content, it inspires teachers while providing them with clear strategies and resources they can use right away. Even better, it includes potential avenues for student civic engagement. That’s what middle school teacher Kate Schrock took away from a March workshop
In 1999, a national study found that 59% of Americans didn’t know what the term ‘watershed’ meant. Even today, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) notes that approximately 80% of Americans in urban areas are unaware of the networks of urban creeks and waterways that run through their
Technology in schools, aka digital learning, has increased an astounding 900% since 2000. A 2025 national New York Times survey found that 99% of teachers said their school provided devices to students for use in class, and another eight in ten teachers reported that students at their school
For the first time since 2000, computer science enrollment is dropping at universities across the United States as AI continues to expand into sectors previously operated by humans. Despite this trend, one tech field is projected to grow by 10% through 2032: Geographic Information Systems, or GIS. Employment
If you’ve tried to access any PEI resources recently, you will have noticed a new feature on PEI’s website: a registration portal. The portal serves to help us track which resources teachers are downloading the most, along with basic information about who is using them. In general, we
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