Professional Learning

As a Washington-State-approved clock hour provider, we provide high-quality professional development to K-12 formal and nonformal educators in Washington State, enabling them to teach students real-world science outdoors. We also partner with universities and leaders in the education field to conduct and publish research that demonstrates the value of our work. For information on upcoming workshops and events, please visit our calendar.

With Nonformal Educators

PEI offers workshops specifically for nonformal educators to: 

  • Help build nonformal educators’ understanding of the needs in K-12 education, including how to effectively meet academic standards.
  • Give voice to the cultures, traditions and values of the community by identifying projects the community cares about.
  • Help local, regional, and state agencies meet outreach objectives by partnering effectively with schools.

Nonformal educators come from a broad range of organizations and agencies—from fish hatcheries to conservation districts to city governments—that have an interest in supporting environmental education. We can support nonformal educators to offer effective student learning and enhanced classroom instruction by providing meaningful learning opportunities. Our workshops are activity-based and model best practices in formal education instructional practices. We strengthen the connection between formal and nonformal education to benefit the broader field of environmental and sustainability education.

To learn more about upcoming events, workshops and institutes, visit our calendar.

If you’re interested in learning more about how PEI can support you or your organizational staff, please fill out the contact form.

With Formal Educators

Our strength is in building educator capacity to get students outdoors, meeting state standards while learning and contributing to meaningful work in their own community. Our work:

  • Is aligned to state standards – PEI embraces three-dimensional NGSS instruction integrated with Common Core English language arts, math, economics, civics and environmental and sustainability standards.
  • Provides teachers with useful classroom resources and tools that can be implemented immediately.
  • Helps teachers set and meet Teacher and Principal Evaluation Project (TPEP) goals.
  • Identifies Teacher Leaders who can speak from experience at our workshops and support new teachers with FieldSTEM classroom implementation.
  • Brings community collaborators to teachers to support authentic career connected learning.
  • Provides opportunities to earn state-approved clock hours, STEM clock hours, or Career and Technical Education (CTE) hours.

We provide diverse entry points for initial workshops, tailoring the workshop to the community and then offering ongoing support to educators. We are not a “one and done” workshop model. We work with teachers, schools, and districts committed to improving instructional practices through FieldSTEM. Because our materials and frameworks encourage the integration of core subjects around locally relevant storylines, we engage educators in this process, encourage ongoing collaboration and facilitate grade-level planning efforts. This work helps teachers understand how to meet multiple standards at once in meaningful ways for students and embeds best instructional strategies to help educators improve instruction including formative and performance assessment using science notebooking, culturally responsive teaching practices, social-emotional learning (SEL) strategies, and practical measures. 

To learn about and register for our upcoming professional learning opportunities, please visit our calendar. If you’re interested in learning more about how PEI can support you or your organizational staff, please contact us.

With Administrators

We partner with school and district administrators to customize professional learning to meet district goals while meeting local employment needs and opportunities. We help educators, pre-K-12, embrace the power of integrating as an efficient way to meet standards and engage students in meaningful work. We are not a “one-and-done” workshop model; we work with teachers, the community, and administration to support ongoing FieldSTEM implementation.

With board representation from the Association of Washington School Principals (AWSP), the Washington State School Directors’ Association (WSSDA), and the Washington Association of School Administrators (WASA), in alliance with the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and regional educational service districts, and as a member of the Governor’s STEM Education Innovation Alliance and a participant in the Washington STEM Networks, we work strategically across the state to further effective educational practice. We are committed to formally aligning our state’s educational reform efforts with local ecological, economic and social systems so that all students know about and have the skills to be employed in local STEM jobs.  

We offer consulting and planning expertise to school and district teams:  

  • Instructional strategies and support for FieldSTEM projects 
  • District-wide scope and sequence curriculum work to include environmental and sustainability education (ESE)
  • Needs assessment and entry points for FieldSTEM learning
  • Community assets assessments and collaboration modeling
  • Career connected learning pathway alignment
  • Teacher leadership development
  • Ongoing professional learning, support and mentoring 
  • FieldSTEM Professional Learning Workshops

Partners from AWSP, WASA, WSSDA, and OSPI also work with PEI to understand and support the roles and responsibilities that various leaders have in the successful implementation of sustainable programming.

We invite administrators to join our professional learning network to help us understand how we can better support schools and districts in this work so that all teachers can offer all students the opportunity to learn through integrated, career connected, locally relevant field-based projects.

Calendar of Events

PEI welcomes participation in our expert-designed, NGSS aligned, experiential workshops and institutes. We aim to increase educators’ knowledge, skills and confidence in taking students outdoors to learn locally relevant, real-world science that is connected to careers in environmental science, natural resources and agriculture sectors.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q. How do I see what workshops are coming up?

Thank you for your interest! Please visit our Training & Workshop Event Calendar to see offerings in your region. Questions about future workshops may be directed to [email protected].

Q. How do I register for a workshop?

Interested participants may register for workshops by following the links embedded in our promotional fliers and on our Training & Workshop Event Calendar. Connect with the Regional Coordinator for additional information about registration.”

Q. How do I get a copy of your resources?

You can visit our Teaching Resources page for free downloadable copies of our guides, performance tasks, curricular units, and more. To order hard copies of our resources, please contact us at 360-705-9294 or [email protected].

Q. How do I connect with someone in my area?

To connect with your local FieldSTEM Coordinator, please contact Megan Rivard, Associate Director of Columbia Basin & Coast Region, at 253-271-9546 or [email protected], or Molly Griffiths, Associate Director of Puget Sound Region, at [email protected].

Q. Do you offer professional development clock hours?

We are an OSPI-approved provider for Washington State Continuing Education Clock Hours. Most of our workshops meet the criteria for STEM clock hours. If you have questions about clock hours, please contact Rachel Drummond, Program Coordinator, at [email protected].

Q. Will you come to our school to meet with us?

We would be honored to meet with you at your school. Please contact Megan Rivard, Associate Director of Columbia Basin & Coast Region, at 253-271-9546 or [email protected], or Molly Griffiths, Associate Director of Puget Sound Region, at [email protected] to schedule a meeting.

Q. How do we organize and schedule a PEI presentation?

If you would like to schedule a presentation to explore ways your organization can collaborate with us, please contact Megan Rivard, Associate Director of Columbia Basin & Coast Region, at 253-271-9546 or [email protected], or Molly Griffiths, Associate Director of Puget Sound Region, at [email protected] to schedule a meeting.