October News: Celebrate FieldSTEM

What we've been up to

Yakama Nation Workshops Connect Students to Green Jobs

The Yakama Nation Forest Management team is already known for its outstanding stewardship of the 650,000 acres it oversees. In 2019, the group received the Sustainable Forestry Initiative's (SFI) President’s Award for Advancing Sustainable Forest Management and Commitment to SFI. This year, the team took steps to connect Yakama Nation youth with their existing forest management program through a series of PEI workshops, including one for regional educators.

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Partner Highlight: Rayonier

Rayonier Expands High School Program

It all started with an aerial photo. Rayonier Engineering Manager Mark Smalley was looking at an image of an active forest unit due to be harvested soon when he noticed that it was adjacent to a sports field. “That’s when it clicked,” he says. “Wishkah High School was right next to the area we were going to cut.” Students could simply walk next door for a field trip to learn about how Rayonier manages forests.

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Celebrating FieldSTEM and the People That Make it Happen

November 10, 2021, 4pm-6pm | Online via Zoom

Join us at our annual FieldSTEM Celebration to recognize individuals and organizations who have done an outstanding job of bringing our mission to life in the past year. At this year’s virtual event we’ll honor the following:

Director’s Award: Ellen Ebert, Director of Secondary Content; Science, OSPI
Teacher of the Year: Katie Standlea, North Thurston Public Schools
School of the Year: On Track Academy, Spokane Public Schools
District of the Year: Thorp School District
Collaborator of the Year: Rayonier
Legislators of the Year: Senator Judy Warnick and Representative Sharon Shewmake

These individuals and organizations are being honored for their exceptional efforts to ensure that FieldSTEM is implemented throughout K-12 education. This event celebrates a small percentage of the nearly 2,000 educators, 136 school districts and 55 community partners we reached in 2021 and while we can’t recognize all of them, we greatly appreciate their support and continued collaboration.

Take a peek at last year's Honorees

RSVP HERE

Hiring Eastern WA FieldSTEM Coordinator

Are you interested in supporting educators in bringing real-world science to students in Eastern Washington? If so, join our team!

We are looking for a passionate and engaging person to work with pre-K-12 educators, supporting and empowering them to teach real-world science outdoors using our integrated learning model that engages students in locally relevant, outdoor, career connected STEM education. We are looking to fill this 20-40 hour per week, home-based position to work with educators and community partners in and around Eastern WA. Candidates are expected to reside within this region as defined in the job announcement.

We offer flexible hours, a supportive, collaborative team environment, and an excellent benefits plan! We have a commitment to integrating diverse perspectives into our workplace culture and encourage our employees to bring their whole, authentic selves to work. We strive to create a diverse team that allows us to effectively connect to the communities we serve. Learn more about this position by visiting our website.

Upcoming Events

Date	Workshop	Location (online)
Oct 26 & Nov 9	FieldSTEM: Fostering Outdoor Observations & Utilizing Science Notebooks	Statewide*
Oct 27 & Nov 8	Introduction to FieldSTEM and Project Learning Tree for Regal Elementary	Eastern WA (private)
Oct 28 & Nov 4	Solutions Oriented Learning Storylines: Forest Ecosystem Benefits	ESD105 & ESD171
Nov 2 & 4	FieldSTEM: FieldDesign and Urban Forests	Eastern WA (private)
Nov 6	FieldSTEM: Math Performance Tasks	Statewide*
Nov 16 & 30	FieldSTEM: Field Investigations for Grades 4-12	Statewide*

*Registration will open to public at a later date. Visit our c alendar for more information.

With Gratitude

Thank you to last month's funders!

Robert Bass
Leslie Druffel
Doug Kennedy
Squaxin Island Tribe
Gareth Waugh