Indigenous Connections

Environmental Justice and Transportation Intersect at Suquamish Tribe Workshop

Some environmental impacts on Washington’s Tribes are more obvious than others. The Quinault Nation, for example, is in the process of moving an entire village uphill due to sea level rise. But other issues can be harder to spot, even though they are just as threatening to sovereign nations’ way of life. The Suquamish Tribe’s Chico Creek project is a case in point. 
 
This June, twenty-five teachers from Kitsap and King counties learned about the project, how it relates to tribal sovereignty, and how transportation decisions can lead to environmental justice issues when they are made without full consideration of treaty rights and ecological factors. 
 
The two-day ‘Tribes and Climate Change’ workshop offered a rare opportunity for regional teachers to learn how the Suquamish Tribe is both adapting to and combating climate change, and to ask questions of Suquamish Tribal leaders. Participants also explored This is Indian Country’s Tribes and Climate Change curriculum along with PEI’s climate education resources. 
 
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Solutions-Oriented Learning

Eastern Washington Workshop Explores Climate Science Through Food Systems

The first day of summer vacation may seem like a terrible time to hold a professional development workshop. Most teachers will have already started summer in their minds, even if their bodies are still present. But the 24 teachers from 11 Eastern Washington school districts who gathered for an in-person Food Systems workshop in June were made of sterner stuff. 
 
“Given that this was literally the day after school ended for some of them, the level of engagement was wonderful,” says Michelle Grove, Regional Science Coordinator/Paraeducator Trainer, NEWESD 189. “It was also poignant that [what they were learning] applied to K-12. The elementary teachers were appreciative that it wasn’t another content-focused workshop where they would then be tasked with, ‘how do I take this down to my grade level?’”

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Forestry Education

Hampton Lumber Workshop Expands Perspectives on Forest Management

Tools & Tips for Teachers

Making Forest Connections Grades 6-8

The WA Forest Education K-12 Learning Framework gives educators in our forest-rich state a strong foundation for incorporating forest and natural resources in their classrooms and programs and provides a conceptual framework for teaching about Washington’s forests. This correlation document helps them further by identifying connections between each of the learning framework’s concepts and NGSS, Project Learning Tree, PEI resources, Project WILD activities and other resources.

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