Professional Development
Save the Date!
The Green Schools Conference and Expo (GSCE) is coming to Atlanta in 2017.
Register to attend GSCE to advance healthy, high-performing green schools! The 2017 conference is scheduled for March 21-22, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia at the Westin Peachtree Plaza. Gather with green school champions for two days of learning and collaboration to support our shared mission of equitable, healthy, and high-performing schools, where students can learn how to sustain and improve the world around them. Make plans to attend today…we look forward to seeing you in Atlanta!
Save $100 by registering before January 27, 2017.
A limited number of reduced rate hotel rooms are available. Learn more about room rates and travel for GSCE 2017.
Be a Catalyst for Change…Become a Green Schools National Network Member
The green schools movement is the most critical education reform initiative of our time. Through the Green Schools National Network (GSNN) membership program, you can show your support and become a catalyst for change for green schools everywhere.
GSNN’s membership program is designed for leaders (like you!) who use sustainability to drive innovation in their classrooms, schools, or school districts. As a member of the program, you will learn from and be inspired by the people who are transforming schools across the country.
Choose from 5 different levels of membership: Individual, Nonprofit, preK-12 School, School District, or Corporate. Each level comes with its own set of benefits and discounts, some of which include: professional publications, discounted Green Schools Conference and Expo registration, discounted and free professional development opportunities, networking opportunities, and discounted fees for GSNN school and district coaching.
Visit GSNN’s membership website to learn more and sign up.
Children & Nature Network’s International Conference and Summit
The 2017 Children & Nature Network International Conference and Summit will be held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from April 18 – 21, 2017. The 2017 conference theme, “Kids Need Nature, Nature Needs Kids,” reflects the Network’s goal of ensuring that all children have access to the many benefits of nature — and the need to inspire new generations of environmental stewards. The conference will promote meaningful, cross-sector engagement to create a world in which all children have access to nature in their daily lives by:
- Presenting evidence about the role that nature plays in healthy childhood development
- Sharing best and promising practices
- Providing actionable tools and resources
- Exploring and advancing strategies for policy change
- Including representation from diverse voices, backgrounds, and sectors
- Inspiring participants to take personal/professional action to increase nature access for children, families, and communities around the world
- Strengthen connections and relationships in the growing international community of children and nature advocates
Registration is now open! Learn more about attending the conference, including travel information, on the conference website.
Citizen Science Academy provides online professional development resources for educators to support effective implementation of citizen science projects and activities that focus on ecology and environmental sciences. Courses are 30-day, graded, self-paced, and semi-facilitated with 5 – 7 stand-alone units that have stated learning objectives, background content, readings, discussion forums, classroom learning activities, assignments, and self-assessments. Through a collaboration with the Colorado School of Mines Teacher Enhancement Program, optional graduate level Continuing Education credits are available. There is a $35.00 registration fee for each online course.
In addition to online courses, the Citizen Science Academy is developing online resources for educators to use for their own learning or in their teaching. Resources include videos, tutorials, and downloadable instructional materials.
Citizen Science Association 2017 Conference
The 2017 Citizen Science Association Conference will be held May 17-20 in St.Paul, Minnesota. The conference provides a venue for citizen science researchers, practitioners, community members, and theorists to come together and share knowledge and best practices in the interest of advancing the field of citizen science. Educators engaging in citizen science in their classroom are encouraged to attend and take advantage of the workshops, events, and networking opportunities offered during the conference. More information about registration, hotels, and travel can be found on the conference’s website.
Community Works Institute (CWI) supports and promotes exemplary teaching strategies and practices for K-16 educators and community programs that support students in becoming caring, responsible, and active members of their communities. CWI offers a variety of professional development opportunities for K-16 and community-based educators in the United States and internationally, including on-site trainings, retreats, coaching, and consulting. Their signature offering is a series of summer institutes that integrate field-tested service-learning best practices and principles of sustainability to engage K-16 students in academically based service that contributes to sustainable communities.
CWI is now offering super early bird rates for each of its 2017 summer institutes. Its East Institute will be held in Burlington, Vermont from June 19-23, and its West Institute will be held in Los Angeles, California from July 24-28. Visit the website to learn more about these professional development opportunities and to register.
Green Schools Alliance is an international organization that advances student success and saves schools resources by fostering whole school sustainability. Originally developed as a network created by schools for schools, the Alliance has evolved to provide integrated and organized support to students, school professionals, schools, and districts to foster sustainability work.
All of the Alliance’s programs are scaled and developed from member ideas to make them more accessible for other member schools. The Alliance conducts work via its international coalition of schools, rooted in the idea that collaboration among schools brings the greatest change for sustainable learning environments and communities. They:
- promote student success through leadership training, project-based learning, and a support system.
- inspire school professionals through access to training, resources, and a community of fellow sustainability champions.
- provide schools with tools to accelerate whole school sustainability efforts through collective purchasing power, access to resources, and reporting and recognition systems.
- offer districts the programs to leverage high-volume purchasing power, foster collaborative communication, and gather system-wide information on school efforts.
Learn more about upcoming events and training programs.
Green Strides Webinar Series Calendar
The Green Strides Webinar Series provides school communities with the tools they need to reduce their schools’ environmental impact and costs; improve health and wellness; and teach effective environmental education. It provides all schools access to the resources that help them move toward the Pillars of the U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools recognition award. Sign up for Green Strides Webinar Series email updates to receive information on future webinars.
Place-based Education
Presenter: Amy Demarest
Wednesday, February 1st 2017 7:30-8:30pm EST
In contrast to so much of schooling that is presented with little or no context, place-based education offers educators opportunities to build skills, knowledge, and aptitudes with engaging storylines. Places—natural and built, rural, urban, and suburban–all provide compelling narratives which students can investigate as they build the many points of understanding and proficiencies required in K-12 schooling. The presentation will include examples and discussion about what constitutes excellent place-based curriculum and student work, and how these authentic products inspire deep learning.
Teachers are often challenged to incorporate the inspiring examples of place-based education into their daily plans. With a focus on curriculum design, Amy will offer strategies and examples of different ways to build meaningful learning opportunities grounded in the local community. Amy will present the foundational elements of place-based education that educators can use to more intentionally design community-based curriculum. These elements serve as inspiration and multiple entry points for educators–classroom teachers and non-formal educators — to creatively weave together personal engagement, mastery of subjects, understanding of place, and acts of service. These elements are reflected in these four questions:
How can I better relate school to my students’ life experience?
How can I help students better understand how this big idea works in the real world?
How can I help students better understand this place?
How can I help students better understand themselves and their possible futures?
The Power of Positive, Inspiring Solutions
Presenter: Guy Dauncey
Monday, February 20th 2017 7:30-8:30pm EST
Judging by Guy’s experience speaking in high schools, the new generation, following Gen X and the Millennials, is Gen W – Generation Worry. When he asks students: “When you think about the future of our world, what do you feel – Hope or Worry?” Very few hands go up for “hope”—almost all go up for “worry.” Our need as educators is to generate hope – to turn Gen W into Gen H.
The webinar will showcase the power of positive, inspiring solutions to the worries that are causing so many young people to lose hope, including the climate crisis, the wider ecological crisis (which includes the oceans filling up with plastic), and larger economic and political worries. It will show how, using a positive three-step approach, you can turn worry into hope, and then into action.
Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching Short-Term Program
The Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching Program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and is administered by the Institute of International Education (IIE). It seeks to promote mutual understanding among teachers, their schools, and communities in the U.S. and abroad by:
- Building teachers’ and students’ global competence
- Sharing of best educational practices internationally
Through the Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching Short-Term Program, U.S. K-12 teachers and educators can apply for grants to engage in collaborative projects for approximately 2-6 weeks abroad, with a preference for 3 or more weeks. Participants consult with and support schools, non-profit organizations, teacher training institutions, and other educational organizations abroad. This short-term program is offered in addition to the longer program, which is for a period of three to six months.
The grant award provides funding for program expenses while abroad, including travel costs, lodging, meals, local transportation, and related expenses. These grants give U.S. educators flexibility to participate in the Fulbright Program while meeting their teaching and professional commitments.
Grants for 2017 are available in Botswana, Colombia, India, Mexico, the Palestinian Territories, South Korea, and Vietnam. Click here to see more information on program opportunities.
National Marine Educators Association (NMEA) Ocean Literacy Webinar Series
The NMEA Ocean Literacy Committee is hosting a three-part webinar series. Each webinar will cover a different topic and topics will build on the one prior.
Webinar 1: Tuesday, January 17
Exploring and Applying the Ocean Literacy Scope and Sequence for Grades K–12
4:30 p.m. EST
This interactive webinar will engage participants in opportunities to explore the Ocean Literacy Scope and Sequence for Grades K–12. We will discuss how to apply these grade-level appropriate conceptual progressions, designed to increase Ocean Literacy, to the development of learning experiences and instructional materials for use in K–12 classrooms, informal environments, and professional learning opportunities for educators.
Webinar 2: Thursday, February 9
Alignment of the Ocean Literacy Framework with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
3:30 p.m. EST
This webinar will build your familiarity and understanding of the Ocean Literacy – NGSS alignment tool. We will first describe why alignment of the Ocean Literacy Framework with NGSS is needed, and explain the rating scale used to describe the different relationships between the Ocean Literacy Principles and the Disciplinary Core Ideas that comprise NGSS. Participants will explore the alignment tool through the examination of particular grade bands, Ocean Literacy Principles, and DCIs, along with ratings explanations provided by a panel of experts. We will discuss your observations, questions, and ideas for how to use the alignment document.
Webinar 3: Thursday, February 23
Organizing for Ocean Literacy – Implementation at Different Scales
1:00 p.m. EST
Join us for examples of how educators, scientists, and policy makers have deployed the Ocean Literacy Framework and the Ocean Literacy/NGSS Alignment document. We will focus on moving from ideas to impact by looking at examples of Ocean Literacy-inspired curricula, non-formal programs with a focus on Ocean Literacy, and how the alignment of NGSS with Ocean Literacy can be leveraged to support funding efforts, strategic planning activity, and teacher professional learning.
Nature Based Education Summer Institute
The University of Maine – Farmington will be hosting a Nature Based Education Summer Institute from June 23 – 24, 2017. Sessions will be interactive and outdoors, and appeal to a range of educators working across age levels and settings. The Institute is designed for educators-in-training as well as those who have extensive experience in the field. Opportunities to connect with colleagues will foster shared learning and exploration.
Registration for the Institute opens in February 2017. Visit the conference website for pricing and updates.
Ocean Exploration Trust Fellowship
The Ocean Exploration Trust’s Science Communication Fellowship Program immerses formal and non-formal educators in the Nautilus Corps of Exploration and empowers them to bring ocean exploration – specifically in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) – to a global audience via the Nautilus Live website. Science Communication Fellows bring their expedition experience back to their own classrooms, organizations, and communities in the form of engaging lesson plans and activities centered around their time at sea aboard Nautilus and other vessels. Applications are due January 13, 2017.
Shelburne Farms is a nonprofit organization educating for a sustainable future. That means learning that links knowledge, inquiry, and action to help students build a healthy future for their communities and the planet. Its home campus is a 1,400-acre working farm, forest, and National Historic Landmark.
Shelbourne Farms’ school programs staff support both student learning and professional development for educators. The ideas of place and sustainability are at the heart of its work. Shelbourne Farms offers a variety of experiences that inspire deep connections to community, and a commitment to a healthy future.
ABCs of Farm-Based Education (March 10 -12, 2017)
Discover easy and fun ways to develop agricultural education programs with engaging, kid-tested, educator approved activities! If you are looking for new ideas for an existing program, or are starting to explore the opportunities of farm-based education, this workshop is for you! Spend three days engaging in hands-on discussion and activity-based learning and exploration of the Shelburne Farms campus, including the dairy, farmyard, garden, and forest classrooms. Experience activities from Shelburne Farms’ publications Project Seasons and Cultivating Joy and Wonder as we discuss ways to engage school groups and farm visitors. Workshop topics include: creating a safe learning environment, developing programs, resource sharing and networking among participants, and more!
Register for this workshop here.
Student Climate and Conservation Conference 2017
The Student Climate & Conservation Congress (Sc3) is a week-long leadership training program held annually at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s National Conservation Training Center – the nation’s top environmental training facility. Participants, also known as Sc3 Fellows, spend a week studying and discussing environmental, social, and economic interconnections to address climate change and conservation challenges affecting their generation in an ever changing world.
Applications are now being accepted!
WHO: Current 8th – 11th Grade Students
WHEN: June 25 – July 1, 2017
WHERE: National Conservation Training Center, Shepherdstown, WV
COST: $950 if you apply by March 15
$1100 if you apply by April 15
$1250 if you apply by May 15 – Application Deadline
6 nights, all-inclusive (except transportation to DC)
Financial aid & scholarships are available.
Resources
Bumble Bee Watch is a collaborative effort to track and conserve North America’s bumble bees. This citizen science project allows for individuals to:
- Upload photos of bumble bees to start a virtual bumble bee collection;
- Identify the bumble bees in your photos and have your identifications verified by experts;
- Help researchers determine the status and conservation needs of bumble bees;
- Help locate rare or endangered populations of bumble bees;
- Learn about bumble bees, their ecology, and ongoing conservation efforts; and
- Connect with other citizen scientists.
The Bumble Bee Watch website offers FAQs, tools, and resources for participating, as well as opportunities to learn more about where and what types of bees have been sited.
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology: BirdSleuth
BirdSleuth is an inquiry-based science curriculum that engages kids in scientific study and real data collection through the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s exciting citizen-science projects. BirdSleuth provides educators with kits that:
- Encourage kids to answer their own questions about nature using the scientific process.
- Spend time outdoors, connecting with nature by focusing on the fascinating sights, sounds, and behaviors of birds.
- Motivate kids by the real-world importance of the data they enter online, which scientists use to understand and conserve birds.
BirdSleuth offers a variety of resources, as well as opportunities for in-person training, workshops, and online webinars for all types of educators who are looking for top notch professional development. BirdSleuth even offers a free student publication, BirdSleuth Investigator, that is written by students, for students and can be downloaded from the website.
Experiential Tools: Resources for Teaching and Group Facilitation
Experiential Tools was founded by author and educator Jennifer Stanchfield in an effort to provide educators with quality, unique, and user-friendly methods to enhance learning, increase engagement, build community, facilitate group development, and engage learners in meaningful reflection and dialogue. Resources offered include consulting, professional development programs, workshops, books, and teaching and facilitation tools. Visit the website for a list of upcoming workshops.
Facing the Future is an international program, based out of Western Washington University, creating tools for educators that equip and motivate students to develop critical thinking skills, build global awareness, and engage in positive solutions for a sustainable future. The curriculum is organized around eight sustainability big ideas:
- Connecting with Nature
- Equity and Justice
- Health and Resiliency
- Interconnectedness
- Local to Global
- Peace and Collaboration
- Respect for Limits
- Universal Responsibility
Facing the Future curriculum materials and resources are available for K-12 teachers, teachers in colleges of education, and for some community college and undergraduate classes. All materials are developed for teachers, by teachers, with best teaching and learning practices in mind and are aligned with Common Core Standards, Next Generation Science Standards, and most state standards frameworks.
Field Investigations: Using Outdoor Environments to Foster Student Learning of Scientific Practices
Field Investigations: Using Outdoor Environments to Foster Student Learning of Scientific Practices is a framework of scientific practices that scientists use in the field. This guide was developed to help K-12 teachers introduce their students to the methodologies used for scientific field research and guide them through the process of conducting field investigations using these scientific practices. In particular, this guide demonstrates how to use descriptive and comparative methodologies for field studies typically used in the environment and natural resource sectors. The guide has been updated to address how the three dimensions of the Next Generation Science Standards may be used to integrate field investigation scientific practices with real world content through crosscutting concepts that practicing field scientists and engineers tackle in their role as professionals.
Launched in 1998, the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) enlists people of all ages in the collection of data on wild birds. The premise behind the count is simple: over four days in February (February 17-20, 2017), participants tally the number and kind of birds they observe for at least 15 minutes on one or more days of the count. Data collected through the GBBC website during the count is used by scientists to get the “big picture” about what is happening to bird populations. Instructions for participating (including how to set up an account), resources, and links for additional citizen science projects can be found on GBBC’s website.
Journey North is a free, Internet-based program that explores the interrelated aspects of seasonal change. Through interrelated investigations, students discover that sunlight drives all living systems and they learn about the dynamic ecosystem that surrounds and connects them. A sampling of projects includes:
- Sunlight and the Seasons: Children study seasonal change in sunlight in a global game of hide and seek called Mystery Class.
- Plants and the Seasons: Children explore tulip growth in their own gardens, running an experiment that tracks the arrival of spring.
- Seasonal Migrations: Children follow animal migrations. They observe, research, and report findings and watch journeys progress on live maps.
Additional instructional materials, activities, and strategies can be found on the Journey North website.
A product of the U.S. Green Building Council’s The Center for Green Schools, Learning Lab provides K-12 teachers and school leaders with comprehensive, project- and STEM-based curriculum that encourages student leadership, environmental literacy, and real-world action.
Discover best-in-class content, training, and tools. Access their curated catalogue of lesson plans, interactive projects, assessment opportunities, and other multimedia resources in English and Spanish. Lessons are mapped to meet current educational standards, and were created by educators, for educators.
Monarch Watch is a nonprofit education, conservation, and research program based at the University of Kansas that strives to provide the public with information about the biology of monarch butterflies, their spectacular migration, and how to use monarchs to further science education in primary and secondary schools. The program engages in research on monarch migration biology and monarch population dynamics to better understand how to conserve the monarch migration, as well as promotes the protection of monarch habitats throughout North America. Monarch Watch’s website is a treasure trove for educators looking to participate, including information on creating Monarch Waystations and butterfly gardens, raising Monarchs in the classroom, and tagging Monarchs to track their migration patterns.
National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) Citizen Science Resources
NEEF and its partners work to engage the public in citizen science by linking directly with nature enthusiasts, working with trusted professionals in the field, and collaborating with federal partners and educators to involve students and teachers in and out of the classroom. There is no one way to get involved with citizen science, and NEEF works to reach people where they are—whether that’s a specific interest, geographic region, skill level, or knowledge base. Check out NEEF’s website for more information, including infographics, an educator’s toolkit, and active citizen science projects.
Nature’s Notebook – National Phenology Network
Nature’s Notebook is a national, online program of the USA National Phenology Network where amateur and professional naturalists regularly record observations of plants and animals to generate long-term data sets used for scientific discovery and decision-making. Observing phenology through Nature’s Notebook offers place-based, hands-on learning opportunities for K-12 students, promoting cross-subject engagement while addressing learning standards. A number of classroom resources and activities have been developed for K-12 educators to introduce students to phenology and engage them in real world projects that entail data collection and analysis.
Project BudBurst is a citizen science program focused on how plants change with the seasons. Participants in Project BudBurst make careful observations of the timing of leafing, flowering, and fruiting phases of plants throughout the year. Observations shared with Project BudBurst become part of an ecological record and data is freely available for anyone to download and use. The Project BudBurst website has a number of resources for K-12 educators including classroom guides, activities, and professional development opportunities. Educators can register their classrooms with Project BudBurst so that students can collect and share data with the Project BudBurst community.
School Cafeteria Discard Assessment Project
The School Cafeteria Discards Assessment Project (SCrAP) was developed by the Environmental Research and Education Foundation (EREF) – in collaboration with the School Nutrition Foundation – to quantify both food waste and related wastes (e.g. recyclables, to landfill) generated in cafeterias at K-12 schools nationally. The project aims to gather information regarding the quantity of waste generated in school cafeterias and obtain an understanding of how this waste is managed both at the school and after it is hauled away.
Would you be willing to help? We are looking for trendsetters who want to make the environment cleaner and greener while at the same time educating students. Your participation will help guide policy and future initiatives to minimize waste generation and maximize sustainability for schools across the nation. Specifically, we need elementary, middle, high schools and combined schools (e.g. private, charter) to participate in the program.
Watch this short video to learn more about the SCrAP Program and visit the website to register your school. Participating schools can submit their questionnaires through the end of March 2017.
State of the River Teacher’s Guide
The State of the River Report — developed in partnership with Friends of the Mississippi River and the National Park Service’s Mississippi National River and Recreation Area — assembles and analyzes a wealth of data, and communicates in plain terms how the river is doing to answer these frequently posed questions. The State of the River Report describes 14 indicators that illustrate the condition of the river.
The Teacher’s Guide aims to apply the content of the State of the River Report to grades 3-12 classrooms. Lessons are anchored in Minnesota state standards providing information, resources, and activities that fulfill a benchmark. By design, lessons may stand alone or be embedded in a unit of study. Field trips are not necessary to provide students with engaging, interactive, place-based experiences! The Teacher’s Guide provides lessons that educators can easily implement in their schools and classrooms.
Grants and Awards
The Captain Planet Foundation is accepting the next round of applications for small grants totaling $500-$2500. Grant activities must be project-based, performed by youth, and have real environmental outcomes. Visit the website to learn more about eligibility and restrictions, and to fill out an application. The next deadline for applications is January 31, 2017.
EPA’s Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators
The Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators recognizes outstanding kindergarten through grade 12 teachers who employ innovative approaches to environmental education and use the environment as a context for learning for their students. Up to two teachers from each of EPA’s 10 regions, from different states, will be selected to receive this award. The White House Council on Environmental Quality, in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administers this award to honor, support, and encourage educators who incorporate environmental education in their classrooms and teaching methods.
- Teacher awardees will receive a Presidential award plaque and an award of up to $2,500 to be used to further the recipient’s professional development in environmental education. Teacher awardees will also receive a congratulatory letter from a senior official from EPA and/or the White House.
- The teacher’s local education agency will also receive an award of up to $2,500 to fund environmental education activities and programs (and not for construction costs, general expenses, salaries, bonuses, or other administrative expenses).
- Honorable Mention recipients will receive certificates of recognition.
Applications due March 1, 2017.
EPA’s President’s Environmental Youth Award
The President’s Environmental Youth Award (PEYA) recognizes outstanding environmental projects by K-12 youth. The PEYA program promotes awareness of our nation’s natural resources and encourages positive community involvement. Since 1971, the President of the United States has joined with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to recognize young people for protecting our nation’s air, water, land, and ecology. It is one of the most important ways EPA and the Administration demonstrate commitment to environmental stewardship efforts created and conducted by our nation’s youth.
Each year the PEYA program honors a wide variety of projects developed by young individuals, school classes (kindergarten through high school), summer camps, public interest groups, and youth organizations to promote environmental awareness. Thousands of young people from all 50 states and the U.S. territories have submitted projects to EPA for consideration. Winning projects in the past have covered a wide range of subject areas, including:
- restoring native habitats
- recycling in schools and communities
- construction of nature preserves
- tree planting
- installing renewable energy projects
- creating videos, skits, and newsletters that focused on environmental issues
- participating in many other creative sustainability efforts
PEYA has two parts — a regional award for Grades K-5 and a regional award for Grades 6-12. Each award-winning project will receive a Presidential plaque. All qualified applicants will receive a certificate honoring them for their efforts to protect human health and the environment.
Applications are due March 1, 2017.
Fund for Teachers provides educators the resources and funding they need to pursue self-designed professional learning experiences. Funding for Teachers grant awards support a variety of projects, all designed to create enhanced learning environments for teachers, their students, and school communities. Since 2001, Fund for Teachers has invested $22 million in nearly 6,000 teachers. Applications for 2017 professional development grants are due on January 31, 2017. Learn more about the application process and what current and past fellows have accomplished on the Fund For Teachers website.
GetEdFunding is a curated collection of grants and awards created by education professionals for education professionals. Its database was designed to be easy-to-use and reliable, and all grant and funding opportunities are updated daily. Users can search by six criteria, including 43 areas of focus, 8 content areas, and 14 twenty-first century themes and skills, including environmental literacy. Once registered on the site, users can save grants of interest and return to them at any time.
The Lead2Feed Challenge is the contest component of the Lead2Feed Student Leadership Program, which challenges students to identify and use their leadership skills to complete a service project. The Lead2Feed Challenge gives students a jump start into the real world of leadership by offering comprehensive lessons aligned to standards and 21st century skills. Lead2Feed is aligned with Common Core State Standards and 21st Century Skills and meets the community service requirement for many associations, clubs, and school districts.
To participate, teachers/advisers must register their classrooms and submit completed project(s) once they have finished the 10- Lesson or 6- Lesson track. Projects are judged each April and teams can win up to $20,000 for their charity and up to $10,000 in tech products for their school or youth club.
The Lead2Feed Challenge is open to entries all year long. Entries received by the first Friday in April each year are judged for the current contest year. Entries received after the first Friday in April are placed into the next year’s judging cycle. Full Lead2Feed Challenge Rules are here.
The NEA Foundation Learning and Leadership Grants
The NEA Foundation Learning and Leadership Grants support public school teachers, public education support professionals, and/or faculty and staff in public institutions of higher education for one of the following two purposes:
- Grants to individuals fund participation in high-quality professional development experiences, such as summer institutes, conferences, or action research.
- Grants to groups fund collegial study, including study groups, action research, lesson plan development, or mentoring experiences for faculty or staff.
Grants awards are $2,000 for individuals and $5,000 for groups engaged in collegial study. Applications may be submitted anytime throughout the year and are reviewed three times a year, every year. Deadlines for applications are February 1, June 1, and October 15.
NSTA’s Shell Science Lab Program
Shell and the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) have partnered to recognize outstanding middle and high school programs for their exemplary approaches to science lab instruction utilizing limited school and laboratory resources. The Shell Science Lab Challenge showcases the work of teachers, representing their schools, who submit innovative, replicable strategies to deliver quality lab experiences with limited equipment/resources, and award teachers/schools with additional tools, resources, and rich professional development opportunities needed to support high-quality science teaching and strengthen their existing capabilities. To be eligible:
- Applicants may be individual teachers or teams of teachers of science in grades 6-12, in the United States and Canada, representing their schools.
- A teacher is limited to one application per year (whether submitting as an individual or team applicant).
- A school may submit an unlimited number of applications.
The Shell Science Lab Challenge national winners will be honored during a black-tie dinner gala on March 31, 2017 in Los Angeles, California, at the NSTA National Conference on Science Education. The grand prize winner will receive a lab makeover support package valued at $20,000.
Applications are due by 11:59PM EST on January 23, 2017.
