A large part of
what I do at Cascadia is educate the youth in our district’s schools. Recently,
the city councils of Chelan and Wenatchee voted to join our district! This is
very exciting news for us, because it now means that the district may help in
all areas of Chelan County, no exclusions! In relation to my role, we have
traditionally still taught in school districts within the city limits of Chelan
and Wenatchee. Today I wanted to talk more about why environmental education is
important, what my history has been with environmental education, and how that
shapes what I want to do.
We’ve seen a
major push, in the last 10 years or so, towards STEM education. President
George W. Bush introduced the American Competitiveness Initiative in 2006 to
essentially double federal funding for STEM education in schools (Bush). In
2009, President Barack Obama introduced the Educate to Innovate initiative to
not only provide additional funding, but to also encourage businesses to
participate and be a part of STEM education (Educate to Innovate).
The increased focus and attention on STEM
education is not too surprising, considering the shift in our daily lives and
how much technology can play a role in it. Education can be slow to change, but
these initiatives are trying to speed up that process. I do believe everyone
should have access to the same education, but there are many barriers to that
goal. Public and private sectors are beginning to come together to face these inequities,
but there is still a long ways to go. Some examples include CoSTEM:
"The Committee on STEM Education (CoSTEM), comprised of 13 agencies including all of the mission-science agencies and the Department of Education are facilitating a cohesive national strategy, with new and repurposed funds, to increase the impact of federal investments in five areas: 1) improving STEM instruction in preschool through 12th grade; 2.) increasing and sustaining public and youth engagement with STEM; 3.) improving the STEM experience for undergraduate students; 4.) better serving groups historically underrepresented in STEM fields; and 5.) designing graduate education for tomorrow's STEM workforce." (Educate to Innovate)
The nonprofit Changing the
Equation is backed by business and has support from the federal government.
Below are some figures of how data collected shows both inequities in resources
and how job opportunities are projected to change in the coming years in our
state:
Before I began volunteering with the Ocean
Discovery Institute, they had just received an award from the Obama
administration for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics,
and Engineering Mentoring. Their mission is to “empower young people from
underserved urban communities to transform their lives, their community, and
our world as scientific and conservation leaders” (By Engaging In All Action).
In my role, I volunteered in the Ocean
Science Explorers program. During my time there, I really enjoyed assisting the
students use tools like microscopes for the first time. We would take the
students on field trips to parts of San Diego to get them outside. When the
buses pulled up to the tide pools in La Jolla, the students were amazed to
explore the vast abundance of marine life literally in their backyard. Another
field trip was taking them to our headquarters, which was a series of trailers
in Pacific Beach. There we would allow the students to create their own robotic
hydroplanes and test their creations in the pool. Our goal was not just to
teach facts and figures, but to show the students what all of their efforts
could lead to. Our focus was to inspire them to imagine a career path in STEM,
which for many of the students would result in a vast departure from what other
members of their families may be doing or have done.
During my time at USD, I made an effort to
actively participate in social justice causes and try to experience something
different from what I knew. I reflected a lot on the differences between the
opportunities I have been exposed to, and how they differ from the opportunities
these students may have. I went to public school K-12, and had the opportunity
to take physics, calculus, AP Biology, AP Chemistry, and go to my community
college through Running Start if my school didn’t offer what I needed. Having
those classes prepared me to go on to a private school college education and
major in a degree that included several science courses.
Being a self-proclaimed environmentalist,
I also must reflect on my hypocrisy on a daily basis. It’s easy to think that
our education system is doomed and that we’re using outdated techniques and
technology. However, I think there are a lot of reasons to be really positive
and optimistic! Sal Khan is the founder and director of Khan Academy, a web
based collection of YouTube videos that can be used to refresh a set of skills
or as a supplemental learning tool. It is one of the prime examples today of
what open source education can look like.
“We have all these doom-and-gloom arguments about
America losing its primacy and all this stuff about our math scores. But if you
take a serious look over the last 30 or 40 years, if you said, “What are the
most innovative companies in the world? Where is the innovation happening?” And
if you just follow and ask that question, year after year after year, it’s
getting more and more focused in America” (Education for Everyone).
With all of the advances in technology and
innovation happening, it’s time to realize how important science education can
be and how transformative it can be for students. With the conservation
district, I have the opportunity now to offer free science education lessons to
local schools. The curriculum is provided by the Franklin Conservation
District. I offer a week long option, aptly named Wheat Week, where I use Wheat
as a teaching tool to showcase lessons about soil conservation, the water
cycle, and watersheds. I also offer Water on Wheels lessons, which offer a
variety of environmental science lessons that are interactive and engaging to
students grades K-6th.
I really appreciate the opportunity to
bring science education to classrooms that otherwise might not get the chance
to explore the material in depth. Hopefully, even if they don’t retain the
information I teach them, it ignites a spark in them that motivates them to
want to take an interest in math, science, or engineering. I’m not teaching
robotics or molecular biology, but just getting our youth familiar and
comfortable with basic scientific concepts may actually allow them to seek out
advanced science education and not write it off as boring or too difficult. It’s
not a cure all, but it is a step in the right direction.
To learn more about STEM in Washington State, look at
http://vitalsigns.changetheequation.org/state/washington/overview
For more information about the programs I help implement through Cascadia, check out
http://franklincd.org/wheatweek.aspx If you're a teacher in Chelan, Douglas, or Okanogan counties and want to have me come to your classroom, send me an email at cascadia-americorps@conservewa.net.
Thanks for reading!
~ Ava
By Engaging in All Action with Curiosity and Commitment, We
Can Ignite a Passion in Each Person That Collectively Will Benefit Our World.
"Home." Ocean Discovery Institute. www.oceandiscoveryinstitute.org
This past week I
got the chance to teach at Columbia
Elementary in Wenatchee. I met some awesome teachers and enthusiastic
future scientists (maybe)! The students here really looked forward to our daily
Wheat Week lessons, they could hardly wait to investigate their terrariums and
see how their wheat was changing and growing each day. Every day I would have
multiple students run up to me and show off the new roots growing or a stem
emerging from the little cup of soil. We recorded these observations in our
“Kernel Journals” every day. They are so excited that they remember the names
of the different parts of the plant that we labeled on the very first day, I
have never heard “look! root hairs” shouted with such enthusiasm before. They
took such pride in growing their terrariums and taking care of their wheat
plants.
Seeing the
excitement and the enthusiasm that the students have is what motivates me. I
see every classroom as an opportunity to advocate for and educate people about
the importance of preserving the natural world and the environment. There is
always a balance between us and the environment, which I do my best to explain
to the kids. I hope that maybe one of them will find an interest or passion for
environmental sciences and maybe someday help to solve some of the issues we
face.
