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Educating for the Environment

Professional Development

Free workshops and trainings for educators, including ClimeTime. Earn clock hours and get support teaching students about topics that matter.

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The Educating for the Environment Team at RE Sources is a Washington State clock hour provider, proud to offer Fall and early Winter courses for all educators in Whatcom County. These workshops are designed to answer a local anchoring question, include hands-on activities, tips to implement, and assessment tools to support NGSS where appropriate.

In the following courses, teachers will be able to:

  • Bring real-world local phenomena into their classrooms.
  • Be exposed to different hands-on tools and activities that can be transferred to classroom use.
  • Learn how to engage their students to take what they are learning and put it into action.
  • Collaborate with colleagues.

2024-25 ClimeTime workshops for educators

Jump to workshops:

For the 2024-2025 school year, our ClimeTime offerings will consist of four in-person workshops offered throughout the year. Two workshops will build on our combined reputations for offering outdoor education strategies in accessible schoolyard settings. And two will dig deeper into place-based phenomena exploring watersheds and salmon in Whatcom County. Additionally, this year we will work with local high school students for the first time to create resources by youth for youth that complement the watersheds and salmon trainings and can be used in the classroom.

Photo from a 2023 ClimeTime workshop on forests and forestry

ClimeTime: Hope & Resilience

Bring climate hope and resilience into the classroom!
3 STEM clock hours, 1 Equity hour, $100 stipend*

Calling all Whatcom County educators for grades 3 – 12 who want to connect real-world solutions to climate change!

Watersheds & Salmon (Session 1)

This field-based workshop will focus on equitable solutions currently being implemented for the health of Whatcom County watersheds. The Teaching for the Climate Collaborative will guide participants through classroom-ready STEM activities that connect students to the outdoors and illustrate how climate change is affecting different stakeholders and ecosystems. Tribal partners will share their expertise and a variety of take-home resources will set teachers up to integrate workshop learning with the Since Time Immemorial Curriculum.

This workshop is designed to answer the following questions:

  • What are the effects of climate change on salmon and our watershed?
  • What are community members, tribes, CBOS, etc. doing about it in Whatcom County?
  • What are the Indigenous Ways, currently and since time immemorial, to solve these issues?
  • Who: Whatcom County Teachers grades 3-12
  • When: October 26th, 2024, 9:00am – 1:00pm
  • Where: Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association, 3057 E Bakerview Rd, Bellingham, WA 98226
  • Teachers receive: 3 STEM clock hours, 1 Equity hour, a $100 stipend, and a delicious lunch!
  • Last Day to Register: October 16th, 2024
Register on PD Enroller

Watersheds & Salmon (Session 2)

This field-based workshop will focus on equitable solutions currently being implemented for the health of Whatcom County watersheds. The Teaching for the Climate Collaborative will guide participants through classroom-ready STEM activities that connect students to the outdoors and illustrate how climate change is affecting different stakeholders and ecosystems. Tribal partners will share their expertise and a variety of take-home resources will set teachers up to integrate workshop learning with the Since Time Immemorial Curriculum.

This workshop is designed to answer the following questions:

  • What are the effects of climate change on salmon and our watershed?
  • What are community members, tribes, CBOS, etc. doing about it in Whatcom County?
  • What are the Indigenous Ways, currently and since time immemorial, to solve these issues?
  • Who: Whatcom County Teachers grades 3-12
  • When: February 8th, 2025, 9:00am – 1:00pm
  • Where: Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association, 3057 E Bakerview Rd, Bellingham, WA 98226
  • Teachers receive: 3 STEM clock hours, 1 Equity hour, a $100 stipend, and a delicious lunch!
  • Last Day to Register: January 29th, 2025
Register on PD Enroller

*Participants who attend one Hope and Resilience workshop and implement a lesson receive $100.

High School Internship

We believe students should have a voice in how they learn about climate change. For the first time this year, we are piloting a project collaborating with a few local high school students to weave more student voice into our Hope and Resilience workshops. Students will co-create web-based educational resources on the climate solutions our PDs explore that teachers can implement in their classrooms. Stay tuned for how this project unfolds!

If you know of a student (or are one) who might be interested in supporting this project and receiving a modest stipend, please email Cambry at cambryb@re-sources.org.

Photo from a Teaching Outside workshop

ClimeTime: Teaching Outside

Teach for the climate by incorporating outdoor learning experiences!
2 STEM clock hours, receive a $50 stipend upon implementation of an outdoor lesson.

Calling all Whatcom County elementary teachers and staff serving grades K-5 looking to integrate the outdoors into everyday lessons. Our Teaching Outside workshops are designed to provide teachers and other education staff with the basic skills and tools to implement outdoor experiential and climate-related activities on school sites, in local parks, and in urban settings. Each workshop is stand-alone.

Teaching Outside (Session 1)

Objectives:

  • Teachers will be able to evaluate the potential risks of teaching outdoors and plan appropriate measures to mitigate risks. 
  • Teachers will be able to summarize at least one teaching outside activity and one teaching outside strategy that may be used while teaching students. 
  • Teachers will be able to apply course learning by implementing and reflecting on a lesson delivered outside to their classroom students. 
  • Who: Whatcom County K-5 educators
  • When: March 13th, 2025 from 4:30-6:30PM
  • Where: Location shared upon registration
  • Last Day to Register: March 3rd, 2025 by 5:00PM
PD Enroller link coming soon

Teaching Outside (Session 2)

Objectives:

  • Teachers will be able to evaluate the potential risks of teaching outdoors and plan appropriate measures to mitigate risks. 
  • Teachers will be able to summarize at least one teaching outside activity and one teaching outside strategy that may be used while teaching students. 
  • Teachers will be able to apply course learning by implementing and reflecting on a lesson delivered outside to their classroom students. 
  • Who: Whatcom County K-5 educators
  • When: April 24th, 2025, 4:30-6:30PM
  • Where: Location shared upon registration. 
  • Last Day to Register: April 14th, 2025 by 5:00PM
PD Enroller link coming soon
Questions?

For Hope and Resilience sessions: Emily Hie emily.hie@commonthreadsfarm.org or Annitra Peck apeck@n-sea.org

For Teaching Outside sessions: Chris Peñuelas chrisp@wildwhatcom.org 

For high school student internship: Cambry Baker cambryb@re-sources.org 

Funding for these workshops is provided by the Washington State Legislature through the ClimeTime proviso.

ClimeTime workshops from the Teaching for the Climate Cooperative Partners include:

 

 

Have an idea for teacher professional development?

Tell us about it! Schools@re-sources.org

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Past Offerings

In the past, RE Sources’ Sustainable Schools program has also offered these professional development opportunities:

coho salmon swimming upstream

Coho Conundrum: Why are Coho Salmon dying?

4 STEM clock hours for attending, 1 for implementation.

This workshop is designed to help Middle and Upper Elementary educators looking to bring real-world issues into their classrooms.  This workshop will focus on a local anchoring question: Why are Coho Salmon dying?  Educators (playing the part of a student), will walk through multiple sequential transferable lessons with content relating to salmon lifecycle, water quality, and human impacts on the environment. Lessons incorporate hands-on experiments, data analysis, modeling, mapping and tips to implement. The workshop is designed to support 3-D NGSS performance expectations for the middle school grade band, though the material can be altered to reach upper elementary as well. Much of the course will be offered in an outdoor setting. Teachers are encouraged to implement the activities demonstrated (some materials supplied) and then share in narrative form how the experience went. This will earn an additional clock hour.

Who: Whatcom County Teachers grades 4 – 8
Date: Saturday, October 7, 2023
Time: 9:00 am – 1:00pm
Location: NSEA (Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association) Campus
Last day to register: Monday, October 2 at 5pm
Teachers receive: 4 STEM clock hours for attending, 1 for implementation.

Contact PriscillaB@re-sources.org for more info.

Water & Watersheds: Water 101

2 STEM clock hours for attending, 1 for implementation.

In this water 101 workshop, educators will learn activities that help students understand the complications of water — as a liquid, as a vapor, salt or fresh, and how precious it is. The course’s activities will support multiple NGSS, ELA and SEL standards. Teachers will be given tools to help their students move learning into action. Teachers are encouraged to implement the activities demonstrated (some materials supplied) and then share in narrative form how the experience went. This will earn an additional clock hour.

Who: Whatcom County Teachers grades K – 2
Date: Tuesday, November 7, 2023
Time: 3:15 – 5:15pm
Location: RE Sources (2309 Meridian St, Bellingham)
Last day to register: Tuesday, October 27 at 5pm
Teachers receive: 2 STEM clock hours for attending, 1 for implementation.

Contact ChelseaH@re-sources.org for more info.

ClimeTime: Teaching Outdoors 101

Using the outdoors and teaching climate change. 4 STEM, 1 Equity clock hours, receive $100 stipend upon completion!

Self-paced course on Canvas open November 30th, 2021 until April 30th, 2022.

Calling all 3rd-8th grade educators in Whatcom: Gain skills to incorporate the outdoors and climate-related lessons with students. Join the Teaching for the Climate Collaborative’s fourth year for a self-paced online course! Participants will gain skills to incorporate the outdoors and climate related lessons with students. Time commitment: Approx. 3 hrs of learning in Canvas plus 2 hrs implementing and assessing a lesson with students. More info on this flier.

 

Rain Garden in a Box: Protecting waterways through reuse

Who: Whatcom County educators for grades 3 through 12
Where: Outside the RE Sources main office, 2309 Meridian St, Bellingham WA 98225
Clock hours: 2
Instructors: Priscilla Brotherton

This workshop will provide educators with a tangible, hands-on solution for protecting our waterways using repurposed material from the RE Store that you can bring back to your students and school grounds. Participants will 1) learn how rain gardens improve filtration and slow down the flow of water to protect waterways and 2) leave with a blueprint of how to build a rain garden in a box using repurposed materials. Come join our Education Specialist and skilled RE Store staff for a fun, educational, solution-based workshop!

 

Whittling Away Waste: Climate solutions at your school

Who: 3rd-8th grade educators, students, parents, custodians, food workers, paraeducators and community members in Whatcom County
Clock hours: 1

Join our interactive virtual event to learn about the climate and health impacts of landfills, and get ideas from actions schools are taking around the country to reduce plastics, increase recycling, and stop wasteful practices. We will also share tools to form a Green Team at your school who can take on projects like the ones other schools have done!

Coho Conundrum: Stormwater and salmon (8 STEM clock hours)

For all middle and upper elementary schools educators in Whatcom: Coho Conundrum is a free, in-person three-part professional development series designed to help educators looking to bring real-world issues into their classrooms.

This series will focus on a local anchoring question: Why are Coho Salmon dying?  Educators (playing the part of a student), will walk through multiple sequential transferable lessons with content relating to salmon lifecycle, water quality, and human impacts on the environment. Lessons incorporate hands-on experiments, data analysis, modeling, mapping and tips to implement both virtually and in-person. Educators will spend time in multiple learning environments. This series is designed to support 3-D NGSS performance expectations for the middle school grade band, though the material can be altered to reach upper elementary as well. Much of the course will be offered in an outdoor setting.

Participants will:

  • Earn 8 STEM clock hours
  • Learn from a scientist, teacher and local resource, Kirsten McDade
  • Learn to bring a real-world local phenomena into their classrooms
  • Gain expertise in understanding the different types of contaminants in water and how this affects not only salmon but orcas and eventually human health.
  • Be exposed to different hands-on tools and experiments that can be transferred to classroom use.
  • Learn how to engage their students to take what they are learning and put it into action.
  • Collaborate with colleagues

Locations: TBD; Sign up to make sure you hear first!

The lessons in this course are sequential and build off knowledge learned in previous lessons. Attendance for all three days is requested. If your schedule doesn’t permit, we hope to offer this course again.

As always, our programs are free. For more information, contact Kirsten at kirstenm@re-sources.org

This training will most likely be in-person. We are requiring proof of vaccination for COVID-19 and reserve the right to reschedule in an alternative format if circumstances require. If your circumstances disallow you to be vaccinated, please reach out to Kirsten at kirstenm@re-sources.org.

Tracking Energy — Seed to Table to Compost (6 STEM clock hours)

Calling all 3rd through 8th grade educators in Whatcom County: Tracking Energy is a three-part professional development series designed to help educators understand food systems; growing, producing, processing and disposing of food. Learn to help students draw connections to climate change and food justice issues.

This series will focus on the question: What are we throwing away when we throw away food? Educators (playing the part of a student), will walk through multiple sequential transferable lessons that incorporate creating and revising models, data collection and analysis, and designing solutions. Educators will spend time in multiple learning environments. This series is designed to support 3-D NGSS performance expectations for the 5th grade band endpoint, though the altered material will be demonstrated to reach middle school.

The lessons in this course are sequential and build off knowledge learned in previous lessons. Attendance for all three days is requested. This opportunity is a collaborative effort of RE Sources and Common Threads Farm.

Date/Time: November 8, 9 and 10, 4:30 – 6:30 PM
Location: RE Sources main office, 2309 Meridian St, Bellingham WA 98225
Platform: Synchronous – In-person unless public health concerns require virtual
STEM Clock hours: 6
Cost: Free!
Participants: Whatcom County educators for grades 3 – 8
Instructors: Sasha Savoian, Chelsea Hilmoe and Jenna Deane

Register here by 5:00 pm, Friday, Oct. 29. Proof of Covid-19 vaccination is required and we are asking that you please wear masks to ensure everyone’s safety.

Questions? Contact Sasha at SashaS@re-sources.org

Solution and Action Based Learning

Who: 3rd-12th grade teachers [informal educators welcome]
Where: Online training
Clock hours: 1.5 hours

When students learn about environmental, social, or civic topics the next question is, “now what”? This training is for classroom teachers and club advisors that are looking for ways to engage students in solutions based learning in-person or online. Action projects can begin or end a unit, can be woven into art, language, history, science, or focus a social action, leadership, or environmental club. Join our Sustainable Schools Education Specialists to learn about resources, activities, and guidelines for projects your students can engage in that helps solve problems. From Community science to letter writing this training will give practical resources and a time for teachers to share their own resources and ideas with each other.

Participants will be able to:

  • Recognize different levels of stewardship and action
  • Take learning beyond doom and gloom and offer students real solutions

Participants will leave with practical resources and ways for students to engage

ClimeTime: Teaching Outdoors 101 (Using the outdoors and teach climate change). 4 STEM & 1 Equity clock hours

Self-paced course on Canvas open November 30th, 2021 until April 30th, 2022. Receive $100 stipend upon completion!

Calling all 3rd-8th grade educators in Whatcom: Gain skills to incorporate the outdoors and climate-related lessons with students. Join the Teaching for the Climate Collaborative’s fourth year for a self-paced online course! Participants will gain skills to incorporate the outdoors and climate related lessons with students. Time commitment: Approx. 3 hrs of learning in Canvas plus 2 hrs implementing and assessing a lesson with students. More info on this flier.

 

Tracking Energy: Seed to Table to Compost

When: April 18th, 19th and 20th from 4:30-6:30 pm
Who: Whatcom County educators for grades 3 through 8
Where: RE Sources main office, 2309 Meridian St, Bellingham WA 98225
STEM Clock hours: 6
Instructors: Education Specialist Sasha Savoian

Note: This training will be IN PERSON. We are requiring proof of vaccination for COVID-19 and reserve the right to reschedule in an alternative format if COVID-19 circumstances require. If your circumstances disallow you to be vaccinated, please contact us individually.

Tracking Energy is a 3-part professional development series designed to help educators understand food systems; growing, producing, processing and disposing of food. And help students draw connections to climate change and food justice issues. This series will focus on the question: What are we throwing away when we throw away food? Educators (playing the part of a student), will walk through multiple sequential transferable lessons that incorporate creating and revising models, data collection and analysis, and designing solutions. Educators will spend time in multiple learning environments. This series is designed to support 3-D NGSS performance expectations for the 5th-grade band endpoint, though the altered material will be demonstrated to reach middle school.

The lessons in this course are sequential and build off knowledge learned in previous lessons. Attendance for all three days is requested.

What teachers are saying:

“Students truly care about the environment and protecting it! This class provides great lessons to work towards solutions.” – teacher, Tracking Energy Fall 2021 participant

“The resources and lessons were relevant and ready to use! yay! I was pleased and my expectations were exceeded-well done!” – teacher, Tracking Energy Fall 2021 participant

 

ClimeTime: Teaching for the Climate 201 (9 STEM & 1 Equity clock hours)

Receive a $200 stipend upon completion of all three parts of the course!

While the 101 course built foundational skills in teaching outside, 201 will dive deeper to gain the resources to incorporate local climate-related science and Indigenous perspective into outdoor teaching with students. This course is open to K-8th grade Whatcom County educators who have some experience with teaching outdoors and NGSS.

The course includes the following parts:

  • Choose one day of in-person field instruction (locations TBD):
    – March 19th, 9am-3pm (lessons focused on flooding and drought). Please register by March 17th.
    – March 26th, 9am-3pm (lessons focused on marine food webs). Please register by March 24th.
  • Implement a lesson with your students after the in-person session
  • Meet virtually on May 4th (4pm-6pm via Zoom link to be shared) after implementing the lesson with students to connect with and learn from your colleagues