What an exciting month for us at South Sound GREEN! After weeks of missing our usual field experiences and classroom visits, we had the unique opportunity this month to host our first ever virtual nearshore field trips! Joined by teachers from Komachin Middle School, we ventured out to Boston Harbor Marina and Tolmie State Park to collect some amazing intertidal and subtidal organisms and present them to sixth graders while they watched from the comfort of their homes. While we certainly miss showing students these creatures face-to-face (the lack of “oohs” and “ahhs” was noticeable!), we loved having the chance to share some marine invertebrates with students and reveal what’s living in their nearby South Sound shores. We can’t wait to have in-person field experiences again, but after these virtual field trips, we know we will be ready to provide more distance learning opportunities in the fall if we need to!
With the school year wrapping up, South Sound GREEN was also preparing for our annual Summer Institute for Teachers, a three-day event for teacher networking, environmental education resources, and, typically, an exploration of local natural areas. Always adapting to the circumstances, this year we worked with our partners at Nisqually River Education Project, Chehalis Basin Education Consortium, and the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge to provide our first ever Stay In-stitute, a virtual training experience! Usually, this event is directed towards local teachers, however because of the virtual nature of the program, we were able to extend our reach this year and had teacher participants from all over Washington state attend! We had incredible speakers and sessions this year, from learning about harmful algal blooms in the Pacific Northwest from a NOAA oceanographer to having in-depth and powerful discussion about race and youth voice within the classroom and environmental education settings. We were even able to offer teachers the opportunity to participate in action projects throughout the county (with limits to maintain socially acceptable distances!) and in their own backyard. Our 45 teacher participants were engaged and patient as we were navigating a new Institute format, and overall the first ever Stay In-stitute was a success!
Looking to the future, we plan on spending this summer adjusting our curriculum for whatever the next school year looks like. But if you’re still looking for projects to do over the summer, we’re still writing weekly Home Science Activities for ThurstonTalk!
