Smart by Nature: Schooling for Sustainability

Dates: Monday through Wednesday, June 22-24, 2009

Due to popular demand, this three-day professional development seminar has been opened to individuals and teams of K-12 educators, parents, and others who want to learn more about this important and hopeful new trend in K-12 education. It is designed to support those who wish to help young people develop the experience, knowledge, skills, and values essential to sustainable living.

This seminar offers an opportunity to:

* Learn about the growing schooling for sustainability movement and hear a wide variety of success stories from across the nation
* Explore the principles of schooling for sustainability, as presented in the Center for Ecoliteracy's new initiative, Smart by Nature: Schooling for Sustainability
* Develop strategies to transform your school through a diverse range of approaches to schooling for sustainability

This seminar will be facilitated by Dr. Carolie Sly, education program director at the Center for Ecoliteracy. Ms. Sly earned her doctoral degree in science education from the University of California, Berkeley, and has authored and co-authored books and articles that include the award-winning California State Environmental Education Guide and the Center for Ecoliteracy's Big Ideas: Linking Food, Culture, Health, and the Environment.

Featured faculty includes:

Janet Brown, certified organic farmer, president of Marin Organic, and cofounder of the Center for Ecoliteracy's Rethinking School Lunch Program

Wendy Johnson, author of the recently acclaimed Gardening at the Dragon's Gate: At Work in the Wild and Cultivated World, and cofounder of the organic Farm and Garden Program at Green Gulch Farm Zen Center.

Center for Ecoliteracy staff will showcase exemplary schools and share practical lessons learned in key areas, such as:

* Food and its connection to health, academics, and the environment
* Integration of ecological teaching and learning across the curriculum
* Campus as a system, and ways in which schools are incorporating building design, energy use, and waste practices
* Service learning and other ways of connecting with the larger community

Participants also will receive guidance and support for designing project-based learning activities for the classroom, service learning, and informal learning environments.

Through a blend of inspirational presentations, a youth panel discussion, and experiential learning that engages the head, heart, hands, and spirit, this seminar will also explore the four central principles of schooling for sustainability:

Nature is our teacher
Sustainability is a community practice
The real world is the optimal learning environment
Sustainable living is rooted in a deep knowledge of place

This seminar is intended for educators at elementary, middle, and high school levels, including academic, kitchen, and garden classroom teachers, as well as parents and others interested in schooling for sustainability. We encourage teachers to come in pairs or teams, but individuals are also welcome. Attendance will be limited to those who can be present for the entire seminar.

Tuition fee: $395 per person

In addition to the seminar workbook, the tuition fee includes a beautifully designed and generous kit of materials:

* Copies of Ecoliteracy: Educating Our Children for a Sustainable World, edited by Michael K. Stone and Zenobia Barlow, Center for Ecoliteracy
* Copies of Big Ideas: Linking Food, Culture, Health, and the Environment, published by the Center for Ecoliteracy
* Copies of Getting Started: A Guide to Creating Gardens as Outdoor Classrooms, designed and published by the Center for Ecoliteracy in collaboration with Life Lab Science Program
* One copy per team of Gardening at the Dragon's Gate: At Work in the Wild and Cultivated World, by Wendy Johnson

Seminar will be facilitated by Dr. Carolie Sly, education program director at the Center for Ecoliteracy, with featured guests.

Tuition fee does not include travel or accommodations.
Lunch will be served daily.

Scholarships: A limited number of scholarships will be available for teams and members of school communities demonstrating need. For scholarship information, please indicate your needs in the "Other Comments" section of the application form.

application: http://www.ecoliteracy.org/seminars/sfs-application.php