Green Schools partners with EarthGen to host Fall education events for local teachers and students

Each year Clark County Green Schools partners with EarthGen to offer trainings to support educators and connect local students interested in environmental stewardship. This Fall we celebrated the return of in-person events with the Educator Training and Secondary Student Summit. Our goal is that these events provide opportunities for local leaders in Clark County Schools (educators and students alike) to learn about sustainability and grow environmental leadership skills.  

This October, EarthGen and Clark County Green Schools gathered over 20 educators from school districts across the county. Teachers, custodians and school support staff from districts including Battle Ground, Ridgefield, Vancouver, Evergreen and Washougal came together to learn about cafeteria waste reduction and school sustainability initiatives.

This in-person training included hands on activities, brainstorming sessions and team building exercises. A survey after the training showed 100% of educators agreed or strongly agreed that they felt prepared to support students to work collaboratively to define and complete action projects. On the survey, one Clark County educator stated, "I was inspired by the many educators at the training I attended. Each person is there to work toward completing an action project, and it made me feel like it is something I could do this school year. In addition, seeing the community resources available was a very informational part of the training." 

The Fall Secondary Student Summit was co-hosted by EarthGen and Clark County Green Schools at Clark College in November. Educators, middle school and high school students came together in-person for the first time in nearly three years to learn about school sustainability. Summit participants were grouped into interactive sessions that encouraged student leadership and innovative problem solving. Students learned about a wide range of topics including sustainable urban planning, food waste prevention and climate change.