The Development of an Environmental Education Resource Library and Staff Development Program for the Mequon-Thiensville School District

The purpose of this project was to create an environmental education library and staff development program to provide teachers in the Mequon-Thiensville School District with resources and time so they could best serve the Wisconsin Academic and Environmental Education Standards. Teachers everywhere understand that background knowledge is difficult to obtain without resources and time to utilize resources and develop new lessons is short at best. By procuring free and grant-provided books, an online source of environmental education resources, and training to facilitate use of these resources, this project provided teachers in the Mequon-Thiensville School District with both time and resources to best fulfill the academic standards. In the fall of 2000, three grants were applied for and Eisenhower funds were sought and as a result, $4500.00 was obtained to fund a portion of the resource/equipment part of this project. In the winter of 2000, free resources were pursued, obtained and organized into several subject areas: Air Quality, Citizen Action, Energy, Forestry, Soil, Water, and Wildlife. A course proposal form was completed and accepted for the staff development program at this time as well. In the winter/spring of 2001 a website, Environmental Ed Web, was developed and other resources were ordered. In April 2001, the staff development course, Infusion of Environmental Education, began with 15 teachers enrolled. During the ten-hour course several objectives were accomplished. Teachers discussed what, why and how we should infuse environmental education into our existing curriculum. Participants were asked to survey their school's library and school grounds. Examples of online and hard copy resources were shown and explored. And as a culminating activity, the group went to Riveredge Nature Center to discuss its uses for teaching environmental education and explored its grounds. According to a brief survey given to all participants, the staff development course was well received and all are interested in more offerings in the future and are anxious to teach the lesson/unit they prepared.Mequon-Thiensville School District, and The Mequon-Thiensville Education Foundatio