General Support
Are you interested in connecting your students with environmental educators? To explore on-farm education opportunities, we invite you to contact our Workforce Development Program Manager Brooke Small at brooke@cvfc-vt.com.
Teens for Tomorrow
Applications are now open!
Are you a teacher ready to help your students create real-world solutions for real-world environmental problems? Then consider becoming a Teens for Tomorrow Team Mentor or Host!
Teens for Tomorrow is an environmental leadership opportunity for youth in grades 7-12. It is a teen-led environmental education program with an embedded service learning component designed to teach environmental literacy and responsibility to younger youth.
The Champlain Valley Farmer Coalition is inviting teens in our region to engage in the Teens for Tomorrow 4-H20 program area, which examines the water cycle, watersheds, water quality and health, and aquatic life. Teens in our program would then teach this Common Core-aligned curriculum to children in grades 3-4.
Teens for Tomorrow Lessons are taught by teams consisting of 2-4 teen teachers and an adult mentor who are trained to teach specific lessons to younger students. Teams must apply to the program and be selected. The training is set for January 9, 2025, 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. in Burlington, with a snow date of January 16.
Who Can Be a Teens for Tomorrow Team Member?
Team members must be in grades 7-12 and should have an interest in learning and teaching about the water cycle, watersheds, water quality and health, and aquatic life. It’s okay if you don’t have any knowledge of the issues or know how to teach. We will train you!
Your team must be able to commit to teaching the program to two different groups. That’s a minimum 12-hour commitment (plus your preparation time).
Who Can Be a Teens for Tomorrow Team Mentor?
Some ideas of people to ask: teacher, parent, after school instructor, community member, college student (21+ years old), 4-H or Scout Leader, or any caring adult who wants to mentor your team!
Who Can Be a Teens for Tomorrow Team Host?
The Teens for Tomorrow 4-H20 curriculum is aligned with Common Core Standards for grades three and four. In turn, we are looking for teachers in grades three and four who would welcome a team to teach lessons in their classroom. If you’re interested in hosting, please contact Brooke Small (brooke@cvfc-vt.com) to learn more and sign up.
Questions? Contact Brooke Small, brooke@cvfc-vt.com.
Watershed for Every Classroom
The 2024-2025 Watershed for Every Classroom cohort is underway and applications are now closed. Please check back in the future for more opportunities to engage with this program.
The Champlain Valley Farmer Coalition (CVFC) is teaming up with Shelburne Farms and the Lake Champlain Basin Program to offer “Watershed for Every Classroom,” a year-long, supported professional development program for interdisciplinary teams of K-12 teachers in the Lake Champlain Basin of New York, Vermont, and Quebec.
The program offers teachers inspiration, knowledge and skills to frame exciting place-based curriculum. A new session runs every other year, and course sessions are held in July, October, January, March, and May. The next WEC session will begin in July 2024.
In this program, teachers will:
- Explore the stories of the Lake Champlain Basin as shared by its people, places, and things;
- Learn how these stories offer multiple ways to teach all subjects;
- Engage students in learning in and about their community; and,
- Build their students’ sense of belonging to their home place.
Through CVFC’s partnership, educators in Addison County will additionally receive:
- Year-long curriculum coaching
- Opportunities to bring their students on field trips to local farms to learn about the interplay between agriculture and the watershed.
The program is best suited for educators working with grades 4-9, but is applicable to all subject areas and grades.
Program Overview
2024-25 Gathering Dates
- July 16–19, 2024
- October 4–5, 2024
- January 31, 2025
- April 11–12, 2025
You should be willing to:
- Participate in all sessions. Personal transportation will be needed to study sites around Vermont and New York.
- Complete readings and written reflections and participate in collegial planning and dialogue.
- Develop a watershed-based teaching unit that integrates the local landscape. The unit will meet the goals of your district’s curriculum and exemplify best practices of place-based education and service learning.
- Provide a letter of support from your administrator if accepted; this is important to ensure you’ll be given time during the academic year to join all retreats.
Fees + Credits
- Program fee: $500, includes housing and meals for single overnights happening in July, October, and May. Needs-based scholarships are available once accepted.
- Educators receive $100 for classroom resources to advance personal watershed learning after the summer retreat. Apply for an additional $200 school mini-grant at the end of the program.
- Lake Champlain Sea Grant is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s Office of Teaching Initiatives as an approved sponsor of CTLE for Professional Classroom Teachers, School Leaders, and Level III Teaching Assistants. CTLE certificates of completion will be offered for educators in attendance for the full duration of the program.
- Optional graduate credits for an additional fee: 3- and 6-credit options are available from Castleton University. 3 credits are available for the summer only portion and 6 credits for the full year.
To Apply
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis until program spaces fill.
Questions? Contact Brooke Small at brooke@cvfc-vt.com
