DCEEC

Lunch & Learn: Outdoor Field Experiences: Shifting to Student-Led Place + Problem-based Learning
2025-02-03 12:00 - 13:30 UTC | virtual
Interested in connecting the dots between outdoor learning, environmental literacy, and social studies? Want to gain a better understanding of what meaningful watershed educational experiences might look like on school grounds? Hoping to connect with others who are doing work in this space, too? If so, join us for this three part virtual lunch and learn series to explore these topics, and more!
This is a three part series organized by the DC Environmental Education Consortium, with support from the DC Office of the State Superintendent of Education and Earth Force.
We will kick off this series by diving into student-led problem finding in the schoolyard. This is a foundational orientation shift in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEE) from far off outdoor experiences, to experiences that take place locally, in and around their schools and reflect their lived experience. Sarah Jennings, former District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) educator and now program manager at Earth Force, will help orient people to this pedagogical approach, alongside MWEE ambassador and trainer, Adrienne Farfalla, environmental protection specialist with the Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE). Prior to the session, participants are encouraged to complete the MWEE 101 training.
Recommended audience: anyone who works directly with students or plans student programming.
Register here.

About the organizers:

The Environmental Education Networking Committee of the DC Environmental Education Consortium (DCEEC) taps the District’s environmental education expertise to enrich the DCEEC community with professional development opportunities, such as Lunch and Learns, listening sessions, field outings, and trainings.
A collaboration between its environmental literacy and school garden programs, the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) hosts Outdoor Learning Gatherings for educators seeking resources and inspiration to engage students in activities that benefit from being outdoors and in nature.
A leader in environmental action civics, Earth Force received a NOAA Chesapeake Bay Watershed Education and Training grant to embed environmental literacy in social studies through the integration of an MWEE into the forthcoming sixth grade DC Public Schools (DCPS) social studies curriculum.

D.C. Teachers' Night: An Environmental Education Evening
2025-02-13 18:00 - 20:00 | US Botanic Garden, 100 Maryland Ave SW, Washington, DC, 20001
Join us at the U.S. Botanic Garden Conservatory for the 18th annual D.C. Teachers’ Night. Connect with D.C. area environmental education organizations and find ways to get your students learning about the natural world and how to bring the environment into the classroom! Learn from an amazing community about field trip experiences, professional development opportunities, and resources.
The event is free, however registration is required. Light refreshments will be served. Certificates of Participation available for PDUs.
This program is offered in collaboration with the D.C. Environmental Education Consortium and the Friends of the U.S. Botanic Garden.
Teachers, please register here.
Note: Environmental education providers must apply to attend as an exhibitor. Applications are due on Jan. 15.

Lunch & Learn: Social Studies + Environmental Literacy
2025-03-03 12:00 - 13:30 | virtual
Interested in connecting the dots between outdoor learning, environmental literacy, and social studies? Want to gain a better understanding of what meaningful watershed educational experiences might look like on school grounds? Hoping to connect with others who are doing work in this space, too? If so, join us for this three part virtual lunch and learn series to explore these topics, and more!
This is a three part series organized by the DC Environmental Education Consortium, with support from the DC Office of the State Superintendent of Education and Earth Force.
In the second session, Madison Kantzer, instructional systems specialist for social studies, and Grace Manubay, environmental literacy coordinator, at the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) will provide an overview of the new social studies standards that were adopted in 2023 and share how the Environmental Literacy Framework will be updated to incorporate these new standards. Earth Force will also cover the curricular supports being created for release in the summer of 2025, which will show how environmental literacy is being woven into the 6th-grade world geography curriculum. Feedback is welcomed and partners will be identified to help support the alignment of environmental literacy and social studies that is written into the curriculum! Prior to the session, participants are encouraged to review the social studies standards.
Recommended audience: anyone who works directly with students or plans student programming.
Register here.

About the organizers:

The Environmental Education Networking Committee of the DC Environmental Education Consortium (DCEEC) taps the District’s environmental education expertise to enrich the DCEEC community with professional development opportunities, such as Lunch and Learns, listening sessions, field outings, and trainings.
A collaboration between its environmental literacy and school garden programs, the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) hosts Outdoor Learning Gatherings for educators seeking resources and inspiration to engage students in activities that benefit from being outdoors and in nature.
A leader in environmental action civics, Earth Force received a NOAA Chesapeake Bay Watershed Education and Training grant to embed environmental literacy in social studies through the integration of a MWEE into the forthcoming sixth grade DC Public Schools (DCPS) social studies curriculum.

Postponed! Lunch & Learn: Mapping Environmental Literacy Programming for Systemic MWEEs
2025-03-24 12:00 - 13:30 | virtual
Interested in connecting the dots between outdoor learning, environmental literacy, and social studies? Want to gain a better understanding of what meaningful watershed educational experiences might look like on school grounds? Hoping to connect with others who are doing work in this space, too? If so, join us for this three part virtual lunch and learn series to explore these topics, and more!
This is a three part series organized by the DC Environmental Education Consortium, with support from the DC Office of the State Superintendent of Education and Earth Force.
A systemic meaningful watershed educational experience (MWEE) is defined by all students in a local education agency having 3 or more MWEEs throughout their K-12 experience (i.e., at least one experience in elementary, middle, and high school) in various subject areas. In the final session of this series, Earth Force will review the Outdoor Learning ArcGIS Map of DC environmental partners and conducting a Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis using the data. Our goal is to gather information about who is working where, with what grade level, with what champion educators, in what subject areas and to determine who can support place-based outdoor experiential learning with the goal of getting to a systemic MWEE. This is an opportunity to find collaborators, to use this data to plan for environmental literacy engagement equitably, and see opportunities for partners to crosswalk their materials and programs. Prior to the session, participants are encouraged to visit the Outdoor Learning Resource Hub and follow the link to explore the Outdoor Learning ArcGIS Map. Please come to the conversation prepared to discuss current partnerships and strategic outreach goals.
Recommended audience: anyone who is responsible for developing school partnerships and collaborates with other organizations.
Register here.

About the organizers:

The Environmental Education Networking Committee of the DC Environmental Education Consortium (DCEEC) taps the District’s environmental education expertise to enrich the DCEEC community with professional development opportunities, such as Lunch and Learns, listening sessions, field outings, and trainings.
A collaboration between its environmental literacy and school garden programs, the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) hosts Outdoor Learning Gatherings for educators seeking resources and inspiration to engage students in activities that benefit from being outdoors and in nature.
A leader in environmental action civics, Earth Force received a NOAA Chesapeake Bay Watershed Education and Training grant to embed environmental literacy in social studies through the integration of a meaningful watershed educational experience (MWEE) into the forthcoming 6th grade DC Public Schools social studies curriculum.

Open Space Call
2025-03-24 12:30 - 13:30 | virtual
Join the DCEEC community for an open space call. We recognize that many of us are facing uncertainty and challenges this spring, and we are shifting our Brown Bag Lunch to just be an open space to connect with fellow environmental educators, and build a space together for connection. We will start with a couple of open questions, and make space for small break out groups that serve the group. If there’s something you need to talk about with others within the EE world, this is your time to talk.
Some guiding questions for our chat:

It’s spring time. What are you thankful to see this time of year?
What brings you to this meeting right now?

What do you need?
What can you offer to others?

This may be as far as we get as a group, and then will make space for breakout groups. But we may also talk about:

What do you see as the headwinds and tailwinds we are seeing in EE right now?

Do you have a topic/ question you would like to discuss with other EE providers? Feel free to email bstuder@fona.org in advance of the Monday meeting, or come prepared to add it to the chat in the zoom meeting.
Recommended audience: anyone doing or supporting environmental education looking to connect with others right now. Please share with co-workers and colleagues who may benefit from this call.
Register here.
