East Lansing, Mich. –– Nearly 200 educators from across the Great Lakes packed the Kellogg Hotel & Conference Center for the state’s first place-based education conference on Nov. 9–10. The conference centered on raising awareness about a growing educational philosophy, called place-based education, which uses the local community and environment as a starting point for teaching and learning.
“This conference was our way of celebrating and advancing this promising educational philosophy called place-based education,” said Mary Whitmore, program coordinator for the Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative (GLSI), which uses place-based education to help develop the next generation of environmental stewards. “The past two days have been a great experience for educators interested in ways to make education engaging and exciting for young people. Attendees have used their time here to network, share ideas, and get the resources they need to help their students make a difference in their communities.”
The two days were jammed with sessions focused on how to get K–12 students out of the classroom and into their communities to solve real-world problems. Several Lansing area educators attended.
“This experience brought me together with other educators who are doing some exciting things all across the country,” said Shannon Murton, a developmental kindergarten teacher at Haslett Public Schools. “I’m eager to get students outside and engaged. I’m also excited to be a part of this effort to produce a generation of good stewards and critical thinkers. From students as young as my kindergarten students all the way up to the top grade levels, place-based education can develop initiative, activism, and a sense of empowerment.”
Murton presented at the conference and outlined one of her class’s recent place-based education efforts. Murton and her kindergarten class built a rain and butterfly garden and in the process students learned how native plants can help filter water and how way stations help butterflies sustain their migration.
The conference included presentations from three national experts: Chris Heeter, founder and owner of The Wild Institute in Ham Lake, Minnesota; award-winning teacher Jon Yoder, science program assistant at Salem-Keizer School District in Salem, Oregon; and David Sobel, director at the Center for Place-based Education at Antioch New England Institute in Keene, New Hampshire, who is one of the country’s top experts on place-based education.
The conference was hosted by the GLSI, which was launched in 2007 to develop knowledgeable and active stewards of the Great Lakes through hands-on learning in the community. The GLSI has eight regional hubs across Michigan dedicated to helping students and their teachers collaborate with community partners to learn about and address local stewardship needs. To date, the GLSI has worked with more than 800 teachers and 20,000 students in nearly 300 schools in Michigan.
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The GLSI is funded by the Great Lakes Fishery Trust, with additional support from the Wege Foundation. Other funders include the Community Foundation for Muskegon County, the Fremont Area Community Foundation, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, and the Frey Foundation, among others. For more information about the GLSI or its eight regional hubs in Michigan, visit www.glstewardship.org.
