Initatives
Dese Collaboration
The DESE Team is currently collaborating with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to provide teachers (specifically who teach History and Social Sciences) with resources to teach about climate activism, policy, and justice in their classrooms. Additionally, we are also working to create examples of community wide climate activism projects for middle and high school students. These project ideas are in response to the newly mandated civics projects for middle and high school students.
Mandating Standards
The mandating standards team has partnered with Senator Julian Cyr to write legislation which will mandate the Department of Education to add updated standards regarding climate change into the Science frameworks and new standards regarding climate policy, activism, and justice into the History and Social Sciences framework.
Outreach to Teachers
The Outreach team is focusing on forming relationships with other organizations and teachers. This team collaborates with organizations to share climate related educational resources. Additionally, they work on forming relationships with teachers unions and students to gain their support and advice as we navigate improving climate education in schools.
Equity and Justice
Climate Justice Book
A group of students in MCEO is collaborating with teachers and former Cornell Professor Moncrief Cochran to produce a textbook for teachers to utilize for students at the middle school level. This textbook focuses on climate change, global warming, environmentalism, the history and present of climate change in the Northeast USA, climate justice, policy, and activism. This book will contain projects, lesson plans, excepts, and worksheets for teachers to utilize in the classroom.
The Equity and Justice team works to promote anti-racism and inclusion throughout the organization. They have hosted a two-day Anti-Racism Training Event to educate people on social and racial justice as well as environmental justice across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
