The Teaching Change program is a partnership between NREM, the USDA Forest Service Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry, Pacific Resources for Education and Learning, and a wide array of state, federal and non-profit collaborators. Teaching Change began in 2012 and has since reached several thousand middle and high school students on Hawaii Island via outdoor, immersive educational opportunities in natural resource management. The primary mission of Teaching Change is to inspire local youth to pursue careers in natural resource management in Hawaii and to empower them with the knowledge of how to best attain these careers via post-secondary educations in the state. The program has five primary components: (i) monthly two-day outdoor field courses focused on forest ecology and management in the context of global change (climate change, invasive species, land-use change); (ii) an annual Conservation Career Day where students learn about educational pathways and careers in natural resource management; (iii) an annual Teacher Training Workshop to provide local middle and high school teachers with the background and knowledge to develop and implement outdoor, immersive curricula; (iv) monthly, immersive day trips to introduce 4th graders to native flora, fauna and forest ecology; and (v) an annual Bio-cultural Blitz with 4th graders geared towards learning about environmental science topics, careers in natural resource management, and the cultural significance of place.
For more information, please visit the Teaching Change Website.