Students and teachers in the West Linn-Wilsonville school district have a treasure in their midst: CREST, the Center for Research in Environmental Sciences and Technologies. CREST offers programs and curricular support for students, teachers and parents in the community. Their work focuses on science education and place-based hands-on field research with students, and on general sustainability issues. The organization has also created CREST field experiences for grades K-5.
Thanks to a Teacher Professional Development grant from the Gray Family Foundation, teachers in the district have had financial support not only for hands-on training in sustainability, but also for the crucial prep time they need to integrate what they have learned into their curriculum. Lewis and Clark College Education professor Greg Smith, who specializes in teaching teachers about sustainability and environmental issues, led the classes. CREST Director Bob Carlson said, “The teachers told us ‘we wholeheartedly believe in doing this kind of work. We just don’t have the time to plan it; we don’t have time to get together. And with all the other things we teach and the other responsibilities we have, we don’t have time in our schedules to plan how to work this into our curriculum.’” So with the Gray Family grant, CREST was able to not only provide training, they made sure this material would not end up on the shelf due to lack of time to properly plan and integrate it into the curriculum.