Santa Cruz County Teacher Leadership Institute for Sustainability

Program Overview

The Teacher Leadership Institute for Sustainability is an innovative professional learning program supporting TK-12 teachers to integrate environmental sustainability within their classroom curriculum and engage students in action projects at school or in their communities. The program is open to all content areas. See flier here.

Applications are now closed for the 2023-24 Cohort

Here's what teachers say about the program:

"This program gave me what I have been looking for in the field of sustainability, a way to give students hope and empower them to make change." --high school teacher participant
"My highlight was definitely seeing the engagement and focus of my students significantly increase." --middle school teacher participant
"I feel inspired! This has helped me feel more resolved to focus on change-making and action in classroom projects, as well as make more connections between the classroom and greater community." --elementary school teacher participant

Program Components

The Institute is structured to include the following elements to support individual professional learning and collective growth and development within an inspiring teaching and learning community.

Knowledge and Skill Building focused on sustainability and environmental literacy frameworks in connection to core instruction
Community Building and Mentoring to develop a shared vision and understanding of green schools and increase collaboration between schools and community-based partner organizations
Reflection and Accountability through capturing and sharing impacts across school campus, curriculum, community and culture