Energizing and Innovative Professional Learning for K-12 Educators
The 2022 Summer Institutes will inspire, educate, and reignite our collective commitment to educating for sustainability
This year’s CELF Summer Institutes focus on giving teachers space to reflect and re-energize together with peers. Teachers will explore concepts of sustainability that emphasize community well-being as the core to enabling meaningful learning for students. CELF supports teachers as they reframe and reflect upon their teaching practices to incorporate sustainability and civic engagement throughout the school year. This approach ensures that our next generation is prepared with the systems-thinking mindset they’ll need to solve the world’s most pressing challenges.
Each of the four regional and online institutes offer standards-aligned, credit-based programming, geared towards a national audience of K-12 educators. This collaborative learning experience harnesses the imagination and energy of our educator community to reinvigorate your 2022-2023 school year ahead.
At CELF, we recognize that the disruption of the last two years – lost classroom hours, new demands on teachers, student frustration and grief – weighs heavily on educators of all types. When we ask “What does sustainability mean NOW?,” we look outward to environmental remediation, and inward to restoring self-worth and motivation.
Depending on your state, or district, you can earn PD credits for completing the CELF Summer Institute. In-service credits are based on district policy.
Register with your Team of Colleagues!
Interactive, in-depth, and self-paced, CELF’s Institutes are designed for individual or school team participation that connect instructional practices to real-world applications and learning experiences.
If you join with a team, there is a discount on tuition. Please see the specific Summer Insitute Registration for more details.
Scholarships Available
CELF will be offering a limited number of full scholarships. Preference will be given to teachers applying from Title 1 schools and other needs-based applicants. CELF will contact you upon receipt of your application. APPLY TODAY!
Administrator Email Outreach
Use this letter template to communicate the value of this PD with your administration as a professional learning experience that will benefit not only you, but your school, district and community. Feel free to customize and use it to request approval to attend the Summer Institutes.
Summer Institute Registration
Summer Institute Registration Open
Houston: Exploring Sustainability through Student-DrivenProjects
Location: Lone Star College, Kingwood, TX Dates: June 27-29, 2022 Time: 8:30am – 3:30pm CT
This 3-day (20 hours) in-person institute will introduce how to apply education for sustainability as a lens for learning in any subject; transdisciplinary teacher teams encouraged. Each educator will develop a Student Action Project that will address specific community environmental or justice problems. Participants will also use CELF’s Big Ideas of Sustainability framework to guide the integration of sustainability concepts into current teaching practices.
Westchester: Sustaining Yourself and Your Community: What Sustainability Means Now
Location: Manhattanville College, Purchase, NY Dates: July 11-13, 2022 Time: 8:30am – 4:00 ET
This 3-day (22.5 hours) in-person institute will introduce education for sustainability and connect it to solving real-world environmental and social justice issues in our schools and communities. Participants will reflect and apply CELF’s Big Ideas of Sustainability and Inquiry to Action frameworks to guide teaching practices and engage in community action.
Virtual: Engaging Students in Civic Science and Action
Location: Virtual Dates: July 19-21, 26-28, 2022 Time: 2:00 – 4:30pm ET
This 6-day (15 hours) online institute will introduce CELF’s Inquiry to Action Framework within the context of your classroom. Participants will learn the skills and knowledge to develop a project to engage student learning through inquiry, place and action. Pathways to topics such as water, biodiversity and air will be explored. Teachers will walk away with an Inquiry to Action project planner ready to implement in the fall.
Buffalo: Going for the Green: Sustainable Schools Hosted at Ken-Ton
Location:Kenmore Middle School, Kenmore, NY Dates: July 6-7, 2022 Time:8:00am – 3:30pm
This 2-day (14 hours) in-person institute will introduce Education for Sustainability within the context of your classroom and school. Join Buffalo-region school teachers and administrators to apply sustainability as a lens for learning to connect curriculum, culture and community. Participants will use CELF’s Big Ideas of Sustainability to enhance teaching practices and engage in transdisciplinary systems thinking.
