We were thrilled to participate in Maple Elementary’s 6th Annual Big Science Day earlier this month. This annual event, organized by 5th-grade teacher and University of Washington College of Education faculty member, Micah Ventura, transforms the school into a hub of scientific exploration, highlighting the wonders of science and engineering in every corner. IslandWood was honored to contribute to this inspiring day, working alongside future educators and community partners.
Our Programs Manager, Celina Steiger, and Senior Faculty, Dr. Priya Pugh, played a key role by leading an engaging outdoor science session. This session provided approximately 30 teacher candidates from the University of Washington’s Elementary Teacher Education Program (ELTEP) and Seattle Teacher Residency (STR) with valuable hands-on experience in utilizing schoolyard spaces for science learning. The candidates also participated in an engineering challenge with fifth graders, observed classroom lessons led by Maple Elementary teachers, interventionists, and specialists, and joined a joint science methods session.
We were delighted to see so many dedicated professionals come together, including faculty and staff from IslandWood, the UW College of Education, and Seattle Public Utilities’ Cedar River Watershed. This collaborative spirit underscored the importance of community partnerships in fostering effective science education.
It was a wonderful surprise to discover that two alumni from IslandWood’s Graduate Program in Education for Environment and Community were among the teacher candidates present. Their involvement highlighted the lasting impact of our program and the continued commitment of our graduates to environmental and science education.
We extend our sincere gratitude to Micah Ventura, Maple Elementary, and all the participating organizations for making Big Science Day such a success. We look forward to future opportunities to collaborate and support science education in the community.
If you haven’t already, subscribe to our newsletter to stay in the know about blog posts, news, and events!
