Volume 2, Issue 2 | February 2025
Upcoming Call-Back Sessions
We will have TWO call-backs in early March:
Monday, March 3rd, 7pm EST
Wednesday, March 5th, 7pm EST
There are a lot of changes happening since Jan 20th. It might be good to share:
- experiences: how is this impacting you?
- problems of practice: How are you engaging with students now?
- insights and strategies: What strategies can you implement?
- trauma-informed approaches: Can we take up examples of how climate and equity are being felt right now and how does it relate to the work we did in the summer?
- self-care: how are you continuing to function?
The TERC team can share briefly about how TERC is being affected (and how it is NOT affecting the Climate and Equity Institute).
If you can’t make those times, but would like us to find another time, please contact Brian.
Updates from Climate and Equity Fellows
From Sarah Griggs (’22)
I am eagerly anticipating the sugaring season, which keeps getting pushed closer and closer to break when I won’t have any student power to help with the heavy lifting! We’ve tapped most of our trees at this point, and crossing our fingers for some good flow starting this weekend! The Center in which I work, the Global & Environmental Studies Center, is partnering with our Center for Teaching and Learning, to launch our school’s first-time participation in the Worldwide Climate and Justice Education week. I’ll be presenting to our faculty next week about the ask: we’re hoping for 100% participation across the curriculum for people to engage from 5-minutes to a full lesson with students leveraging the link between their discipline and the climate crisis (ideally focusing on solutions). The goal is to help empower our students with the understanding that there are many ways they can take action, to try to address growing climate anxiety. While the goal is 100% participation, the reality is that it will likely be more like 30%…which is still a win in my book. We’re also gearing up for Earth month; during April, the student group I co-lead, our Environmental Proctors, will host a variety of events ranging from a fundraiser for a local watershed association to a sustainability-themed games night, to vegan cooking classes, to a documentary screening.
From Amanda Darlak (’24)
Amanda posted this earlier in the Google Group, but it’s so interesting an opportunity we add her message here, too:
Last fall I attended this amazing training called the Art of Hosting. I believe some of the processes and procedures would benefit future Climate and Equity Institutes. One of the rules of the Art of Hosting is to NEVER host alone. I would love to recruit some folks to implement some Art of Hosting experiences at future institutes.
There are several opportunities to learn the Art of Hosting, but the experience I had at this particular location, the Queen’s University Biological Station in Elgin, Ontario (not far from Montreal) was similar to what Schoodic Institute, Acadia provided for us.
This fills fast. I am signing up this week.
https://www.wildawakenings.ca/reimagining-education
Here is the blurb from the website:
“The Art of Hosting and Harvesting Conversations that Matter (also known as the Art of Participatory Leadership) offers simple and powerful participatory practices, patterns and processes to host generative conversations that can lead to coordinated action and positive change.
These approaches have been used effectively in diverse contexts worldwide to harness collective wisdom, encourage compassionate leadership and collaboration, and create better social and environmental outcomes.
The Art of Hosting can be a valuable approach in education as it supports the creation of dynamic, inclusive, and engaging learning environments that encourage active participation, critical thinking, collaboration, and personal growth among students.”
If you have questions feel free to email.
Warm winter wishes (snow day today in Oregon), Amanda
From Mary Richards (’24)
I went to the National Council of Teachers of English annual conference in Boston in November and presented four different sessions based on our work this summer. I am also going to be attending the National Writing Project’s Climate Literacy Summit in New Orleans in early June and will be working with Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf School of English as an assistant to the dean and will certainly find every way possible to bring climate literacy pedagogies into focus here, too. Thank you so much for being who you are and for TERC because the work and solidarity we built this summer has been one of the most important buoys for me in these times. I love you all so much !!
Now’s your chance! Deadline for next newsletter
Send us your ideas, your news items, or resource reviews by March 24th for next month’s newsletter
Call-backs: Feel free to suggest topics for future call back sessions
Contact Brian at climateandequity@terc.edu with ideas and proposals!
The Climate and Equity project is funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.