PSESD
Puget Sound ESD works with school district science leaders and regional community-based organizations (CBOs) to bring climate science concepts through NGSS-aligned, phenomena-based teaching to students across the region. Our greatest area of leverage is the science leaders and teacher leaders in our local school districts who can engage greater numbers of colleagues in racially just, solutions-oriented climate science learning and teaching. Our partnerships with ClimeTime grantees and other CBOs in the region result in a variety of learning opportunities to meet the needs of district science reform and teacher professional growth plans. Some of these opportunities are described below.

Teacher Professional Development
Elementary ClimeTime: How Does a Seed Become a Tree? A Carbon Story
In this workshop series, science teacher leaders provide an exploration of the role of trees in climate change using supportive teaching strategies that spark student thinking and support student talk.
Climate Science for Middle School
Many school districts adopted middle science instructional materials early in the NGSS implementation process. These materials often come from national providers. This year, we will work with middle school teacher leaders to explore phenomena-based climate science content and facilitation, and to use new ideas to enhance current instructional materials with a localized focus.
Climate Science for High School Chemistry
OpenSciEd is an open educational resource (OER) being developed by science education researchers and field test teachers. It supports NGSS phenomena-based teaching. In the series, we engage chemistry teachers in a deep study of the carbon cycle using a soon to be released OSE chemistry unit.
Community Based Organization Partnerships
The Puget Sound region is blessed by a large number of community-based organizations dedicated to improving science learning outcomes for students. We are fortunate to partner with ClimeTime grantees including EarthGen, Inlandwood, Pacific Education Institute and the Institute for Systems Biology. We also partner with non-grantees including Sustainability Ambassadors, Arts Impact and the Educators of Color Leadership Collaborative.

Leadership Support
Puget Sound Science Leadership Collaborative
The Science Leadership Collaborative is a partnership between regional, school district science leaders, Puget Sound ESD, the Puget Sound LASER Alliance. In this collaborative, district science leaders come together monthly to work together around common interests (e.g. instructional practices, cultural competence, curriculum-assessment resources). Climate justice and climate proviso resources are shared at monthly meetings.
Success Stories from Puget Sound ESD
Student Climate Assembly Project
During the 21-22 school year, educators Dave Ketter and Lisa Eschenbach worked with science & social studies teachers at Bellingham High School to replicate elements of the Washington Climate Assembly during a civics unit. As with the Washington Climate Assembly,...
EarthGen Expands Climate Justice League Statewide
Teacher Casey Jones’ family includes migrant farmworkers, whose lives are directly affected by climate change and social injustice. The students at Rowena Chess Elementary School where Casey teaches also see the effects of these twin crises in their daily lives....
IslandWood continues ClimeTime Focus School partnership with Rising Star Elementary
On August 26th, 2022, 38 Rising Star Elementary School staff jumped on a bus to headed to Bainbridge Island! The staff trip was a part of IslandWood’s Focus School partnership with Rising Star Elementary centered on helping students across grades make connections...