The City of Lexington is once again offering teachers a chance to learn about some of the environmental challenges the city faces. The Teachers’ Environmental Academy is accepting applications for two week-long workshops, in June for kindergarten and elementary school teachers, and in July for middle and high-school teachers. Danny Woolums is the education coordinator for the city’s Department of Environmental Quality and Public Works.
“We take the teachers behind the scenes for the week, we give them tours for different areas. And then we give them different curriculum resources. So that way, they can then bring them back into the classroom, hopefully, to show students and get them excited about what's happening here.”
Woolums said a chief goal of the program is for the city to one day hire students of teachers who went through the environmental academy. He cited an example of an academy graduate passing along what she learned about the city’s wastewater treatment plant last summer to her students.
“She went back into her stem club STEM lab in the elementary school level, talk to students about sewers, and sanitary sewer systems and how our water gets treated. And now we have a whole group of these students who are just fascinated by wastewater.”
There are 25 spots open for each session. Teachers who complete all five days will be paid 5-hundred dollars, and breakfast and lunch will be provided.
The Lexington Department of Environmental Quality and Public Works is a financial supporter of WEKU.
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