The New Jersey Climate Change Education Hub, an online portal to connect K-12 educators to the resources they need to integrate climate change into their curriculum for all subject areas and grade levels, will be introduced during a Facebook Live session featuring leaders in education on Thursday, June 23, at 10 a.m.
Michael Kvidahl, the manager of digital communications and marketing at the New Jersey School Boards Association, will moderate the session on the NJSBA Facebook page. Speakers will include Randall Solomon, executive director at Sustainable Jersey; Patrice Maillet, acting deputy executive director of NJSBA; Dr. Lauren Madden, a professor of education at The College of New Jersey; and Margaret Wang, co-founder and chief operating officer of Subject to Climate. The event will include a tour of the new hub and a question-and-answer session.
The hub was created as part of the New Jersey Climate Change Education Initiative, which is a coalition of nonprofit and higher education institutions including Sustainable Jersey, NJSBA, TCNJ’s School of Education, New Jersey Audubon and the National Wildlife Federation.
In June 2020, New Jersey became the first state in the nation to incorporate K-12 climate change education across content areas when the State Board of Education adopted the 2020 New Jersey Student Learning Standards. The launch of the New Jersey Climate Change Education Hub provides educators with foundational resources aligned to the new learning standards, and to the students’ grade and subject area. The hub will help schools to effectively teach climate change and implement the Climate Change Education Student Learning Standards from the New Jersey Department of Education.
The New Jersey Climate Change Education Hub provides:
- Exemplar Lesson Plans: Developed by teachers, each lesson plan is New Jersey-centric and aligned with NJSLS, so users can teach to the climate change education standards immediately.
- 1400+ Teaching Resources: The online resource database is searchable by keywords, subjects, grade level, NJSLS and more. All resources have been reviewed by a scientist and a teacher.
- Professional Learning: Users can find the right professional learning opportunity for their school, whether it is a workshop for curriculum development, courses, or articles to guide teachers on how to teach about climate change.
- Guidance for School Boards: School boards have access to guiding documents to support schools implementing the climate change education standards.
The New Jersey Climate Change Education Hub was created in response to the recently released “Report on K-12 Climate Change Education Needs in New Jersey.” The hub is also building on the efforts of New Jersey. In March 2022, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy allocated $5 million in the fiscal year 2023 budget to K-12 climate change education and an office for climate change education in the New Jersey Department of Education. Tammy Murphy, the first lady of New Jersey, has been a strong supporter of this initiative.
The quick transition from the incorporation of the climate change standards to the implementation of the resources was made possible by the work of an innovative collaboration of thought leaders who assessed the next steps and developed the hub. In March 2021, the NJSBA, Sustainable Jersey, TCNJ, New Jersey Audubon, the National Wildlife Federation and SubjectToClimate formed the New Jersey Climate Change Education Initiative. The Climate Change Education Thought Leader Committee created the plan for implementing the standards statewide and developed the New Jersey Climate Change Education Hub. The recommendations are outlined in the “Report on K-12 Climate Change Education Needs in New Jersey.”
Tune in to the Facebook Live Session
Don’t forget to visit the NJSBA Facebook Page to watch the Facebook Live session introducing the hub, Thursday, June 23, at 10 a.m.