Environmental Alternative Spring Break (EASB)
Since 2000, the University of Washington Pipeline Project has facilitated Alternative Spring Break program, an opportunity for undergraduates to spend their spring break in rural or tribal communities throughout Washington State. Environmental Alternative Spring Break (EASB) provides the unique opportunity for UW students to connect with students and facilitate hands-on environmental education and science projects in elementary and middle school classrooms. All of the EASB team member plan and design their own curriculum during a winter quarter preparation seminar to lead during Spring Break. In addition to teaching, EASB also emphasizes the importance of deepening community relationships. Each team seeks out ways to get involved in the community they partner with such as high school visits, attending school sports events, and visiting local organizations.
Leadership Competencies Gained
Collaboration
I didn't know anyone in my group until we met each other at the winter quarter seminar that meets weekly for 10 weeks. We had a lot of small discussion over literature about environmental education, but mostly worked in group that we were going to be with during spring break. It was the first time EASB sent students to Oroville, a town in Eastern Washington, so we didn't have much insights of what it was going to be from former members. So each of us had to find information online, create a teaching curriculum that is place-based and community-based, which means focusing on local issues, relevant to the community and tailored to the students that we were going to work with and then we combined everything we found together. This saved us a tons of time and also made our curriculum much more polished. The seminar was really helpful as it allowed students to interact and collaborate with each other.
Group Development
From not knowing each other to becoming trusted team members, our team has gone through a lot of uncertainties, ambiguities, confliction but at the end, we became close, supportive and complementary to each other. During the preparation phase, we spent extensive amounts of time working in group and developing the lesson plans we would teach together. At first, everyone didn't know what to expect but once we found a common ground and everyone was open about what they are good at, we divide the work based on that and it became much easier.
Plan
Prior to our spring break trip, all of the EASB team members plan and design their own curriculum during a winter quarter preparation seminar. During this seminar, we got to read texts about environmental education and discuss with others, explore local issues of rural/tribal education as well as environment, practice building place-based, community-based curriculum based on what we have learned about the site we were going to and engage in service-learning at a K-12 school in the Seattle area to gain insight to working in a classroom. Thanks to this seminar, I got to know my team members before we spend a whole week together, expand my knowledge about environmental education and the community where I was going to and also have time to build my curriculum, get peer reviews and revise as necessary. If it wasn't for the seminar, my teaching curriculum would never be as smooth as it went and I wouldn't be able to make the most out of this experience.
Social Responsibility
This was the most memorable spring break I have ever had and I wouldn't have spent it any other way. Not only did I get to teach the kids about water quality, why we should protect the environment in general and conserve water in particular but I also got a chance to cultivate a dream in them. After school we would have some casual talks and the students bombed us with questions about college. And at the end of the week, we gave them certificates that recognized them as "citizen scientist" they were really happy.
Other's Contributions
I am thankful that I had a wonderful team to work with and each of them has a lot to bring to the table. There contributions to my lesson plans was valuable and much appreciated. The night before I taught, they gathered around, pretended to be students so I could practice my lesson plans. Even though I had some teaching experience, I was still really nervous standing in front of a class of 25 seventh graders. But my team members were always willing to jump in when I needed and because of that, I was confidently finish my lesson as I knew I had someone to back me up.
I didn't know anyone in my group until we met each other at the winter quarter seminar that meets weekly for 10 weeks. We had a lot of small discussion over literature about environmental education, but mostly worked in group that we were going to be with during spring break. It was the first time EASB sent students to Oroville, a town in Eastern Washington, so we didn't have much insights of what it was going to be from former members. So each of us had to find information online, create a teaching curriculum that is place-based and community-based, which means focusing on local issues, relevant to the community and tailored to the students that we were going to work with and then we combined everything we found together. This saved us a tons of time and also made our curriculum much more polished. The seminar was really helpful as it allowed students to interact and collaborate with each other.
Group Development
From not knowing each other to becoming trusted team members, our team has gone through a lot of uncertainties, ambiguities, confliction but at the end, we became close, supportive and complementary to each other. During the preparation phase, we spent extensive amounts of time working in group and developing the lesson plans we would teach together. At first, everyone didn't know what to expect but once we found a common ground and everyone was open about what they are good at, we divide the work based on that and it became much easier.
Plan
Prior to our spring break trip, all of the EASB team members plan and design their own curriculum during a winter quarter preparation seminar. During this seminar, we got to read texts about environmental education and discuss with others, explore local issues of rural/tribal education as well as environment, practice building place-based, community-based curriculum based on what we have learned about the site we were going to and engage in service-learning at a K-12 school in the Seattle area to gain insight to working in a classroom. Thanks to this seminar, I got to know my team members before we spend a whole week together, expand my knowledge about environmental education and the community where I was going to and also have time to build my curriculum, get peer reviews and revise as necessary. If it wasn't for the seminar, my teaching curriculum would never be as smooth as it went and I wouldn't be able to make the most out of this experience.
Social Responsibility
This was the most memorable spring break I have ever had and I wouldn't have spent it any other way. Not only did I get to teach the kids about water quality, why we should protect the environment in general and conserve water in particular but I also got a chance to cultivate a dream in them. After school we would have some casual talks and the students bombed us with questions about college. And at the end of the week, we gave them certificates that recognized them as "citizen scientist" they were really happy.
Other's Contributions
I am thankful that I had a wonderful team to work with and each of them has a lot to bring to the table. There contributions to my lesson plans was valuable and much appreciated. The night before I taught, they gathered around, pretended to be students so I could practice my lesson plans. Even though I had some teaching experience, I was still really nervous standing in front of a class of 25 seventh graders. But my team members were always willing to jump in when I needed and because of that, I was confidently finish my lesson as I knew I had someone to back me up.