As part of its multiyear project to develop a K-12 Education for Sustainability Curriculum, which will be piloted in grades six through eight in the 2008-2009 school year, the Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES Curriculum Council hosted a two-day training workshop this month.

The curriculum writers — middle school teachers from Putnam and Northern and Southern Westchester school districts — learned about the principles of sustainability and began to plan how to infuse sustainability standards into the grade level curriculum they will develop over the summer.

More than 100 teacher/writers came out for the workshop representing the following districts — Ardsley, Bedford, Brewster, Briarcliff, Byram Hills, Carmel, Chappaqua, Croton-Harmon, Haldane, Hendrick Hudson, Katonah-Lewisboro, Lakeland, Mahopac, North Salem, Ossining, Somers and Tarrytown.

The goal of the BOCES project is to create an interdisciplinary, web-based curriculum that teachers can use to better teach children about the core knowledge, skills, and attitudes related to sustainability.

Social studies, math, English, science, and art teachers will create a curriculum that engages students in creative problem solving and critical thinking about global interdependence. The curriculum writers will work on creating units by infusing existing curriculum with the “lens” of sustainability as well as by creating new materials.

While the multiyear project will begin with curriculum development in grades six through eight, ultimately the Education for Sustainability Curriculum will be created for kindergarten through twelfth grade students. Dr. Marla Gardner, director of the PNW BOCES Curriculum and Instructional Services Department, said, “We are very excited about working with our districts to create a groundbreaking curriculum that will impact their schools and communities.”

(Press release courtesy of Karen Thornton/BOCES.)