Professional development
Professional development
Youth mental health first aid training
Project AWARE will be hosting free, virtual trainings Dec. 9 and Dec. 16. Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) Training introduces common mental health challenges for youth, reviews typical adolescent development, and teaches a five-step action plan for how to help young people. By the end of the training, participants will be able to recognize and respond to the signs of mental health or addiction-related challenges or crises in young people age 12-18. YMHFA meets the educator suicide prevention/mental illness training requirement per MN statute 122A.187 as determined by districts. For more information, go to www.education.mn.gov/MDE/dse/safe/CSMHS/aware.
Earth Science Teacher Education Project
Professional development for high school earth science teachers and sixth-grade teachers is available through Minnesota’s Earth Science Teacher Education Project. ESTEP is available at little to no cost to educators thanks to grant funding. The ESTEP sixth grade professional development is a one week, bootcamp style, regional workshop that incorporates earth and space science content. The high school offering is also a one week, bootcamp style workshop that focuses on a specific set of earth and space science benchmarks and the teaching strategies you will need to start making the shift to science sense-making with your students. For more information on the offerings, locations and registration, go to www.mnsta.org/cgi/page.cgi/ESTEP.html.
Classroom resources
Academic enrichment opportunities guide
Looking for new ideas to ignite your students’ passion for learning? Reach for the Stars is a guide listing more than 130 academic enrichment programs and activities to supplement classroom learning and help students discover and develop their interests, passions and talents. Reach for the Stars is updated yearly as public service from Synergy & Leadership Exchange and the Minnesota Academic League. Download a free PDF at www.synergyexchange.org/reach-for-the-stars.
Climate change resources available
Climate Generation, a climate education and action nonprofit, is offering free resources for this year’s climate change negotiations at COP27 (conference of the parties) in Egypt. Resources include live webinar share backs from their Window into COP27 delegates on the ground in Egypt, a Window into COP27 digest, an updated COP educator toolkit, and more. To see more about what is available, go to www.climategen.org/resources/36087/cop-educator-toolkit.
Grants
Financial literacy grants available
The Expedition Credit Union Foundation will provide up to a $500 grant to teachers, departments or schools to support financial literacy efforts with their students. Submitted applications should support instruction of content related to budgeting, credit, money management, economics, saving and investing or other personal finance topics. Applications for grants must be postmarked by Dec. 16. Go to www.expeditioncu.com/about/expedition-foundation.html for more information on the grants and how to apply.
Expedition Credit Union scholarships
The Expedition Credit Union Foundation will grant one $2,000 Educator Award for educators who wish to attend an accredited institution for professional development, one $1,500 Education Major Award for current college students studying education and three $1,000 Student Awards to high school students who are members or dependents of Expedition Credit Union members and plan on attending college in the fall of 2023. The deadline for these awards is Feb. 3. Application requirements and instructions on how to apply are available at www.expeditioncu.com/about/expedition-foundation.html.
