Educator Workshops

Shelburne Farms offers a variety of professional development opportunities for both formal and non-formal educators at the elementary or middle-school level. Each program is designed to give educators the confidence, motivation and skills they need to integrate science, agricultural, and natural resource topics into their curricula. Shelburne Farms also works collaboratively with other organizations. Programs usually offer graduate or recertification credit, and address Vermont’s “Framework of Standards and Learning Opportunities."

Shelburne Farms 2010 Educator Workshop Flyer (PDF) or see Chronological Listings below.

*Note: Professional Development Programs have a non-refundable administration fee of $30 unless otherwise noted.

Opportunities for Educators Chronological Listing

"Sweet Sugaring" One-Day Workshop linked to School Programs
Friday, JANUARY 15
TIME: 9:00 am-3:00 pm
FEE: $30 for the day (scholarships available).
INFORMATION: Margaret Burke, 802-985-0327, mburke@shelburnefarms.org
REGISTRATION: 802-985-8686
Spend a day with our educators and sugar makers preparing for the season. Get a jump on the science of sugaring and explore activities that will help you create a dynamic experience for your family or your class at any sugarhouse this season. Our one-day workshops integrate field trip topics with classroom work. They are open to all educators, including home-schooling parents, farmers hosting schools, and those wanting to learn more about a specific topic. Interact with experts in the field to boost your subject knowledge, observe and model appropriate teachings methods, and begin to develop assessment techniques. You do not need to be attending a field trip to attend one of these workshops.

Project Seasons Farmer Workshop
Friday & Saturday, MARCH 5-6, 2010
FEE: $200 includes materials & meals. Scholarships available.
PRESENTED BY: Shelburne Farms, in partnership with the Farm-Based Education Association
INFORMATION & REGISTRATION: Erica Curry, ecurry@shelburnefarms.org 802-985-0325
Develop hands-on education programs for your farm that encourage school groups and visitors to learn and explore. Whatever your farming background and whatever your farm, these seasonal workshops are for you! Topics include marketing your farm program to schools and the community, creating a safe farm environment for the public, and meeting teachers’ needs.
To download or view a PDF flyer for this program, click here.

Teachers' Clubhouse: "Digging Soil with Dr. Wiggles" NEW!
Wednesday, APRIL 21, 2010
TIME: 4:00-7:00 pm
FEE: $50 includes materials, supplies, & light fare. Scholarships available.
INFORMATION: Margaret Burke, 802-985-0327, mburke@shelburnefarms.org
REGISTRATION: 802-985-8686 x341
Meet with “Dr. Wiggles,” our resident expert on worms, for an afternoon of soil science and worm composting. Create materials including worm puppets for lessons on soil, worm anatomy, and more. Our new after school “Clubhouse” series includes adventures on the land followed by hands-on activities for your classroom. Make teaching props and materials to bring the magic back to school.

Principles and Promising Practices of Place-Based Education
JUNE 24-26, 2010 • Thursday-Saturday
FEE: $450. One graduate credit available for additional $140
PRESENTED BY: Shelburne Farms
INFORMATION: Erica Curry, 802-985-0325, ecurry@shelburnefarms.org.
Use your local community and environment as an integrating context for your teaching. Discover the fundamentals of service-learning and place-based education methods to take your students’ learning to a new level and enhance your community’s understanding of place. You’ll have work time to synthesize your learning as well as one-on-one consultation with resource specialists.

A Watershed for Every Classroom
JULY 14–16 & 19–20, October 1 & 2, 2010, and February 4 & 5, May 6 & 7, 2011
INFORMATION: Linda Wellings, 802-985-0308, or lwellings@shelburnefarms.org, or
Download an application at: www.lcbp.org/cbei
A Watershed for Every Classroom is a year-long professional development program for educators who would like to focus on place- based education. Educators develop curricula that use the Lake Champlain Basin as an integrating concept to teach science, math, history, art, geology, language arts, etc. Presented by Partners of the Champlain Basin Education Initiative.

Community Works Institute on Service Learning
JULY 19-23, 2010 • Monday-Friday
TIME: 8:30 am - 4:30 pm
FEE: $989 includes books, training materials, breaks, & lunches. Excludes lodging. 3 graduate credits optional for additional $552.
PRESENTED BY: Community Works in partnership with Shelburne Farms
INFORMATION: Joe Brooks, jbrooks@communityworksonline.org or general info: 909-480-3966.
DOWNLOAD BROCHURE at: www.communityworksonline.org
REGISTRATION: 802-985-8686
The Institute provides K-16 teachers, community educators, and administrators with training, models, strategies, and resources for developing service-learning and sustainability as an integrated feature of curriculum with clear links to standards. It will emphasize the use of service-learning best practices. Interactive training will include opportunities for dialogue with experiencedpractitioners, and structured planning and reflection time for individual and group work. Our multistate team of guest faculty will share tools and exemplars and be available for direct support to participants throughout the week. Each participant will develop an integrated service-learning instructional or site plan that meets his or her own unique school or program needs. Opportunities for post-Institute support available.

Project Seasons Summer Workshop
JULY 26-30, 2010 • Monday-Friday
TIME: 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
FEE: $500 includes copy of Project Seasons (scholarships available). Two graduate credits optional for additional $368
PRESENTED BY: Shelburne Farms
INFORMATION: Linda Wellings, lwellings@shelburnefarms.org, 802-985-0308
REGISTRATION: 802-985-8686
Enrich your science curriculum with exciting, interdisciplinary, and hands-on, easy-to-use activities on environmental and agricultural topics. This workshop is designed to increase science literacy and cultivate connections by tracing the food we eat and the clothes we wear back to the farm.

Education for Sustainability (EFS) Institute
AUGUST 3-5, 2009, Tuesday- Thursday
TIME: 8:30-4:30
FEE: $450 includes materials, light breakfast & lunch; scholarships available. One graduate credit optional for additional $175
PRESENTED BY: Shelburne Farms’ Sustainable Schools Project
INFORMATION: Matt Dubel, 802-985-0331, mdubel@shelburnefarms.org or www.sustainableschoolsproject.org
REGISTRATION: 802-985-8686
Formal and non-formal educators across the country are using the idea of sustainability to connect students’ learning experiences across grades and disciplines, while preparing them to meet the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century. Join fellow PreK-12 educators to build strategies and skills for using sustainability as a theme to connect curriculum, campus practices, and community engagement.

Teachers' Clubhouse: "Tracking Down Winter Fun" NEW!
Wednesday, NOVEMBER 10, 2010
TIME: 4:00-7:00 pm
FEE: $50 includes materials, supplies, & light fare. Scholarships available.
INFORMATION: Margaret Burke, 802-985-0327, mburke@shelburnefarms.org
REGISTRATION: 802-985-8686
Head into the woods to learn about winter trees, tracks, and transitions in the forest. Warm up indoors while you construct life cycle cards, make track stamps, and create stories of wildlife tracks. Our new after school “Clubhouse” series includes adventures on the land followed by hands-on activities for your classroom. Make teaching props and materials to bring the magic back to school.

VT FEED: Food Education Every Day
INFORMATION: , Erica Curry, 802-985-0325 or www.vtfeed.org
The Vermont FEED project is a professional development program to help schools build connections between their classrooms, cafeterias, school gardens, local farms, and their greater community. Through standards-based curriculum development about food, farms, and nutrition, teachers create local, food-based units that integrate into their existing curriculum while using their cafeteria and local community as classrooms. Vermont FEED partners: Food Works, Northeast Organic Farming Association, and Shelburne Farms.

Sustainable Schools Project
INFORMATION: Matt Dubel, Coordinator, at 802-985-0331, or mdubel@shelburnefarms.org, or visit: www.sustainableschoolsproject.org
The Sustainable Schools Project is a dynamic new model for school improvement and civic engagement. The program is designed to help schools use sustainability as an integrating context for curriculum, community partnerships, and campus practices.

A Forest for Every Classroom: Learning to Make Choices for the Future
Next session begins SPRING 2011.
INFORMATION: Linda Wellings, 802-985-0308, or lwellings@shelburnefarms.org, or visit the FFEC web site: www.nps.gov/mabi/mabi/education/forest.htm
A Forest for Every Classroom (FFEC) is a year-long professional development program for educators focused on place-based education. Teachers who participate in FFEC develop curricula that foster student understanding of and appreciation for the public lands in their communities. The teacher-developed curricula integrate hands-on, natural and cultural explorations that address concepts in ecology, sense of place, stewardship, and civics. At the heart of the FFEC program is the belief that students who are immersed in the interdisciplinary study of “place” are more eager to learn and be involved in the stewardship of their communities and public lands. A Forest for Every Classroom partners: Green Mountain National Forest, Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park, National Park Service Conservation Study Institute, Northeast Natural Resource Center of the National Wildlife Federation, Northern Forest Center, and Shelburne Farms. 2006 Regional Partner: Synergy Learning.

The PLACE Program
INFORMATION: Erica Curry, 802-985-0325, ecurry@shelburnefarms.org, or www.uvm.edu/place.
A collaboration of the University of Vermont and Shelburne Farms to provide communities with an innovative, new model for placed-based education. It utilizes an integrated series of workshops, fieldwork, lectures, and printed resources to help communities examine and interpret the landscape of a town and its transformation over time. Designed for officials, residents and landowners, and for teachers interested in incorporating the local landscape into their classroom.