We’ve written why we teach the teachers. We’ve written why we support public education (twice, actually). And we’ve written about STEM Education, FIRST Robotics and preparing our future workforce.
All are important pieces for today’s students so they’ll be prepared after graduating.
There are two other groups that share that goal, and we have partnerships with both.
The Northwest Natural Resources Institute (NNRI) works to help students and teachers better understand the importance of our agricultural, mineral, forest and water resources. It does this by hosting events and workshops for teachers and students.
Some of the events and workshops include…..
…..Farm Fair, where students learn how farm products end up on our dinner plate, how farming is a business in our region, how animals and crops need protection and more.
…..Model Forest, where students head to the Forest Service Nursery in Coeur d’Alene to learn skills such as measuring tree height, disease identification, root to shoot ratios and more.
…..Water Festival, where students head to Liberty Lake and learn things like tying a fly, fish habitats, how they can help protect the Spokane aquifer and more.
…..Model Mine, where students learn about modern mining, the important role it plays in supplying society’s everyday needs, and more.
…..Teacher Workshops, where K-12 teachers are provided an opportunity to interact in an educational environment to learn about natural resource management in agriculture, water, forestry and mining.
These are just a sample of what workshops NNRI hosts. NNRI is an affiliate of Greater Spokane Incorporated, and our partnership is important for educating young students about our wonderful region.
Priority Spokane is a unique collaboration of organizations whose goal is to foster measurable improvements in a number of areas of community vitality. Given the critical importance of education to economic vitality, environmental well-being, human health and community safety, the organization has chosen to first focus on raising the college-ready graduation rate by improving the middle school experience. This fits well with our work here at GSI.
The organization’s work has already led to Spokane Public Schools developing a dropout early warning system and tracking process. This process will help the district understand why some students are failing and begin partnering with community-based organizations and businesses to develop ways to keep them in the classroom.
That kind of work aligns with the work of GSI’s Education and Workforce division. We showcase the opportunities students have after graduating – but they have to graduate from high school prepared, first.
NNRI and Priority Spokane are just two examples of what’s being done in our region to educate our future workforce. We’re glad they’re on our team, and we look forwarded to working with both organizations for a long time.
