Are you a teacher, or do you know of a teacher, who would like to get students excited about place-based learning? Educators play a critical role in connecting young people to public lands and wild places, and Yellowstone National Park provides unparalleled opportunities to use the outdoors as a living classroom.

To help teachers draw from this wonderful source of learning and inspiration, Yellowstone National Park offers popular workshops specifically for educators, taught collaboratively by Yellowstone Forever and the National Park Service. These workshops are designed to aid teachers in discovering innovative ways to incorporate STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) into their classrooms.

The Yellowstone STEAM Teacher Workshop will take place two times this year Monday, June 15, 2020, to Friday, June 19, 2020, and Monday, July 13, 2020, to Friday, July 17, 2020. In Yellowstone National Park, participants will learn how to use both traditional and innovative methods to incorporate art into STEM lessons for middle school and high school students. Throughout the workshop, the group will explore new ideas and strategies while networking with other educators on best practices for cross-curricular design.

The first day will include an evening orientation with Yellowstone Forever and National Park Service staff. The following three days will be spent immersed in Yellowstone’s natural wonders, introducing hands-on activities that participants can use with students. Each day will include a mix of classroom lessons and field activities, followed by evening sessions with guest experts to further integrate art with STEM and give participants tools to engage a variety of learning styles in the classroom. The final morning will be devoted to discussing ways to incorporate Yellowstone STEAM into the classroom and creating individual action plans.

In addition to the STEAM workshops, Yellowstone will offer additional teacher workshops in 2020, including Honoring Tribal Legacies, Monday, July 27, 2020, to Friday, July 31, 2020, and another Yellowstone specific workshop open to all formal and non-formal educators, Wednesday, October 14, 2020, to Sunday, October 18, 2020. More information about these specific workshops will be announced in the coming weeks, including costs and how to register.

“Yellowstone National Park is the perfect backdrop and laboratory for teachers to immerse themselves in experiential place-based learning,” said Amanda Hagerty, assistant director of Institute programming at Yellowstone Forever. “The information and skillsets gained through these workshops can be transformed across a variety of educational disciplines and locations.”

To participate in one of the STEAM Teacher Workshops, interested teachers must fill out an application. A registration fee, which includes meals and lodging, is required if selected to attend. Programs are based in Gardiner, Montana, at Yellowstone Forever’s Overlook Field Campus. Teacher workshop applications are due Saturday, February 29, 2020, and selected teachers will be contacted by Wednesday, April 1, 2020.