2013 Hawaii Environmental Education Alliance Symposium - 07.24.2013

The Hawaii Environmental Education Alliance (HEEA) annually sponsors a symposium dedicated to bringing together environmental educators to encourage sharing and collaboration. This year’s HEEA Symposium included a morning session hosted by COSEE Island Earth entitled “Mauka to Makai: from Mountain to Ocean”.

COSEE IE Director, Judy Lemus, began the morning with an introduction to the Next Generation Science Standards, with particular emphasis to marine-based education programs in Hawaii. Other presentations highlighted various marine science education projects. Educators from C-MORE, led by Dr. Barbara Bruno, encouraged hands-on audience participation as they provided interesting science demonstrations designed for middle and high school students. Later, John Mitchell of the Hoomaka Hou program talked about the success of getting students in Hana, Maui, involved in water quality monitoring and marine debris pick-up along the coasts. His program made use of furlough days, when students would not be in school due to budget cuts, in order to get academically under-performing students outside of the classroom and into the natural environment.

Other contributors included the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, the Coral Reef Alliance, SeaGrant Hanauma Bay Education Program, Na Kama Kai, and the University of Hawaii Curriculum Research & Development Group (CRDG). The Mauka to Makai session successfully brought together over 50 formal and informal educators to share and collaborate on their unique methods and philosophies for achieving marine environmental education.

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