Spring Block Instructional Assistant
Abstract
served as TA for the 2024 Spring Block program. Spring Block is the culminating experience for the Environmental Education and Eco-Social Justice emphasis, though students of all majors are encouraged to participate. Students are in a cohort throughout spring quarter, with preparation work during winter quarter, and they participate in a wide variety of environmental education activities. I described it as “an opportunity to taste test a variety of environmental education techniques” (paraphrase), and the students agreed that it was accurate. The program shifts each year depending on partnerships, which makes Spring Block emergent and dynamic. This year, students researched and presented CulNat activities (experiential lessons about a chosen cultural/natural history topic), witnessed and supported a cultural act of sovereignty where Whatcom Intergenerational High School and Whiteswan Environmental hosted a language learning camp, shadowed local environmental teachers in both formal and informal education settings, witnessed urban eco-social justice activism, and completed a 72-hour wilderness solo. In addition, students learn how to operate in a learning community, as opposed to a typical classroom environment.
