Introducing TREE: Teaching and Research in Environmental Education

Catamount Center and the Colorado College Education Department are proud to announce a new stage in their partnership: the TREE Semester. www.catamountcenter.org/TREE

TREE SemesterTeaching & Research in Environmental Education is a 16-week residential semester program that mirrors the traditional study abroad experience. During blocks 1 through 4 (August through December) in the fall of 2015, undergraduate students will live and learn in community at the Catamount Center near Woodland Park, CO.

The TREE Semester is for students interested in exploring both environmental and educational fields, to become inspired and to in turn inspire their students’ environmental stewardship and love for the natural world.

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Photos courtesy of Catamount Center: http://www.catamountcenter.org/environmental-research/studies/

Where the block or traditional semester program provides only limited interaction time, the TREE Semester allows undergraduates to monitor their K-12 students’ development through almost 100 hours of experiential teaching.  In keeping with the learner-centered model driving the CC Education Department’s curriculum redesign, undergraduate students will learn about learning by simultaneously teaching and researching how K-12 students learn.

TREE participants working with 5th grade students

TREE participants working with 5th grade students

Along with opportunities for current undergraduates, the Catamount Center is also looking to hire recent alums and other qualified individuals with a Bachelor’s degree for a four-month residential TREE Fellowship Program. TREE Fellows will provide support to  undergraduate students enrolled in the TREE Semester and play a vital role in the sustainable TREE Community. TREE Fellows should have experience and enthusiasm for environmental science and outdoor education. As part of the fellowship, TREE Fellows will work towards certification as a Colorado Environmental Educator (pending CAEE portfolio completion). Applications for the TREE Fellowship are due no later than March 31. Fellows will be selected by April 15. http://www.catamountcenter.org/tree-fellowship/

For more information on the TREE program, please contact Jared Mazurek, Catamount Center Program Director: jaredmazurek@catamountcenter.org.

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