Linking Curriculum and Learning to Facilities: Arizona State University's GK-12 Sustainable Schools Program.

Educational Facility Planner / Volume 45: Issue 3 www.cefpi.org Arizona State University’s Sustainability Science for Sustainable Schools program brings together graduate students, sustainability researchers, high school teachers and students, and school or district administrators in a project designed to address the challenge of becoming a “sustainable school.” Funded by the National Science Foundation and based on the ASU’s commitment to engage with and support its community, this program was designed to incorporate the research and teaching that is being developed in the Global Institute of Sustainability into the K-12 setting. Our central goal is to equip graduate fellows with the skills to bring their sustainability-science research into K12 settings. Graduate fellows are supported in this endeavor by two teams of ASU specialists and researchers: one focused on sustainability concepts and indicators, the other on curriculum and instruction (see Figure 1). Thus, the core of our program centers on enhancing the professional development of graduate students while supporting schools and districts in establishing sustainability projects and practices. This is expected to translate as a benefit not only to the K-12 schools and its members, but also to the community at large. Our graduate fellows are currently working with six partner schools within the Metro-Phoenix area on a range of sustainabil i ty init iat ives that includes: Linking Curriculum and Learning to Facilities: