SEA Hosts Third Annual Teacher Advisory Council Summer Institute

Switch Energy Alliance hosted the third annual Teacher Advisory Council (TAC) Summer Institute to collaborate on Switch Classroom projects.

Manager of Educational Programs, Mary Tibbets, organized this year’s Summer Institute in Austin, TX. The TAC developed a presentation for teacher conferences, quick start guides for Switch Classroom, and articles for upcoming blog posts. They also listened to two guest speakers over Zoom: Dr. Sara Weaver, a lecturer at Texas A&M University-San Antonio and Senior Ecologist with Bowman Consulting, presented on avian and bat studies for wind energy facilities, and Samir Ibrahim, CEO and co-founder of SunCulture, discussed his work with African farmers featured in Switch On.

“The AP Environmental Science teachers on this team have proven again that they can cooperate to produce valuable resources for APES teachers,” said TAC member Rebecca Dodge. “The Institute promotes and supports creativity and collaboration, bringing us together within a flexible yet focused framework.  I know I will be challenged, and that I will be heard.”

The seven members of the TAC, Lynn Kistler, James Corboy, Chris Mihealsick, Leslie Horne, Rachel Petrik-Finley, Ruthann McComb, and Rebecca Dodge, teach environmental science at various levels across the United States. These seven inaugural TAC members were instrumental in developing the curriculum for Switch Classroom and continue to lend their valuable insight and expertise to Switch’s mission of creating an energy-educated future.

"I really enjoyed working in person with the other master teachers and professionals to collaborate on high-quality curriculum for Switch Classroom," said TAC member Chris Mihealsick. "Overall a high-energy, highly productive couple of days that I was grateful to be a part of."

With the help of our TAC, we've created a free energy curriculum on Switch Classroom that follows the College Board® AP Environmental Science guidelines. The videos, quizzes, and activities will encourage your students to think critically about energy resources, energy fundamentals, resource distribution, consumption, supply & demand, sustainability, and conservation.

Register now to get started at classroom.switchon.org.