Building Connections to Grow Our Air Quality Education Impact

By Alaitz Aritza

SEI staff presents on air quality mapping at virtual teacher training

While conducting outreach for SEI’s Air Quality Education Program, I met with Dawn Castillo, a teacher on a special assignment focused on building science curriculum in the Sweetwater Union School District. Dawn asked if she could hold on to one of SEI’s air quality testing kits, with the hope that she might  be able to interest one or two  teachers at her district in participating in SEI’s air quality education program down the line. 

The curriculum Dawn requested focuses on air quality and environmental justice. Our team’s goal is to share this curriculum with teachers, free of charge,  and give them the necessary resources to implement the curriculum in their classrooms. In particular, we hoped to share our air quality curriculum with  teachers and students who are disproportionately impacted by poor air quality, so we were thrilled to have Dawn on board to help us recruit teachers from the Sweetwater District. In addition to curriculum, we also supply teachers with air quality testing kits and professional guidance for troubleshooting the equipment. During air quality lessons, students engage with an online mapping application to track local and regional air quality before developing an action plan to address these issues in their communities.  

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