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About VT–EFS
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"Education needs to be meaningful—it needs to make sense. Sustainability is the thread that sews the pieces of the curriculum together. It helps students find meaning in what they’re learning.”
Suzanne Clarke, Kindergarten Teacher
“My students ... showed genuine interest, to me that means they are learning,” They said the sustainability stuff was the most interesting. I think that is because it was so ‘hands on,’ and they had ownership. I found tremendous value in seeing the connections between my work and other teachers’ work.”
Tom Sabo, High School Science Teacher
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What We Do:
• work on educational policy that guides learning torward a sustainable future.
• support and build an expanding network—that includes local and international educators, asgencies, and community organization.
VT EFS is
a partnership of:
• Agriculture in the Classroom Partners
• Shelburne Farms
• SWEEP (StateWide Environmental Education Programs)
• University of Vermont
• VISMT (Vermont Institute of Science, Math, & Technology)
• Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets
• Vermont Department of Education
• Vermont Department of Public Service
• Vermont Agency of Natural Resources
VT EFS is funded by the generous support of the Josephine Bay Paul and C. Michael Paul Foundation and U. S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Special thanks to Fred Bay of the Josephine Bay and C. Michael Paul Foundation, whose impassioned support for sustainability has cultivated the partnerships responsible for VT EFS.
For More Information on
VT–EFS contact
Erica Zimmerman at: ezimmerman@shelburnefarms.org
Education for Sustainability
1611 Harbor Road
Shelburne, VT 05482
Tel: 802-985-8686 x 31
Fax: 802-985-8123
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Can an approach to learning and curriculum innovation work for both kindergarten and high school teachers—and their students?
For the K-12 educators who participated in the Vermont Education for Sustainability project (VT EFS) the answer has been yes. Education for Sustainability (EFS) is “learning that links knowledge, inquiry, and action to help students build a healthy future for their communities and the planet.”
Over the years, VT EFS has brought new ideas, techniques, and connections to dozens of Vermont school teachers.
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What Is EFS?
The three primary goals of the sustainability movement are environmental integrity, economic prosperity, and social equity. Education for Sustainability tries to bring these three goals closer to reality. It promotes an understanding of the interconnectedness of the environment, economy, and society. EFS links this knowledge with inquiry and action to help students build a healthy future for their communities and the planet. In other words, EFS develops the knowledge and skills for taking care of all living things within the means of the earth’s resources.
Vermont EFS uses sustainability as an integrative concept in blending place-based inquiry and service learning into standards-based curriculum. VT EFS works to integrate sustainability into K-12 education, and to demonstrate how EFS can strengthen student learning, teacher quality, and community development. social equity.
What the Partnership Has Achieved:
• Organized a statewide discussion that led to the Vermont Board of Education’s adoption of two new standards, Sustainability and Understanding Place, into the Vermont Framework of Standards and Learning Opportunities.
Inititiated a revision of Vermont's Natural Resource Standard.
• Conducted summer professional development institutes including, “Making Connections,” for teachers and other Vermont educators, and the 2001 Making Connections Conference that attracted more than 200 educators and other participants.
•Served as an advisor to Shelburne Farms in development of the Sustainable Schools Project.• Facilitated the development of 63 new units and courses that integrate sustainability into classroom learning.
•Trained non-formal educators throughout Vermont in learning how they can provide teachers, schools, and students with programs aligned to the Vermont standards.
• Funded projects by 60 teachers and organizations that helped build EFS capacity statewide.
• Developed dozens of new or stronger partnerships among Vermont teachers, school leaders, non-profits, public agencies, and other programs.
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