Retired teachers return to Colorado classrooms to teach students about climate change » Yale Climate Connections

In Northern Colorado, retired teachers are returning to classrooms to help students learn about climate change and take action in their communities.

Boyd: “To create robust project-based learning that oftentimes teachers … don’t have the capacity to build out on their own.”

Tiffany Boyd leads Classrooms for Climate Action, a nonprofit. 

She says retired teachers like her know how to run a classroom, so they can easily step in to help out. 

And they have the time to develop projects with local experts and groups working on climate solutions. 

In Louisville, Colorado, her group helped teach fifth graders about wildfires, and arranged for them to help the city pull invasive grasses that can fuel a spreading fire. 

In Boulder, they helped fourth graders study local flooding and develop presentations for city officials about ways to protect vulnerable communities.

Boyd: “Project-based learning really involves connecting kids to what’s happening with the issues in their community. And that takes a lot of bandwidth from a teacher. And with a big group of retired teachers and other community members coming in, that kind of learning is made more possible.”

Boyd says participating in climate action projects empowers students with the understanding that they can create change.

Reporting credit: Shannon Young / ChavoBart Digital Media

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