Corporate Adopt-a-School Program

Interactive Television (ITV) Program

Environmental Health Sciences Summer Institute for Educator, Grades K-12

In-Service Training

Teacher professional development initiatives prove to be a powerful component in the success of the Resource Center’s outreach efforts. Training workshops are designed to support the use of EOHSI materials and the integration of environmental health sciences topics into school curricula, utilizing the latest technology and pedagogy. Workshops open up the lines of communication between educators and environmental health professionals and offer teachers the opportunity to interact with their peers, sharing ideas and concerns.

Teachers have noted that they benefit from the Resource Center’s hands-on training approach that allows participants to experience the materials as both a teacher and a student. This first-hand exposure to the teaching modules allows educators to discover how the lessons and activities are interrelated and build upon one another, ultimately preparing them for their classroom.

Training is offered year-round at both the EOHSI building in central New Jersey or at the trainee’s host site, nationwide.

During the first phase in developing a training program, EOHSI staff meets with administrators to discuss the specific needs of the school, district and/or educational organization. This would include determining on which curriculum teachers would be trained, the length of the program (one day, year-long or milti-year initiatives) and the grade level teachers to be involved. Traditionally, our goal is to conduct the trainings in small group settings, to allow ample opportunities for interactions, brainstorming, hands-on activities, investigative experiments and role-plays.

Training may include an overview of curricular lesson plans; methods for infusing the curricula; field trips; fact sheets; newsletters; ongoing support by Resource Center staff; access to our reference library; and a program evaluation sharing session. Training is offered in a traditional classroom setting or may employ such state-of-the-art technology as interactive television, which allows multiple sites to be trained simultaneously. Workshops may even follow a train-the-trainer format which not only teaches participants how to integrate the materials into their own classrooms, but provides the skills necessary for them to train other educators in their region.

Once an audience is identified and materials are chosen, EOHSI would then design the workshop(s). Concurrently, as a team we would work with the Foundation of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey to identify sources of funding in your area. This process of locating corporate/foundation sponsorship may take from six months to one year to secure, including the submission of a grant proposal.

If approved, the grant would provide the necessary funding for EOHSI to supply training, curricular materials, subscriptions to our newsletter, evaluation and on-going support. In return, however, we do request a commitment from your school, district or educational organization to actively participate in the training program and implementation of materials into appropriate classrooms.