WWU Workshop for Teachers to Focus on Cross-border Regional Issues on June 27

Contact: Tina Storer, WWU Center for Canadian-American Studies, tina.storer@wwu.edu

BELLINGHAM – The Center for Canadian-American Studies at Western Washington University is offering a new one-day workshop on June 27 titled “From Coal Trains to Classrooms: Cross-Border Trade, Energy and Environmental Issues in the Pacific Northwest.”

The professional development workshop is ideal for teachers of “Current World Problems (CWP),” the new course required for high school graduation in the state of Washington, as well as for other Social Studies teachers.

Speakers will include: Paul Storer, chair and professor at WWU’s Department of Economics; David Rossiter, associate professor at WWU’s Huxley College of the Environment; Don Alper, director of the Center for Canadian-American Studies and Border Policy Research Institute, and Joel Connelly, SeattlePI.com columnist. 

The workshop will be offered on the campus of North Seattle Community College and registration includes instruction, lunch and a continuing education certificate for six clock hours. Financial support toward teachers’ registration costs is being provided by the Center for Canadian-American Studies and the Canada-America Society of Washington.

Participants will learn about real-world implications of shipping coal through ports in Washington. They will recognize the importance of the upcoming Columbia River Treaty re-negotiation and its impact on salmon, flood control, and electricity supplies in Cascadia.  The relevance of Alberta oil sands and expanded Northwest pipelines as Washington state issues will also be explored.

Rationales and opposing viewpoints will be reviewed with particular attention paid to Aboriginal voices that are helping shape debates and possible outcomes.

Tina Storer, education and curriculum specialist at WWU’s Center for Canadian-American Studies, and Bill Nicolay, teacher and debate coach at Snohomish High School, will help transpose program content to classroom activities that align with state EALRs, CBAs and Common Core literacy standards. A public forum debate will be modeled by Snohomish High School students.

Questions about the program should be directed to Tina Storer at: tina.storer@wwu.edu.  Online (or mail-in) registration is now open and available at: https://west.wwu.edu/eesp/35/ConferenceServices/Registration.aspx?e=2589&z=d0s0.
 Registration will close on Friday, June 7.

“From Coal Trains to Classrooms” is one of several programs offered by WWU at North Seattle Community College as part of a new partnership between the two campuses. A campus map and directions are at https://northseattle.edu/locator. Parking is free.

The Center for Canadian-American Studies at WWU is a U.S. Department of Education-designated National Resource Center on Canada in the United States in consortium with the Canadian Studies Center at the University of Washington. Outreach to all levels of education is part of the Title VI grant mandate and is performed jointly under the name “K-12 STUDY CANADA”.  Both teachers and students will discover a wealth of resources for learning at www.k12studycanada.org.