INSIDE EDUCATION!
MAY 12-14, 2011
Northeast BC Energy Education Tour Energy Education Tour Program At-aGlance
Summary Report
Thursday, May 12 Dawson Creek & Fort St. John -‐ Program Introduction -‐ Northern Lights College Renewable Energy programs & Energy House Tour -‐ Wind energy in BC: AltaGas presentation and Bear Mountain Wind Farm tour -‐ Site C Dam and future Energy Information Centre in FSJ presentation
Inside Education’s long history of offering educators extended professional development opportunities saw the second annual “Pro-D” program being held for and in the Province of British Columbia. From May 12-14, 2011, 19 educators from northeast
BC, alongside 4 educators from Vancouver participated in our Northeast BC Energy Education Tour. With Dawson Creek and Fort St. John as our ‘homes’ for the three days, teachers were able to experience BC’s crucial, complex, energy story first hand.
PROGRAM DESIGN Building on our inaugural ‘Natural Resources Education Tour’ in 2010, Inside Education’s NE BC Energy Education introduced teachers to renewable and non-renewable energy sources in the province. We visited with experts from academia, industry and the not-for-profit environmental community to ensure a
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Friday, May 13 - FSJ -‐ Introduction to energy conservation and waste reduction in the region: NEAT -‐ Natural gas development in NE BC -‐ Field tour to well site and natural gas compressor station -‐ Helicopter tour of the region Saturday, May 14 - FSJ -‐ Energy Education workshop and education program delivery -‐ Travel home
balance of perspectives was maintained throughout. Teachers were afforded the opportunity to learn with and from experts, and to assess how the information gained during the program can be implemented across the British Columbia curriculum. We were pleased to have teachers ranging from Kindergarten to high school with us.
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INSIDE EDUCATION!
MAY 12-14, 2011
PARTNERSHIP AND SUPPORT Participants were made aware of partner organizations throughout the program and specifically during: the introduction, in the participant package, and during closing discussions. In addition to the support of the expert presenters and hosts noted on the previous page, a special thank you goes to the following organizations for their financial support in making this program possible:
ENERGY EDUCATION TOUR PARTICIPANTS Chetwynd Sabrina Caron, Chetwynd Secondary School
Dawson Creek Kristal D'Amato, Canalta Elementary School! James McKechnie, Central Middle School! Richard Payne, Central Middle School! Liana Greiner, South Peace Secondary School! Shaun Henry, Ecole Frank Ross! Chris Horton, School District 59
Fort St. John Dawn Gladysz, Alwin Holland! Christine Todd, Duncan Cran Elementary! Brianne Logeman, Alwin Holland Elementary! Karen Gonzales, Alwin Holland Elementary! Rachel Wuensche, Bert Bowes Middle School! Carolyn Gray, C.M. Finch Elementary School! Rob Young, Bert Bowes Middle School! Marie Young, North Peace Secondary School
Vancouver Fort Nelson Sarah Nay, Fort Nelson Secondary School! Alan Purves, Fort Nelson Secondary School
Ina Winterburn, Britannia Secondary! Kirstie Schwartzentruber, Kitsilano Secondary Susan Downing, Templeton Secondary! Anita Hollands, Sir Charles Tupper Secondary!
ENERGY EDUCATION IN THE NEWS Inside Education was pleased to welcome media interest from both print and electronic media in the Dawson Creek/Fort St. John region during the Energy Education Tour. The Dawson Creek Daily News, Northeast News were both on hand for two of our field tours, and the local CBC aďŹƒliate, CJDC, aired a feature on the tour: http://insideeducation.ca/In_the_News
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INSIDE EDUCATION!
MAY 12-14, 2011
PROGRAM EVALUATION Inside Education believes in continuous improvement of our education programming. As such we seek out input from the experts - the teachers who participate in our professional development programs. Evaluations are done in two ways - immediate anecdotal feedback in the form of testimonials, and in more formal surveys completed several days after the program has been completed. We are pleased to share the exemplary results below.
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PROGRAM EVALUATION - CONT’D
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COMMENTS FROM TEACHERS Immediately at the end of our Energy Education Tour, we asked teachers for their feedback as to the quality of the program, the meaning of the program for their teaching and ultimately for their students. What follows is a sampling of comments from the teachers: • Wow, did I learn a lot about energy resources in my area. I found the guest speakers to be surprising, unbiased and willing to acknowledge both sides of the energy issue. Combining informative lectures with field trips allowed me to connect my new found knowledge with the real world – it’s like a field trip for adults! Brianne Logeman, Fort St. John • You took the textbook out of learning with your handson approach. The resources we get to take back to our classes along with the knowledge you and the presenters have shared with us will allow me to take this information to my students and colleagues. On top of that, it was fun. Carolyn Gray, Fort St. John • It was amazing how much there was to learn about in an industry of such vital importance to our province. The helicopter tour, as well as being really cool, provided an opportunity to put Site C dam in perspective. The presenters were excellent, in particular, AltaGas & Encana. Chris Horton, Dawson Creek • I now have a greater understanding of the energy resources in this part of the province and how these resources are collected. I can’t wait to share this newfound information with my students and the resource materials you are sending away with us are impeccable. Kirstie Schwartzentruber, Vancouver • C ooperation: the networking and sharing of “likeminded” educators was vital – together we share our passion about energy/ environment with our students, colleagues, families and communities A ction: seeing, doing broadens our understanding. Loved the wind farm, compressor site with overalls & hardhats, educational helicopter tour! R esponsibility: deepens my sense of shared responsibility, for learning about local natural resource use and industry and doing my part to be a responsible steward. E ducation: I learned so much ! - Karen Gonzales, Fort St. John
LOWER MAINLAND EDUCATORS For the first time, Inside Education was pleased to invite four teachers from the Vancouver area to the northeast of the Province. The motivation for this was our expectation (which turned out to be correct) that many teachers in the more populous region of the province had little connection to the wide variety of energy ‘stories’ to be told in the northeast. We expect to continue making this offer available for energyrelated teacher professional development programs in the future.
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DETAILED PARTICIPANTS PROGRAM
Northeastern BC Energy Education Tour Program Outline May 11 – May 14th, 2010 Wednesday, May 11 7:30 – 9:00 pm – Optional: Welcome Meet and Greet, Best Western Dawson Creek, Tony Roma’s Come and meet the staff and other participants in an informal get together. Thursday, May 12 • Dawson Creek 8:30 am - Inside Education Introduction - Early Bird Draw Presenter: Laura Milroy, Inside Education Energy in Northern BC (and beyond) 101 This session will be an introduction to BC’s Energy Story. This interactive presentation will serve as a broad introduction to some of the science and issues related to the province’s hydro, wind and natural gas energy development. We’ll define some important terms and start thinking about questions we might want addressed over the rest of the program. Presenter: Steve McIsaac, Inside Education Break Energy Education, Post-Secondary and Careers This session will introduce teachers to the myriad of energy education and career opportunities available to our students as they pursue their further studies in the region. The presentation will include a ‘behind the scenes’ look at Northern Lights College’s Energy House – to be officially opened in the fall. Presenter: Kristina Van De Walle, Northern Lights College Lunch Wind Energy in British Columbia Teachers in Dawson Creek area will have seen the expansive growth of wind energy production on Bear Mountain. This combined presentation and field-trip will introduce everyone to the science, technology and future of wind energy in northeast British Columbia. Presenter: Brock John, AltaGas 7:00 pm - Dinner – Pomeroy Hotel Fort St. John – Sterling Room Case Study: Site C Dam For many years the Site C hydroelectric dam was an important, controversial issue for our region. This session will help tell the story of renewable energy development and production, outline the role of public consultation and the need for education about the complexities of energy development as well introducing the Saa Maa Centre for Energy and Culture. Presenter: Jerry Lemmon, EWD Consulting
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Friday, May 13 • Fort St. John Breakfast – Pomeroy Hotel, On own in Breakfast Room 9:00 am – NEAT – Northern Environment Action Team NEAT is a non-profit group dedicated to helping residents, schools, and businesses live a greener life in British Columbia. Primarily, NEAT provides environmental education, but also assists organizations and institutions develop strategic plans to reduce waste and conserve resources. Find out how they can assist you to reach your goals. Presenter: Dzengo Mzengaza, Northern Environmental Action Team Break Shale Gas – Ecology and Environment We have all heard there is natural gas under our feet in northeastern British Columbia. Where is it? How did it get there? How do we find it? This session will address some of the geological influences in the shale of northern British Columbia that lead to natural gas development in this section of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. Presenter: Brian Lieverse, Encana Lunch Natural Gas Development Field Tour Ever wondered about those facilities are we see around Dawson Creek, Fort St. John and Fort Nelson do? This field excursion will allow teachers to get up close and personal (from an appropriately safe distance!) with natural gas development – included in the tour will be a visit to a compressor site. Presenter: Brian Lieverse, Encana An Aerial View of the Boreal This exciting tour will allow teachers to get a birds-eye view of the natural resources (and the development thereof) in northeastern British Columbia. This helicopter-based tour will allow us to see the oil and gas developments alongside the natural environment features of the region. Truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Tour Hosts: Bailey Helicopters Saturday, May 14, Fort St John 8:30 am - Inside Education – Education Session & Summary Evaluation What can I use for resources in the classroom to teach about natural resources and the environment? How will I take what I have learned this tour back into the classroom? Where can I go for more information? The weekend was full of information sessions, tours and activities. This program will help teachers put things together in a format that could be used in their classrooms, schools and school districts. Presenters: Steve McIsaac & Laura Milroy, Inside Education End of Program
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SUMMARY AND NEXT STEPS
Overall Program Success
Inside Education’s 2011 Northeast British Columbia Energy Education Tour was an enormous success. The success was due to the high quality presenters and hosts who took the time to visit with the teachers participating in the program. It was successful due to the laudable support of our program partners Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., Devon Canada, Encana and the Suncor Energy Foundation. Mostly though it was successful due to the high quality, engaged educators who gave their time, personal energy and passion for learning and teaching to our program. We were thrilled to see substantial growth in interest this year - in 2010, our inaugural
program saw 13 teacher participants, this year we were 23. Feedback from the teachers was unanimous programs and services offered by Inside Education are well received and indeed needed in the BC’s northeast. Distance from the major population centres in both BC and Alberta often means teachers in these more remote communities lack access to curriculumsupport and professional development programs when compared to their urban colleagues. Further, the teachers participating in the program understood clearly that with substantial development currently underway both in hydroelectric and natural gas production, they would be best served learning more about these important topics. Ultimately it will be their students who will have access to the current, balanced and engaging information gained by their teachers during the 3-days of the Tour. NEXT STEPS Inside Education has already planned to return to NE BC next spring - with a 3-day program geared at water use, protection and conservation in the region. We look forward to sharing information with our partners very soon. Once again, we extend our sincere appreciation to all our partners, supporters and friends who help make our education programs so successful.
For further information about this program and all Inside Education programs and services contact: Steve McIsaac, Executive Director Inside Education p/ 780-421-1497 e/ smcisaac@insideeducation.ca www.insideeducation.ca
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