Cheers to 2024: New Year, New News!

Wishing you a new year full of fun adventures in the classroom! SD1 is excited to visit more classrooms and host more students for field trips in 2024! 

I do have a bit of personal news to share as I will be leaving SD1 to pursue other opportunities soon. My last day with SD1 will be January 5th, 2024. Should you have questions about the environmental ed program, or want to book a classroom visit/field trip after that date, please reach out to our department admin Lora Bonno at lbonno@sd1.org. Lora is very familiar with the education program and has provided tremendous support to it over the years, she's wonderful! Once my position is filled, you will be notified with contact information for the appropriate SD1 representative to use moving forward.

It has been a pleasure partnering with you and your students over the last 5 years! Thank you for making that possible, it's encouraging to see so many students dive into these water resources topics whith such enthusiasm and curiosity! Your commitment to making these applied learning experiences possible for them is appreciated and admirable.

All the best,

Andrea Dee

Spring Field Trips & Chaperone Trainings

SD1 is preparing for another exciting spring field trip season! If you are interested in scheduling a spring field trip and have not already done so, please contact us soon to secure your date. Spring field trips are scheduled April-May, limited dates remain. As a reminder, one trained chaperone per 10 students is required to participate in a field trip experience. 

The Spring Chaperone Training Schedule is available within the Teacher Toolkit site under the "Field Trip Info" tab, in the "Chaperone Resources" section (see screenshot below). You can download and share this flyer with chaperones; embedded in the flyer are clickable links for chaperones to register for trainings via EventBrite. 

*Please reference chaperone training dates when scheduling your field trip, keeping in mind that chaperones will need to participate in a training prior to your field trip date. Also, consider it may be difficult for chaperones to participate in trainings over your school's scheduled spring break if they plan to be out of town. 

REMINDER: SD1 Storm Water Art Contest

Inspire action, with art! Encourage students to get creative with knowledge gained throughout the unit by creating storm water artwork to spread the word about storm water pollution. 

Students may enter individually (due 6/1/24) or as a class (due 2/1/24).

 Prizes will be awarded for both categories, including an animal encounter visit with Newport Aquarium’s WAVE Foundation for the winning class entry! 

Click here or see the flyer below for more details. Feel free to reach out with any questions!

Have you heard of the 

Greater Cincinnati STEM Collaborative?!

SD1 recently started participating in convenings facilitated by the Greater Cincinnati STEM Collaborative and all Greater Cincinnati teachers/administrators are encouraged to participate as well! If you haven’t checked out the Collaborative, you are missing out on some really cool FREE classroom and networking resources! Click here to learn more about the Greater Cincinnati STEM Collaborative’s convenings, 3D printer clubs, bicycle clubs, and other fun program resources.

Below are two flyers that were distributed at the winter convening held at UC’s Innovation Hub that may be of interest to you:

The Hub’s FREE Summer Intensive is for all teachers interested in learning more about UC’s Makerspace and incorporating maker-type lessons into their own curriculum. Registration just opened so you are encouraged to register now! 

The Tri-State STEM Conference, a collaborative effort by UC and NKU, is a great opportunity to network and share STEM resources with other Greater Cincinnati teachers!

In an effort to continuously improve SD1's Environmental Unit, we want to collect your feedback on an ongoing basis. If you have something to share, whether it be a program suggestion, presenter review, or helpful resource for others, visit the Feedback Hub page linked here in the Teacher Toolkit to send those ideas our way! 

Send any questions or curiosities to Lora Bonno at lbonno@sd1.org.