It was quite the 2021-22 school year for the PCD Environmental Education team. We enjoyed returning to schools to work with teachers and students again. Throughout the school year, we involved over 2,100 students in our programming!

Here are some highlights from a busy year:

For the first time this year, PCD raised live animals in our very own office-coho salmon! We raised them for Salmon in the Classroom, a partnership between Foss Waterway Seaport (FWS),  (TPS), and our Environmental Education team. We helped FWS teach lessons, provide tank support, and troubleshoot tank issues at 12 Tacoma elementary schools. When all was said and done, we had our salmon for about four months, raised them from eggs to fry and then released them into the wild. There was so much to learn and do to raise our coho, which took a lot of time and attention, but it was completely worth it!

The 2020 Educator of the Year Award goes to Harbor WildWatch.

In 2020 Harbor WildWatch showed remarkable creativity and dedication during their transition to remote learning because of the pandemic. Their videos and social media programs were a shining example of how community partners could bring environmental education to kids learning from home.

Watch this video to hear them speak about receiving the award and see some of their fun content!