MSMS_Sustain
Small changes make a big difference...
Introduction
MSMS_Sustain is a learning program predicated on the belief that students of the 21st century must know and understand issues related to climate change, sustainability and social justice.
Using the framework of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the three spheres of sustainability and through personalized learning, students will have the opportunity to explore areas of interest, connect with others who are working to solve those problems, and to communicate their findings to the school community.
The program is based on the belief that students and adults should be partners. A focus on student voice, student-led action and collaboration with the learning community are core beliefs of program.
Land Acknowledgement
The MSMS_Sustain program respectfully acknowledges the traditional homeland of the Winooski People, whose unceded territory is the place that many of us reside or work in.
The Winooski People are one of the twelve Wabanaki family bands that were living in this region when the boundary line between Canada and the US was agreed upon in 1783, leaving Wabanaki people living on both sides of the border and caught in the middle of someone else’s war and boundary decision.
We recognize the longer history of this place, which reaches far beyond colonization, and its significance for the Indigenous peoples who lived and continue to live upon this territory.
Source: Middle Grades Collaborative
Anti-Racism & Social Justice Commitments
We acknowledge our shared responsibility to work toward a better tomorrow, one in which there is justice toward those who are oppressed within our country and around the world. We commit to work toward dismantling unjust and oppressive educational systems via the following:
Examining curriculum to identify and disrupt how white supremacy shows up within it.
Engaging in antiracist education and learning to further our own development.
Advocating for educational policies that disrupt discriminatory practices that disproportionately harm black students.
Teaching about and through antiracist pedagogies and educational structures.
Source: Middle Grades Collaborative
STAGES OF LEARNING
The MSMS_Sustain learning model has four parts: Educate, Act, Communicate and Connect.
Educate: students learn about the topic, explore resources, complete assessments related to the topic and earn certifications.
Act: based on what they have learned, students act on the information. This might include creating an infographic, slideshow, podcast, report, or taking specific action such as starting a committee or contacting a legislator.
Connect: students will identify local, regional, national, and international organizations that connect to their findings and new learning.
Communicate: students will communicate their actions and activities to the Sustainability Academy, Main Street Middle School, or Montpelier communities.
STAFF
Don Taylor is a middle school educator at Main Street Middle School in Montpelier, VT. After 17 years of teaching humanities, he has shifted to the development of a sustainability program serving all MSMS students.
Taylor is working hard to create great relationships and an innovative, integrated, and dynamic learning environment for all students.
When not working on his craft, Don can be found spending time with his family enjoying Vermont's outdoor, cultural, and community offerings. He is an avid angler, reader, and runner who believes that, "It's not where you start, it's where you finish."
Drew McNaughton has been working with Main Street Middle Students since the Fall of 2004. He's found a niche in the field of experiential education through a diverse and varied set of afterschool and school day programming that feeds his roving passions and attentions.
He is most at home outdoors, and in environments with engaged students making internal and external discoveries of themselves and the world. He's excited to focus attention on the growth of the MSMS_Sustain Program as a way to engage learners.
