Q&A with environmental science teacher Mike Town
The suit doesn’t fit Mike Town. The measurements are fine. But it feels far too constricting for this environmental science teacher from Washington state, who is more used to blue jeans. “That’s one thing I could never get used to,” Town says, tugging on his necktie. “I couldn't’t wear a suit every day.”
Luckily for Town, his business attire can now go to the back of the closet, as he returns to Redmond High School following a yearlong stint in Washington, D.C., where he served as an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator. It was an opportunity for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) teachers to inform and help shape federal policies and programs in fields touted as America’s best chance at maintaining a foothold in the global marketplace. If only more students would find the subjects appealing. Read More >>
“I see environmental science not only as a STEM field but solving the problems with STEM education,” says Town, a 25-year veteran teacher whose passion for the subject and his students are evident and infectious.
Town has won numerous awards for his teaching and activism, including the Amgen Science Teacher Award in 2004 and the Environmental Educator Award from the Conservation Fund in 2005. Last year, he earned the inaugural Green Prize in Public Education from the NEA Foundation.
Just before jetting off to the “other” Washington, Town sat down with Senior Editor Naomi Dillon to talk about how his wild journey began and how he’s trying to help students expand their own horizons.
The environment is something you are obviously passionate about. Where did it come from, and how did you land in teaching?
I grew up in the country, in northeast Ohio, and I was always out playing in the woods. The Cuyahoga River was right near my house and I remember when it caught on fire [in 1969]. When a river is on fire, something’s clearly wrong. After graduating, I didn’t have any money to go to school and I ended up working for the [U.S.] Forest Service. Then President Reagan privatized it and we all realized there was no future there. I came to the conclusion that, if I really wanted to make a difference, I needed to go into education.
How is environmental science helping to change STEM education?
This year, about 100,000 kids will take the Advanced Placement environmental science test, way more than physics. In fact, the growth rate for AP environmental science suggests it will be the most popular AP science course by 2017. It’s happening, I think, for a couple of reasons. Environmental science doesn’t suffer from the science image problem that other courses do. It’s altruistic; it’s real world. It appeals to a wide variety of kids. It’s a gateway to college. If I can get students to take this class and pass, I can show them they are smart enough to go on to college. Because if you’re a kid who is at risk and confused about the future, I can point to this and say, “See, you are capable of going on and succeeding at college.” It’s a big boost to their confidence, which is sometimes all they really need.
You say environmental science is not really a science course. What do you mean?
Environment science is the only truly, fully, nationally integrated course in schools. It’s not just about nature. We look at demography, economics, behavioral science, and engineering. Ecosystems services, for example, is a component of economics that tries to quantify how much an ecosystem provides in value each year in a particular area.
That’s a lot of ground to cover. How are you able to convey that much material?
I have the content background. You need to know the subject in order to simplify it. If you don’t have a solid background in this field, you won’t know where to go to find resources, how to develop your own resources, or how to come up with an anecdote to illustrate the problem. I’m a specialist in environmental science, but a generalist in science.
Tell me about the Cool School Challenge.
About five years ago, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels came up with the idea of having towns voluntarily achieve the Kyoto Protocol limits [which calls for industrialized nations to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions below 1990 levels]. I was biking one day and realized the single biggest greenhouse emitter, outside of cars or a big manufacturing plant, is the local high school. And I thought, we can’t achieve what the mayor is calling for unless we also commit to it as a school. That started me on this whole thought process that became the Cool School Challenge. We put a team of kids in charge of a classroom and they are responsible for measuring and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. So far, at Redmond, we’ve saved over 200,000 lbs. of carbon dioxide a year and shaved about $40,000 annually from our utility bill.
What’s the biggest lesson you hope to pass on to your students?
That every environmental problem has a simple solution, but that it starts with education -- and it’s cumulative.
--American School Board Journal, September, 2011
Photo by Yoder
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