Learn why more Nashville high schools are teaching environmental science – and how the Compact is helping teachers make the change.
A NOT-SO-TYPICAL MONDAY
It’s a dreary early morning at Overton High School, and students slowly trickle into Ashleigh Bennett’s environmental science classroom. Some exchange greetings with Ms. Bennett as they take their seats in the classroom, where the lights are dimmed to help them focus. A shelf at the back of the classroom is stocked full of science notebooks for each student, and the classroom walls are lined with posters of vocabulary words and diagrams related to their most recent topic – water.
Ms. Bennett’s class might feel familiar to anyone who has been in a high school classroom, but if you look a little closer, her class is actually quite different. Ms. Bennett is one of many high school teachers in Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) who have recently started teaching environmental science. Drawing on her background in animal and wildlife science, she started teaching at Overton in 2023 during the first year they launched environmental science as a ninth grade course. She seeks to build connections between her students’ experiences and environmental science content by using hands-on, engaging lessons in her teaching practice.
All month, Ms. Bennett’s class has been learning about the water cycle, how humans interact with local water resources, and how they can protect streams and rivers with small actions in their own neighborhoods. Ms. Bennett’s curriculum is supplemented by individual lessons provided by the Cumberland River Compact’s Education Team. Today, her students will search for small aquatic insects hidden among leaves brought in from a local stream during the stream biodiversity program the Compact offers.
A TIDE OF CHANGE
Over the past two years, more than half of Nashville’s high schools have started offering environmental science as one of the available science courses. Metro Nashville Public Schools is one of the 50 largest school districts in the country with nearly 24,000 high schoolers, so the ripple effects of this change are monumental.
Learn More about the Compact’s new environmental science workshop for MNPS teachers!
The hopeful trend is partially driven by a need to introduce students to content that is assessed in later courses. In addition, students in environmental science courses are encouraged to bring their diverse and global perspectives on the issues, which is an important consideration in MNPS, where 139 languages are spoken by students. In Ms. Bennett’s Overton classroom, more than half of the students are Hispanic. “In environmental science, I can bring in the cultures and home countries of my students to create a global understanding of environmental issues,” says Ms. Bennett.
The benefits of teaching environmental science go beyond the practicalities of assessments – it makes classroom learning more relevant for all students, provides place-based connections for what they are learning, and prepares them to tackle the most pressing environmental issues we face as a society.
A GROWING NEED FOR TRAINING
As a result of the shift toward environmental science, there is an increasing need for high-quality teacher training and instructional resources. Tennessee does not currently offer a teaching credential for environmental science, which means most educators are coming from other backgrounds like biology or physical science. Existing teacher preparation programs across the US focus only about 17% of their coursework on environmental science. This means that new environmental science teachers are often spending their personal time developing content and classroom resources.
This trend persists across the southeast, where nearly a quarter of science teachers have received no professional development training related to outdoor or environmental education. Despite the power of environmental science to prepare students for the future, a 2018 study from the American Geosciences Institute showed that only 2 states currently require environmental science for graduation.
As more high school teachers gravitate toward environmental science, the Compact’s Education Team has prepared to support new and existing environmental science teachers. A portion of the interactive, real world-oriented teacher workshops and class programs offered by the Compact, are tailored specifically to support environmental science classrooms. This approach will help fill the gap for educators as they make the transition to teaching environmental science.
“The Compact’s Education Team has been helping local teachers develop place-based environmental course material for several years. Our passionate staff have backgrounds in everything from outdoor school programs to ecology and evolutionary biology research, and their innovative programming has received numerous accolades including the Tennessee Environmental Education Association’s Organization of the Year and the Civics and Environmental Education Fellowship. I truly believe there’s no team of people more qualified to support MNPS with environmental science.”
– Mekayle Houghton, Compact Executive Director
In addition to hosting the Compact’s education team in her classroom, Overton High School teacher Ashleigh Bennett is also a member of the 2024 – 2025 Teacher Fellowship cohort. She utilized the Cumberland River Compact’s online lesson plans and resources database and invited Compact staff for an in-class visit as part of the hydrology unit she designed for her students.
“Last year was the first year environmental science was taught at Overton and my first year teaching the subject, so it was like building an airplane and flying it at the same time,” said Ms. Bennett. “This year has been a lot easier because I was able to adjust based on what worked and what didn’t work. It has been so valuable to have the Compact bring a real-world connection to the classroom. It really makes the learning come to life for the students.”
In the 2024 to 2025 school year, the Compact has already engaged with 96 teachers across the state like Ms. Bennett, to help bolster environmental science curricula creating a lasting change in their classrooms and for the 7,000+ students these educators teach each year.
The Compact looks forward to continuing this support into the 2025 – 2026 school year thanks to a generous gift from Fortitude Re. This summer, the Education Team is working with Metro Nashville Public Schools to develop a workshop series for all environmental science educators in the district. After the summer, the Compact will continue to support this network of teachers to stay connected to each other and will provide in-class programs. Building a community of educators who uplift and inspire each other will catalyze the success of this district-wide transition.
The Compact’s mission is to protect water resources, and that starts with fostering connections: to the local environment, to meaningful skills and actions, and to each other. We are honored to be working alongside a group of pioneering teacher leaders who are inspiring the next generation to be environmental stewards.
If you are interested in enhancing or introducing environmental science to your classroom, the Compact is introducing an all-new workshop designed specifically for MNPS high school teachers. Sign up for the July 17th environmental science workshop.
Educators can also sign up for the Compact’s Education Newsletter to stay up to date on new opportunities.
