Community News

Beyond Benign is collaborating with the New York State Pollution Prevention Institute (NYSP2I) to empower educators to advance sustainable science education in the New York region. Through fostering a regional green chemistry education community in New York, Beyond Benign aims to equip teachers to integrate green chemistry and sustainable STEM into their classrooms. This project is designed to drive awareness of green chemistry education and hazardous material clean out programs for high school classrooms and train teachers in green chemistry concepts and curriculum.  Applying green chemistry principles in New York schools will effectively address all three key areas of the New York State Pollution Prevention Institute’s mission of: reducing the use of hazardous chemicals, reducing emissions and waste generated along with increasing the efficient use of raw materials, energy, and water.

In partnership with NYSP2I, Beyond Benign is excited to offer New York State teachers free opportunities to learn more about green chemistry education, access to open-source green chemistry curriculum, and information on NYSP2I’s chemical clean out programs. The New York programming leads off with a webinar on May 29, 2020 at 12:00PM EST titled “Webinar: “Sparking Student Interest with Safer, Greener Chemistry”. This webinar will highlight  Annette Sebuyira and Jim Burdick, two active New York State Master Teachers and Beyond Benign Lead Teachers, and how they combine the inquiry process and green chemistry in their classroom to keep students engaged and curious.  They will share how to explore phenomena and fill your students with wonder while cultivating a safe and sustainable culture in your lab by examining chemical or physical changes and endothermic or exothermic reactions. This free event is co-organized by Beyond Benign and New York State Pollution Prevention Institute.

Following the webinar, Beyond Benign in partnership with New York State Pollution Prevention Institute will offer full scholarships to Beyond Benign’s asynchronous green chemistry online courses. These two courses are in a 6-8 week an asynchronous format and equivalent of 48 credit-hours with optional 3 graduate education credits available.* These courses are taught by Beyond Benign Lead Teachers, Tayna Elmer, and Ann Lambert, who have extensive experience teaching green chemistry in their classroom and developing green chemistry curriculum.

More details on the online courses are below:

Introduction to Green Chemistry for High School Teachers June 8- Aug 3, 2020:

This course will equip you with the knowledge, skills and resources to integrate green chemistry principles and practices into your teaching through real-world sustainable innovations. Participants will engage in forum discussions and lesson plan development. Register here by June 1st: http://bit.ly/IntroGCOnline2020

Advanced Green Chemistry: Connections to Our World June 15- July 27, 2020:

This course is designed for teachers already implementing green chemistry in their classes. Expand your knowledge of green chemistry principles and practices by investigating pedagogy strategies for effectively guiding student-based research projects and inquiry-based projects. Register here by June 1st: http://bit.ly/Advancedgconline2020

*optional $135 graduate credit is available from Colorado School of Mines for teachers from across the country, including New York teachers.

The funding for the programs above offered by Beyond Benign and NYSP2I is provided by the Environmental Protection Fund as administered by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. © 2020 Rochester Institute of Technology. Any opinions, findings, and/or interpretations of data contained herein are the responsibility of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the opinions, interpretations, or policy of Rochester Institute of Technology and its NYS Pollution Prevention Institute or the State.

Teachers interested in staying informed on the latest offerings from Beyond Benign, please sign up at: https://bit.ly/BeyondBenign_Newsletter

About Beyond Benign:

Beyond Benign, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, envisions a world where the chemical building blocks of products used every day are healthy and safe for humans and the environment. Beyond Benign is fostering a green chemistry education community empowered to transform chemistry education for a sustainable future. Beyond Benign’s continuum of sustainable science educational programs including, teacher and faculty training, and curriculum development from K-20 are helping to build the next generation of scientists and citizens with the skills and knowledge to create and chose products that are safe for human health and the environment.  Over the past 13 years, Beyond Benign has an extensive history of service, having trained over 6,000 K-12 teachers in sustainable science and green chemistry, designed over 200 open-access lessons, reached over 25,000 youth and community members through outreach, & partnered with over 65 universities to transform chemistry education.  Together we can catalyze the development of green technological innovations that result in safer products and processes in support of a sustainable, healthy society.

Find us on Twitter @beyondbenign, on Instagram @beyondbenign, and on Facebook @beyondbenign.

Partnership Contact:
Nicki Wiggins, Director of Development
Beyond Benign
Nicki_Wiggins@beyondbenign.org
978-229-5443