GLSI’s PLACE-BASED EDUCATION INSTITUTE
(Wednesdays Cohort)
GLSI’s Place-Based Educators Institute (Wednesdays Cohort)
Build your foundation. Connect with purpose. Start your place-based journey.
Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative (GLSI) invites Great Lakes Region K-12 classroom educators to apply for the 2025-2026 Place-Based Education (PBE) Fall Institute. This virtual, cohort-based professional learning experience is designed to launch or re-energize your journey with place-based education.
If you’re curious about how to make learning more meaningful, community-connected, and student-driven, this is your starting point. In just a few weeks, you’ll gain the frameworks, tools and peer support to begin designing learning experiences that engage students with the world around them and help them make an impact.
Why Join This Institute?
This isn’t your typical PD. You’ll be part of a statewide cohort of passionate educators, exploring how to use the places you live and teach to spark inquiry, amplify student voice, and build authentic connections between curriculum and community. Whether you’re brand new to PBE or looking to strengthen your foundation, this program will meet you where you are and move you forward.
What You’ll Learn
Over a series of live, interactive Zoom session, you’ll explore:
- What Place-Based Stewardship Education (PBSE) looks like and how it can work in any classroom with any subject
- How to identify and build on local assets to design relevant, engaging learning
- How to center student voice and agency through inquiry-based projects
- How to align your teaching with GLSI’s Elements and Guiding Principles for exemplary PBE
- How to move from idea to implementation with a realistic plan and the tools to support it
What You’ll Experience
Foundations of Quality PBE
Explore the “what, why and how” of PBE using GLSI’s Guiding principles for Exemplary PBSE and the Elements or Place-Based Stewardship Education. These frameworks will help you understand what quality PBE looks like and how to begin or strengthen your own projects.
Project Planning with Support
Work through your own PBE idea (or adapt a new one) using tools and protocols aligned with the Elements and Principles. You’ll consider student voice, community connections, curriculum alignment, and real-world impact.
Collaborative Peer Learning
Join a supportive peer cohort from across the Great Lakes region. Through structured collaboration and reflection, you’ll build confidence, develop your ideas and learn from the experiences of others. Participants will have monthly opportunities to connect with other cohorts, engage with guest presenters, and access additional resources to support their learning.
Ready-to-Use Resources
Each session includes practical tools you can use right away whether you’re looking to launch a small-scale classroom project or lay the foundation for a larger initiative.
Live, Interactive Zoom Sessions
Held weekly, each session blends foundational learning, collaborative discussions, and time to apply what you’ve learned to your own context.
Virtual Institute Schedule – Fall 2025
Wednesdays, 4:30–6 pm ET
- October 1
- October 8
- October 15
- October 22
- October 29
- November 5
1:1 Coaching
Receive up to 4 hours of personalized coaching from GLSI PBSE Specialists throughout the year.
Who Should Participate?
This institute is designed for:
- K-12 school educators from Great Lakes Region states
- Teachers in all subject areas and grade levels
- Educators new to PBE or building early-stage projects
- Anyone looking to make learning more authentic, community-connected and student-centered
Only 30 slots are available for the 2025–26 cohort.
What You’ll Gain
- $200 stipend to honor your time and commitment
- Certificate of completion (and any additional documentation needed for state recertification credit)
- One-on-one coaching and support
- A network of peers from across the Great Lakes region.
Questions: Contact Patty at patty@greatlakesstewardship.org
