Participation Type
Paper
Presentation #1 Title
“But Trump Loves Coal!”: Strategies for Teaching Mountaintop Removal in a Rural Appalachian High School
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Sustainability education in a necessary component in ensuring ecosystem and community health of our planet, especially within vulnerable mountain communities. Teaching about environmental and social justice issues during a highly contentious and short-sighted political atmosphere presents special challenges to this important task. This paper documents one strategy for inspiring and educating adolescents in a rural public high school about the negative impacts of an energy system that is reliant upon fossil fuels. Participants will learn about creative pedagogical techniques and consider the interesting conundrum of teaching environmental awareness and system thinking in unique political times.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Courtney Baines is the Executive Director of Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture. She considers herself a holistic sustainability educator and has over a decade of experience teaching sustainability and environmental science at the high school and university level. She holds a Masters of Arts degree in Appalachian Studies with a Sustainable Development concentration and is working towards her Doctorate in Education, also from Appalachian State University. She lives tucked within the mountains of Western North Carolina with her creative and passionate son, Aiden and their one-floppy-eared dog, Maple.
“But Trump Loves Coal!”: Strategies for Teaching Mountaintop Removal in a Rural Appalachian High School
Sustainability education in a necessary component in ensuring ecosystem and community health of our planet, especially within vulnerable mountain communities. Teaching about environmental and social justice issues during a highly contentious and short-sighted political atmosphere presents special challenges to this important task. This paper documents one strategy for inspiring and educating adolescents in a rural public high school about the negative impacts of an energy system that is reliant upon fossil fuels. Participants will learn about creative pedagogical techniques and consider the interesting conundrum of teaching environmental awareness and system thinking in unique political times.
