Chapter 3: Re-Imagining Our Identity: How a Sustainability Class Merges School, Community, and Environment

Three months after welcoming spring Chinook salmon eggs into their classroom, a group of students at Ruch Community K–8 School waded kneedeep into the icy water of the Rogue River to release the young fry. Eighth grader Tabitha Kohler pushed her long hair back from her eyes and smiled as she watched the fry dart away. “Watching the salmon hatch and grow up was really neat,” she said with an evident touch of nostalgia. “We were able to track their development each day.”

This salmon-release project is one way Ruch School science teacher Ryan King connects the classroom to the community and to the rural environment where his middle school students live. In the process, math, science,and literacy standards come alive in meaningful ways. By linking skills and standards to important, local, real-world issues, students are empowered to take charge of their own learning. They understand that more than hoops to mechanically jump through, the skills and knowledge embedded in standards can be part of the process of becoming an active, engaged citizen. Beyond mastering skills and content, Ryan wants his students to gain a sense of their own agency, their ability to make a positive impact on their community and environment. His sustainability class has become a sparkplug for that kind of engaged learning.