Partnering opportunities, STEELS standards at core of inaugural regional environmental literacy Ripple Effects Convening

​Partnering and collaboration were among central themes of the Environmental Literacy Northcentral Hub Ripple Effect Convening held for more than 50 educators June 17, 2025, across multiple sites in the greater Williamsport area.

“Getting to go to numerous locations and talking with the presenters at each place to see what educational programs we could have at their locations was one of my favorite parts of the day,” said Jacquie Weaver, of the James V. Brown Library. “This helped me understand different ways to partner with the locations.”
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The day began with introductions at Lycoming College’s Lynn Science Center and was followed by two sets of breakout sessions that featured a wide variety of speakers and topics related to environmental literacy, new STEELS (Science, Technology, Engineering, Environmental Literacy and Sustainability) standards that are being implemented in public schools statewide this coming school year and other themes.

“I enjoyed the one session about Micro:bits, which is something I’ll be teaching in the fall,” said Mike Yohn, a teacher in the Shikellamy School District. “I was most excited to see the coding side of the talk in terms of implementation.”

Other early morning sessions included an overview of meaningful connections using a field station by Susquehanna University, a sample hands-on lab incorporating plate tectonics and a stream table and STEELS partnerships overview with the PA Department of Education.

The second set of morning breakouts included an overview on teaching sustainability in education, environmental literacy tools available through the intermediate unit system, implementing STEELS through citizen science and a guided discussion on how nonformal venues and educators can partner with districts to extend field trips across the school year.

“Many state parks and other venues, like the Montour Preserve, see a spike in field trips at the end of the school year in May after classes wrap up their major testing,” said Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper John Zaktansky. “But there is no reason we can’t partner with districts for field trips and other programs year-round that help teachers better implement STEELS standards and improve scores for standardized tests.” 

Participants of the Ripple Effect Convening were then broken into three different groups and rotated across additional hands-on programming at different sites, including Rider Park, Waterdale and the Robert Porter Allen Natural Area.

Presentations included an overview of opportunities at Rider Park by manager Sara Street as well as a hands-on tree ecology game, salamanders by Dr. Mary Kate O’Donnell of Lycoming College and journaling by Dr. Phoebe Wagner, also of Lycoming College. At Waterdale, the Lycoming County Conservation District’s Carey Entz provide an overview of educational opportunities and Matt Kaunert and his students from Lycoming College did an interactive macroinvertebrate study of Mosquito Creek. Katie Caputo provided an overview of the Robert Porter Allen Natural Area while Bruce Buckle of the Lycoming Audubon Society led a short hike and reviewed volunteer opportunities and birding conservation projects and Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association’s Doug Fessler reviewed citizen science and classroom opportunities via the Birdnet project.

“I liked the interconnectivity of community and education at all levels,” said Kate DeCamp, of Wellsboro, an educator with the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. “I am excited to implement the hands-on learning in different ways then I would have thought. I spoke with other participants who really seemed to have some good ideas!”

The day concluded with an hour-long cruise, meal and networking opportunity for educators of all backgrounds aboard the Hiawatha Paddleboat, where the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association holds its annual Floating Classroom series.

“I definitely enjoyed the Hiawatha as well as the networking, resources and learning about opportunities in my students’ area,” said Tara Miller, a teacher in the Lewisburg School District.

The event was a collaborative effort among multiple groups across the Northcentral e-lit (environmental literacy) hub, sparked by regional lead Colleen Epler-Ruths, of the Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit, which offered Act 48 training hours for educators who attended.

“The convening was the culmination of multiple years of effort to create a Northcentral Pennsylvania Environmental Literacy hub where formal and non-formal educators could interact with the shared goal to increase environmental literacy to both K-12 students and their communities,” she said. “We ended up with a great variety of opportunities and tools for professional development, especially for this being our first attempt at this.”
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Plans are already in the works for a second annual Ripple Effect Convening event in the Northcentral hub area, tentatively scheduled for June 16, 2026.