Inside Education at a Glance

43 Alberta educators came together to participate in the first of FEESA’s educator professional development institute—a 14-day Forestry Education Institute in Grande Prairie and the Water Education Institute in Lethbridge.

FEESA begins its direct delivery programming in classrooms, hiring its first educator! Does he look familiar to you?

The Forest Adopt-A-Classroom program starts to bring the forest to the classrooms of Alberta students.

We’ve always done our best to provide environmental and natural resource education to students and teachers, but for many, hands-on, experiential learning is the most effective way to fully understand fleshed out concepts.

With the opening of our first-ever forest field site at the Jumpingpound Demonstration Forest in Kananaskis, students from all across southern Alberta will have the opportunity to learn all about the forest—while in the forest!

As a critical habitat for fish, waterfowl and other wildlife, Alberta’s wetlands are a crucial ecosystem for biodiversity in our province.

With that in mind, Inside Education teamed up with Ducks Unlimited Canada in 2005 to begin offering wetlands field trips for students and teachers to experience the majesty of Alberta’s wetlands from up close.

Inside Education has always felt like a family, so it was only fitting that we found and purchased a downtown house to serve as the headquarters for our Edmonton office.

Cozy but still spacious, our new home away from home is the perfect place to work, collaborate, and store our expanding supply of learning resources.

It’s a whole lot easier to strive for professional excellence when you love what you do, who you work with, and what your organization stands for!

Thanks in large part to the ever-auspicious company culture at the core of our professional ethos, Inside Education was awarded Canadian Environmental Employer of the Year by ECO Canada.

While the Inside Education team often refers to itself as a family, we know how important it is to provide work-life balance, especially to those who are starting and supporting families of their own.

In January of 2013, we were thrilled to see these efforts acknowledged in the form of an Alberta Venture Magazine award for Best Workplace for Working Parents.

33 Grade 9-12 students from 5 schools were joined by a diverse range of energy industry experts in Lac La Biche to gain a deeper understanding of the career opportunities available in Northwestern Alberta.

The Alberta Boreal Careers (ABC) Project explored careers ranging from environmental science and petroleum engineering to welding, cooking, and beyond.

Always in pursuit of providing new hands-on learning experiences for students to explore environmental and natural resource education, in February of 2014 we created two new resources: Water Innovation and Stewardship Kits and Solar Lantern Projects for electricity education.

As part of our ongoing effort to make our programming accessible to schools across Alberta, the Inside Education team added a new forest field trip site near Fort McMurray at the Gregoire Lake Provincial Park.

The fall of 2018 also saw students and teachers from three schools take part in the Wood Buffalo Student Sustainability Summit. The summit allowed students to examine local sustainability and energy initiatives, climate change-related issues, and students’ roles in environmental stewardship.

Located approximately 50 Km west of Calgary, the Jumpingpound Demonstration Forest celebrated its 20th year after opening in 1988 as part of the multi-use recreation area in Kananaskis Country.

As one of our most in-demand sites, the Jumpingpound Demonstration Forest has been a crucial tool in telling the story of Alberta’s forest and wildlife landscape to students in Southern Alberta.

Adding to the array of educational opportunities on offer to Alberta teachers and students, Inside Education took over the reins of the A+ for Energy Grant Program from BP Canada, who would remain in place as the A+ for Energy founding partner.

Through the A+ for Energy Grant Program, Inside Education has been able to provide funding and guidance to K-12 schools across the province to help bring energy ideas to life in the classroom and beyond.

In 2020, Alberta’s acclaimed Emerald Foundation honoured Inside Education with our first Emerald Award for Public Education and Outreach–two cornerstones of the Inside Education mandate to support environmental education all across Alberta.

The award acknowledged Inside Education’s commitment to showing leadership and creativity in educating students of all ages about environmental matters.

The inability to provide classroom presentations during the pandemic proved to be a challenge, but the Inside Education program team was up to the task! Shifting our delivery model to online, virtual classroom presentations allowed us to continue inspiring students and supporting teachers when seeing them in person wasn’t an option.

After a hiatus from in-person field programs, Inside Education was thrilled to begin offering wetlands programs for students across the province in the fall of 2021. Launching our new wetland field programs in Edmonton and Calgary, we hosted students at local natural wetlands, naturalized wetlands, and stormwater ponds.

During the fall season, we delivered six programs to 16 classes consisting of 125 elementary and 177 junior high school students. Some of the major themes taught included wetland types and comparison, evaluating biodiversity, terrestrial and aquatic animal adaptations, and more.

With the global pandemic limiting our ability to deliver large-scale, in-person programming for students and teachers, Inside Education quickly pivoted in 2021 to host three provincial summits virtually: The Boreal Careers (ABC) Summit, the Generate Youth Energy and Climate Summit, and the Cultivate Youth Agriculture Leadership Summit.

Despite the limitations of online-only project delivery, the three virtual summits were attended by a cumulative total of 44 teams of nearly 1,300 junior and senior high students from across Alberta.

Executive Director Steve McIsaac was recognized with an Emerald Lifetime Achievement Award for his substantial contributions toward environmental education, inspiring youth and supporting teachers across Alberta for more than 30 years.

In addition to co-leading Alberta’s first climate change education program, 1992’s Atmospheric Change Teacher’s Institute, Steve led Inside Education’s first-ever student outdoor education field trip, delivered dozens of teacher professional development programs, co-authored numerous learning resources and even starred in an Educational Video.

After awarding more than $4 million in total funding to K-12 schools across Alberta since its inception, the A+ for Energy Grant program celebrated its 15th anniversary in 2022.

In the five years that followed Inside Education’s adoption of the A+ for Energy Program from BP Canada in 2018, Inside Education and its program partners were proud to provide more than 100 grants of up to $5,000 to help establish energy education products that have gone on to create a lasting impact on both the schools themselves and the communities that surround them.

Though the Inside Education team remained ever-resilient in finding new ways to offer environmental and natural resource education to Albertans during the course of the pandemic, we were thrilled to make our return to offering in-person summits in the fall of 2022.

The Cultivate Youth Agriculture Leadership Summit brought together 18 teams from high schools across Alberta to explore the agriculture sector in our province. More than 100 students and teachers dove into topics ranging from modern agriculture to food systems, to Alberta’s evolving role in global food production.

After more than 30 years with the organization and nearly 20 years steering the ship, Inside Education’s Executive Director Steve McIsaac was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal for his legacy of outstanding contributions to the province of Alberta.

24 teachers from 8 provinces took part in a five-day immersive exploration of energy development in Northern Alberta. Throughout the professional development program, participants had a unique opportunity to get a firsthand look at the current status and future horizons of the region’s energy landscape.

Some of the highlights included behind-the-scenes tours of an oil sands production site, a carbon capture facility, and the Métis Crossing Solar project, along with numerous hands-on activities and face-to-face time with energy experts from a variety of disciplines.

Inside Education’s Energy Team Lead is honoured as a Clean50 Emerging Leader for her exceptional contribution toward helping students understand energy through a sustainability-focused lens.

Leading Inside Education’s Energy Education Tool Kit project, Mila helped build and distribute 200 kits to schools in Alberta and B.C. during the pandemic, providing 7021 students a hands-on energy education experience.

Having made an enormous impact on Inside Education’s educational programs and company culture as its longtime Program Director, Kathryn Wagner was appointed by the Board of Directors as Inside Education’s new Executive Director.

We can’t wait to see what she accomplishes in her new role as she continues to help bring environmental and natural resource education to students and teachers across Alberta and beyond!