Getting Teachers and Students Hands-On with Air Quality Tech and Education!

The Youth Air Quality Advocates (YAQA) project aimed to do just what the name said: educate youth on air quality science and technology so that they can advocate for better air quality in their communities. A partnership with Sustainable Silicon Valley (SSV) (Now part of Acterra), TD Enviro’s team helped co-create this project, providing technical air monitoring and education expertise as well as our AirActions grades 6-12 curriculum.

Lee Boyes on the TD Enviro team leads a teacher training

The main components of the project included training teachers on in the East Side Union High School District in San Jose, California on the use of handheld monitors developed by SSV’s team and how to use and integrate the AirActions curriculum. We also provided interested schools with stationary air sensors and provided the data to the school community.

This two-year grant trained over 50 teachers across three teacher trainings. These teacher trainings, run by TD Enviro’s team, dug into foundational air quality science, the AirActions curriculum, lab demonstrations, and allowed teachers to get hands on with handheld air monitors and explore how they could use them in class. Significant follow-up was conducted and the SSV team was able to be on the ground helping out teachers as they brought elements of the trainings into their classrooms.

YAQA reached over 900 students from schools across the district. Youth education programs like this one, while not without their challenges, can see generations of students becoming more informed about air quality, and can pass their knowledge on into their communities. We look forward to the next one! Interested in projects like this? We’d love to talk with you about how we can support.