By Almeera Anwar
Salish Sea Trading Cooperative, a Ballard-based non-profit, was one of only two outside groups invited to speak at the Sustainability Education Summer Institute (SESI) recently. They have just entered their third season of transporting local goods around Puget Sound via sailboat and were honored to attend the institute.
Future co-op captain Abbey Dunigan Hulscher shows off her sailing skills at the tiller. Photo courtesy Mark Hulscher and Liz Dunigan-Hulsher
Every summer teachers and administrators for K-12 schools across Washington State gather for SESI, a two-day conference that focuses on discussing sustainability education in the classrooms. This year over 120 educators attended the conference which was held at IslandWood on Bainbridge Island July 23rd – 25th.
Sessions are designed to arm teachers with best practices and innovations from a variety of sectors that touch sustainability issues. Topics at the conference range from government and policy to forestry, energy to setting up a classroom garden, and more. The Salish Sea Trading Cooperative was there to talk about their community-based food transportation and how their co-op is an example of sustainable alternatives in response to climate change.
“It was a big honor to teach to the teachers,” said Kathy Pelish, co-founder and managing partner for Salish Sea. “We were one of the few outside groups invited to speak to the teachers. It was also huge for us because we got to go in and talk to 120 people who are very influential and sent them home thinking.”
They started their presentation with a photo of Abbey, their youngest sailor ever, who rode her first boat at just four months old to emphasize the impact they are having in their community. Four years ago, many people would look at the Salish Sea team like they were crazy for the work they were doing and now people are interested in their message and constantly want to hear more.
Pelish said she could tell that the teachers really cared about what they were learning at the institute, noting that they are aware the world is changing and are dedicated to helping students that are coming through the school system by teaching them about hands-on opportunities.
“They care deeply about the kids and want to help them navigate this uncertain terrain,” said Pelish. “Not everyone can be a hedge-trader anymore and so they want to teach these kids basic skills so that they can be successful in other capacities.”
One teacher approached Pelish after the presentation and said that he wanted to have his class for a boat design project to help them understand what kinds of boats would work well in the Pacific Northwest. A project like this allows students to take into account things like wind cycles, boat formats and the purpose for this type of transportation.
“It was inspiring to see that this different group people were just as passionate about teaching sustainably and the environment to their students and giving the right message to the students about this,” said Pelish, who said the best part of the experience for the Salish Sea crew was to be with people from a dramatically different circle that are dedicated to the same cause.
Pelish knows that not everyone she speaks with will want to take up sailing, but hopes that they will be inspired by the Salish Sea story just the same. “Even if people cannot use sail transport, at least they are aware of it and can find ways to do something similar where they are.”
