The Environmental Center

Professional Development for K–12 educators.
2025-01-28 16:00 - 18:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | 375 SW Powerhouse Dr Suite 100, Bend, OR, 97701, United States
Professional Development
This virtual workshop is for K–12 educators across multiple content areas. Confluence Professional Development’s purpose is to educate teachers in the pedagogy of Indigenous curriculum and lessons. It is to prepare adults, teachers, and educators with a more perceptive understanding of Native American lifeways, history, cultural traditions, and ecology that define our Native identity.
Over the two-day virtual workshop, the cohort will learn directly from Indigenous workshop facilitators/speakers and have the opportunity to think through Indigenous education concepts together using materials from Confluence Media Library, our publications, Columbia River Sites, and our work from Camp Confluence and Confluence in the Classroom. We will also show the parallels of our work at Confluence with Oregon’s Tribal History/Shared History and Washington’s Since Time Immemorial curriculums.
This cohort will meet on Zoom on Jan. 21 and Jan. 28 at 4–6pm. Our theme this month is:
Voices of the River Volume 1: Stories to Be Told – Ancestors Always Present
Register HERE

A Year in the Life: Oregon’s Desert Owls
2025-02-04 18:00 - 19:00 | 375 SW Powerhouse Dr Suite 100, Bend, OR, 97701, United States
Join Oregon Natural Desert Association as they kick off their 2025 High Desert Speaker Series with an absorbing evening all about high desert owls. Paul Bannick, acclaimed author and wildlife photographer, will take you through four seasons in the lives of these owls to give you a better appreciation of what they need to survive and thrive in each season. With stunning, intimate images, Paul will bring the stories of these adorable yet fierce predators to life and reveal their unique roles in the high desert ecosystem from its driest lands to its ponderosa pine woodlands.

Tiny Titans: Insects of the High Desert
2025-02-20 19:00 - 20:00 | 375 SW Powerhouse Dr Suite 100, Bend, OR, 97701, United States
Get ready for an exciting exploration into the crucial role insects play in Oregon’s high desert. Oregon Natural Desert Association’s High Desert Speaker Series continues with Dr. Tara Cornelisse, invertebrate zoologist, as she provides insights into the fascinating butterflies, moths and beetles residing in eastern Oregon. Tara will examine the current state of insect populations, share facts and stories about key species in the high desert, and highlight why conserving the high desert is vital for the future of insect populations and the entire ecosystem.

SheJumps | Get the Girls Out! | Mt. Bachelor, OR
2025-03-09 09:00 - 14:00 | Mt Bachelor Ski Resort, 13000 Century Dr, Bend, OR, 97702, United States
Join SheJumps as they celebrate Get the Girls Out! – a nationwide campaign uniting women and girls- transgender and cisgender- as well as non-binary individuals to embrace the great outdoors while fostering a sense of adventure and camaraderie. At the start of each session they will have participants group up depending on terrain they want to ski/ride for each session. The prize drawing will include prizes from awesome sponsors and more! Each registered participant will receive one free prize drawing ticket, with the option to purchase more tickets at the event via cash or card. They need volunteers for this event! Please let Liz Sequeria (lsequeira@shejumps.org) know if you are available to volunteer. Sign-ups coming soon!

El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children's Day/Book Day)
2025-04-25 18:00 - 20:00 | Hugh Hartman Elementary School, 2105 W Antler Ave, Redmond, OR, 97756, United States
El día de los niños/El diía de los libros (Children’s Day/Book Day), commonly known as Día, is a celebration every day of children, families, and reading that culminates yearly on April 30.
Día is a nationally recognized initiative that emphasizes the importance of literacy for all children of all linguistic and cultural backgrounds. It is a daily commitment to linking children and their families to diverse books, languages, and cultures. The common goals of all Día programming are to:

Celebrate children and connect them to the world of learning through books, stories and libraries.
Nurture cognitive and literacy development in ways that honor and embrace a child’s home language and culture.
Introduce families to community resources that provide opportunities for learning through multiple literacies.
Recognize and respect culture, heritage and language as powerful tools for strengthening families and communities.

WHAT: El Dia de los Niños, El Dia de los Libros also known as EL DIA (Childrenś Day/Book Day)
WHEN: Friday, April 25th, 2025 from 6 to 8 pm (Partners arriving from 5 pm on)
WHERE: Hugh Hartman Elementary School, Redmond, Oregon
El Dia event is organized in partnership with the Deschutes Public Library (liaison Diana Hernandez), and Hugh Hartman Elementary School part of Redmond School District. (liaison Jessica Pickens).
