Out of the Classroom, Into Cahaba

Over two warm, sunny days in early November, 2025, 23 teachers from across Alabama went into the woods, water, and earth to learn more about Place-Based Education (PBE). Cahaba Biodiversity Center, located southeast of Tuscaloosa, AL, served as the workshop’s classroom, offering the teachers access to 2,100 pristine acres of woods, hills, and riverfront. The workshop was put on by Dr. Chet Nicklas, director of the Black Belt STEM Institute at the University of West Alabama, and Alex Sivitskis, Education Research Faculty & Professional Learning Coach at Teton Science Schools. Both The University of West Alabama and Teton Science Schools are RSC Regional hubs, anchoring the Black Belt and Northern Rockies hubs, respectively.

This November workshop is the third time that the Black Belt Stem Institute (BBSI) and Teton Science Schools have collaborated on place-based professional development for Alabama teachers. For Dr. Nicklas, providing STEM-focused training like these are central to the BBSI mission: “We want to make a difference by helping to solve the teacher shortages in Alabama. The state of Alabama finds it important to offer high quality PD to teachers so that they can become better professionals and produce high-quality students,” and utilizing the natural wonders of Cahaba Biodiversity Center make for a natural site to develop place-based curriculum.

After introductions at the historic barn, now renovated into a large group meeting space, Alex led the teachers through an overview of the principles of Place-Based Education, based upon Teton Science Schools’ robust research and resources on PBE. TSS describes PBE as “an approach that connects learners and communities to increase student engagement, boost learning outcomes, impact communities and promote understanding of the world around us,” focusing on utilizing the cultural, ecological, and economic resources of unique communities to make learning grounded in the lived experiences of the students.

Following the initial scene-setting, two teachers who had previously taken PBE training through the BBSI each led mini-lessons, with the other teachers acting as students. One session focused on science, the other math, and teachers had the opportunity to engage in both activities. Over the rest of the training, teachers had a chance to get out of the classroom and explore all that Cahaba had to offer. Teachers entered a large cave located at the edge of a prairie on the property, and waded along the shore of the Cahaba River, exploring the flora and fauna of a riverine ecosystem.

For Dr. Nicklas, he sees PBE as a perfect tool to improve the experiences of teachers throughout Alabama’s classrooms: “It is a great way to keep students engaged. When the students are invested and the instruction is student-centered, the behavior issues, academic performance issues, and attendance issues take care of themselves,” he describes. Utilizing a site like Cahaba places the teachers’ professional development in an inspiring, resource-rich environment, giving them both energy and tools to take back to their students and classrooms.

To give them something more tangible to take back, the conclusion of the workshop focused on empowering the teachers to develop place-based lesson plans tailored to both their local community contexts and the particular needs of the grade and subject area that they teach. Working with schools and teachers to develop real-life curriculum around Place-Based Education is a specialty of Teton Science Schools, whose Place Network collaborates with schools across the country to craft lesson plans and units that connect classroom and community.

Workshops like these represent the power of partnerships to uplift rural education. Teton Science School and UWA have collaborated before; The University Charter School, a public pre-K-12 school located on UWA’s Livingston campus, is the only Place-Based school in AL, a relationship led by RSC Board Member Nate McClennen and Black Belt regional hub lead Dr. Jan Miller. The relationship has also included the Black Belt Rural Teacher Corps visiting Teton Science Schools, and the Black Belt STEM institute has fostered partnerships with other educational consultants, leading workshops around youth sustainability and data science.

Serving teachers and schools through professional development also highlights the wider work that Dr. Nicklas and the BBSI conduct to bring high-quality STEM instruction to Alabama’s classrooms in the rural Black Belt region. The BBSI’s reputation for offering stellar professional development has grown since Dr. Nicklas began in 2022, particularly for sessions at locations like Cahaba. Dr. Nicklas notes the responses from teachers as “very positive. They love that they get this opportunity. Generally, when I post about an upcoming training, it fills up in one day due to the quality of our sessions.”

In teachers’ own words, they reflect on their experience taking workshop as such:

• “I loved the real life examples by facilitators and the planning time allowed!”

• “Awesome workshop! Engaging and I learned a lot! I can't wait until the next one.”

• “This is the best PD I’ve ever been to.”

• “I love the collaboration and learning that I have been doing with PBE– I just didn’t know it! [It] doesn’t all have to be huge projects to qualify! Excited to implement things!

Just like the teachers who participated in the workshop, Dr. Nicklas is already excited about what future offerings the BBSI can provide. He sees Teton Science Schools as central to their continued impact and potential for even more innovation: “They have been nothing but assets to the Black Belt STEM Education Institute, and I think our partnership may have some bigger plans in the future, as we have grown together in our journey to implement Place-Based Education throughout the Alabama Black Belt and Beyond.”

Rural Schools Collaborative would like to thank Dr. Annah Rogers for her facilitation of our visit to the Alabama Black Belt and making time in a busy schedule to visit the Cahaba Biodiversity Center. We also extend gratitude to Dr. Chet Nicklas, Alex Sivitskis, and the staff at Cahaba Biodiversity Center for a wonderful tour of the property.