ATHENA: The Academy for Teaching about Health and Environment Associations

A FREE professional development opportunity for Washington State high school teachers.

2012 Summer workshop dates to be announced soon!

This FREE workshop at the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle immerses 24 Washington State high school teachers in the fascinating and highly relevant field of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences. It is NOT intended to promote any particular curriculum or classroom products, but rather to stimulate participants’ thinking, deepen content knowledge, and promote creative scientific inquiry. Following a very successful pilot workshop in summer of 2010, participating teachers returned to their classrooms and designed and implemented new units based on what they had learned. In May, they returned to share their successes with one another and UW faculty and staff during a follow-up session. The program provided support for travel, lodging, some meals, a modest stipend, and reimbursement for substitute teachers for the May session. Clock hours or UW credit were available upon completion of the workshop.

The ATHENA pilot project was supported in part through a two-year, one-time award from the UW Departmentof Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences. The CEEH Community Outreach and Ethics Core will buid on the success of this pilot and host a slightly modifed version of ATHENA starting in summer 2012. Check back soon to learn about how to apply to paricipate in this innovative professional development opportunity!

Download the complete Teacher's Guide from the August 2010 workshop session (PDF, 1.4 MB).

Click on the link below to watch a short film about our 2010-11 ATHENA workshop.


The ATHENA Project - Background Information

The overarching purpose of the ATHENA project is to improve secondary education across Washington State by infusing the curriculum that is currently presented in high schools with environmental and occupational health sciences (EOHS) related concepts and content. With support from the UW Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS), CEEH outreach staff hosted a workshop in the summer of 2010 that trained high school science, health, and career and technical education teachers in the core concepts of EOHS.

Participating teachers attended workshops to gain the necessary knowledge and skills for helping their students better understand the health risks posed by environmental hazards, including those found in the workplace. We also gave teachers the skills and resources to empower students to make individual and collective behavior changes to protect themselves and their communities from environmental hazards. .

The ATHENA project directly responds to the Washington state legislature’s mandate for universities to serve the community and supports the goals of the UW School of Public Health to promote population health through education and service


ATHENA Goals and Objectives

  1. Improve understanding of EOHS topics and inquiry-based instruction methods among high school teachers (health, science, and career and technical education) and their students.

  2. Support DEOHS faculty in fostering their research translation and public engagement skills, thereby enhancing DEOHS outreach efforts.

  3. Establish and foster connections between DEOHS, UW College of Education, UW Educational Outreach, the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and Washington State high schools and build a strong foundation for future funding through spin-off proposals.


For more information about this project, please contact:

Jon Sharpe, 206-685-5333

The UW provides equal opportunity in education without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability or status as a disabled veteran or Vietnam era veteran.