Tana Shepard is a lifelong Oregonian, a first generation college student, an environmentalist and a public school teacher in her twentieth year serving her community.  She is a founding member of Oregon Educators for Climate Education (OECE). Tana began her career in education later than most as an upper elementary teacher at César Chávez Elementary, a Title I school in Eugene, Oregon. In her fourteen years at Chávez, she led her school’s student Green Team, the staff STEAM team and built the Dolores Huerta school garden.  Chávez was a certified Oregon Green School in her charge. Grant writing became her hobby, receiving many over the years to maintain the garden, take her class on field trips and offer materials for her students to engage in outdoor learning. Her drive to learn and lead brought many opportunities to hone her practice, often ahead of the curve. In 2010, Tana embarked on a three year Technology Rich Classroom grant to implement and integrate technology tools across all subject areas using a 2-1 laptop model.  That led to her 4th grade class participating in a global music and food collaboration called Rock Our World. In addition, in 20 14, as the English Language Arts leader in her building, she was a model teacher for her peers across the district  and was invited to be part of a Journey Masters team to write supplemental materials for the Journeys reading curriculum.

Her leadership, as well as passions in environmental education and waste reduction led her to her current role as a Climate, Energy and Conservation teacher supporting K-12 students  in 2017.  She coordinates the  4J/EWEB Education Partnership program, grant funded by Eugene Water and Electric board. The program is multi-pronged with a focus on Our Changing Planet: Preparing for Our Future-Pacific Northwest Climate, Water, Energy and Disaster Preparedness & Resilience. She  facilitates salmon watch field trips, provides alternative energy projects for classrooms and puts the A in STEAM with projects such as Parachutes for the Planet.  Tana is always looking for creative ways to support students and teachers she works with in developing and fostering a connection to each other and to our planet. From salmon education to developing a district-wide food waste management program, Tana’s vision is clear: We all can do our part to make small shifts in our habits and decisions to create a more just, healthy and livable future on our planet.