Teacher Education Classes Summer 2026

Instructor: Retha Mathern
Date: June 8-11
2 Credits, $100.00 Professional Graduate Credit Fee (paid for by the Lignite Energy Council)
Location: Bismarck, ND, BSC

Pre-registration is required: To register to attend this event, please fill out the application form at https://lignite.com/events/teachers-seminar/ A $60 deposit is required to hold your place is the seminar. The deposit can be paid online at the time of application, or a check can be mailed in. All deposits will be refunded upon check-in at the seminar. However, should you cancel after May 1 or do not show up for the seminar, your deposit will be forfeited. For more information on this event, please contact Retha Mathern, 701-355-2192, or rethamathern@lignite.com.

This seminar will provide the participants with a broader understanding of the lignite coal industry and the important role it plays in providing electricity to customers, farmers and businesses in North Dakota, Minnesota, South Dakota and Montana. Discussions on how lignite coal is mined and converted into energy, and the economic impact of industry on the region including a tour of a lignite mine, a lignite-based power plant and the Great Plains Synfuels Plant are featured. Classroom activates are provided to participating teachers which they can take back to their classrooms to teach their students about the coal industry and the importance of it. Information is also provided to help their students look at careers in the coal industry which provide high paying jobs with excellent benefits.

Instructor: Jeff Beck
Date: June 15-16
1 credit, $50.00 Professional Graduate Credit Fee
Location: Central, ND

To register online contact Jeff Beck 701-240-9231 or email jeff.beck@minot.k12.nd.usThis class will feature a tour-based workshop experience.  Participants will travel to agriculturally based locations to visit firsthand with stakeholders in the agriculture industry.  The workshop will combine authentic activities and field presentation with experiences in classroom lectures, individual and group activities, computer-based exercises, and outdoor experiences.  Class members will be able to hear the stories of the people responsible for feeding our nation and preserving our environment. The participants will transfer these exercises to practical classroom applications. The class will be limited to 15 participants.  

Instructor: Ron Ness
Date: June 15-18
2 Credits, $100.00 Professional Graduate Credit Fee
Location: Bismarck, BSC

Pre-registration required at http://www.ndpetroleumfoundation.org/TES.  Enrollment is limited to 50 primary & secondary educators on a first-come, first served basis

This seminar includes an overview of North Dakota's oil gas industry. Participants will receive a great deal of hands on experience, with an emphasis on technology, as well as several learning activities to develop lesson plans and use in the classroom. The seminar covers various aspects of the industry including history, geology, physics, engineering, production issues, refining and marketing, employment needs, and the impact of oil tax on state tax revenues, policy decisions and the state's budget surplus.

Instructor: Jeff Beck
Date: June 22-24
2 credits, $100 Professional Graduate Credit Fee
Location: Turtle River State Park

Pre-registration is required: To register contact Jeff Beck 701-240-9231 or email jeff.beck@minot.k12.nd.us

The class is limited to 16 participants.
Thi class will combine authentic activities and field presentation with experiences in classroom lectures, individual and group activities, computer-based exercises, and outdoor experiences. Participants will be expected to hike, bike and kayak to successfully participate in this class. The participants will transfer these exercises to practical classroom applications.

Instructor: Tina Harding
Date: July 13-17
4 credits, $200 Professional Graduate Credit Fee
Location: Bismarck

Pre-Registration Required: https://www.dwr.nd.gov/adminlink/4dcgi/wet/WET-3

Join us for an opportunity to experience current watershed management and water resource issues along the Red River. While exploring the issues and identifying solutions, participants will receive real world, user friendly and classroom ready instruction from tenured Project WET Trainers, resource professionals, and scientists. Participants transfer the institute's field studies to practical classroom applications. Participants will experience hands-on, minds-on learning through a balance of presentations, discussions, activities, field tours, and environmental investigations.

Instructor: Michael Netzloff
Date: August 3-5
1 Credit, $50.00 Professional Graduate Credit
Location: Bismarck, ND-Event Center

This event requires pre-registration, to register please go to https://www.cte.nd.gov/pdc

The purpose of this professional development conference is to provide career and technical education teachers and administrators with information, resources, and instructional tools to be more effective educators. Attendees will gain skills in designing, implementing, and evaluating instructional programs for career and technical education students and assessing the level of learning achieved by those students.

Instructor: Sherry Niesar
Date: June 9-10
1 Credit, $50.00 Professional Graduate Credit
Location: Bismarck, ND Game and Fish Department Headquarters, 100 N Bismarck Expressway

The workshop will be fun and fast paced with many hands-on activities educators can use in their classrooms, discussion of classroom and curriculum integration, and identification of local resources. North Dakota resources, environment, and wildlife will be emphasized in this workshop. Field trips will be taken to demonstrate the use of natural areas as classrooms. Workshop participants will have the opportunity to experiment with different media including clay, watermedia, pastel, and colored pencil. No previous art experience is required for this workshop. The workshop is suitable for educators teaching K-12.