Our Story

It started with a question - What does it take for a community to be sustainable?

It is founded in how we choose to learn and collaborate as a community.

Sustainability implores us to recognize the interdependent actions of all of us in a community.
When people, young and old, are excited to learn, know how to critically think, problem-solve, and take risks, they become community contributors.
Deeper Learning models such as project-based learning and place-based education foster these skills.

Umi - 海

Umi means ocean or sea in Japanese. Umi represents the largest ecosystem on the planet, and its intricate web of interdependency that exists in the millions of living communities under water. It’s a representation of what it is to be interdependent and sustainable in a community.

The Umi Project focuses on doing the hard work of creating intentionally designed systems in education that contribute to the future we want for the next generation.

Recent Project Highlights:

In 2019, The Umi Project intentionally designed and facilitated the on-boarding and professional development for DreamHouse ‘Ewa Beach Charter School’s flagship team of teachers.

In 2019, The Umi Project partnered with the Anchorage School District’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) Department to intentionally design and roll-out teacher learning teams to build literacy in CTE courses.

In 2020, The Umi Project partnered with Anchorage STrEaM Academy to provide support in Project-Based Learning systems, instructional coaching and strategic planning.

The Umi Project designed, built and launched the Climate Action Toolkit project in partnership with Green Island Films in Honolulu, HI.

In 2020, The Umi Project provided professional development on deeper-learning systems and project-based learning to over 8+ school groups in Hawaii, Alaska and California.

In 2020, The Umi Project consulted for the Kachemak Bay Environmental Education Alliance (KBNERR) and facilitated their NOAA Strategic Market Analysis and Community Needs Assessment.