This year on March 31 and April 1, Southern Nevada educators of all subjects and grade levels gathered to learn about incorporating earth science into their classrooms for the 26^th annual Southern Nevada Teachers Workshop, hosted by the Nevada Mining Association (NVMA) and the Nevada Division of Minerals (NDOM).

The first day of the workshop I had the pleasure of joining some of the teachers in classes and seminars including “Rock On: Language Arts,” and “Economics of Mining,” as well as the ever-popular “Edible Geology,” which showed teachers how to demonstrate the formation of various types of rocks using simple ingredients like bread and candy. Teachers examined rocks, learned about fossil formation and learned about what makes a rock different from a mineral. Then, in true teacher fashion, a hilarious skit about mine safety was acted out by two NVMA education committee volunteers.

On the second day, teachers listened to talks including one about the impact mining has on Nevada by NVMA president Dana Bennett. After that, they broke into three groups, which visited different mine sites and points of interest in Southern Nevada. I personally accompanied Dana on a trip to Molycorp, a rare earth mine just across state lines in Mountain Pass, California. The tour guides were fantastic—at the end of the day, they took the time to thank the teachers for their hard work dedicating their time and resources to children. The passion miners have for the importance of their jobs, and the attention to detail when it comes to safety, was really impressive to me.

What I enjoyed most about the workshop, however, was seeing the spirit of the teachers and how engaged they were. You could tell they truly enjoyed the hands-on learning. I heard many comments from teachers who were surprised to learn how big of an industry mining is in Nevada, and how it does not get talked about enough. They expressed that they wished there was more of an emphasis on mining in the curriculum. Rocks and minerals are all around us in Nevada, they said, and we should be doing more to teach our kids about the importance of the mining industry in our state.

The Southern Nevada Teachers Workshop is a special place where teachers come together for a short period of time to learn instead of teach. Instructors from various institutions, including the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, donated their time to make it happen. And I’m sure that the teachers, the ones who took two days out of their spring break to learn about mining in Nevada, will go back to school rejuvenated and full of ideas on how to incorporate mining in their classrooms.