For teachersClassroom teachers
Choose a classroom-ready lesson and share everything your substitute needs before the school day.
Turn substitute days into exciting learning and career discovery
Clean Economy Educators turns an absent teacher's day into an in-school field trip. Students explore practical solutions and the careers shaping their future. We teach inspiring possibilities for a brighter future.
For teachers
For substitutesSubstitute teachers
Review the classroom plan and lesson before you arrive, then teach with confidence.
For school leadersSchool and district leaders
Bring meaningful substitute-day learning and clean-economy career discovery to your schools.
Minnesota is home to 2,741 public and charter schools.
Why It Matters
Since Minnesota is committed to 100% carbon-free electricity by 2040, every industry can be part of the clean economy. But it is hard to keep up with changing needs and career pathways. That is why this program delivers content across all subjects.Source: Minnesota Department of Commerce clean electricity standard
At the same time, 89% of Minnesota school districts report chronic substitute shortages. Too often, substitute days become lost instructional time. We see sub days as an opportunity!Source: Minnesota PELSB teacher supply and demand report
A Bold, Practical Innovation
The Clean Economy Educators program is not just providing curriculum; it is a structural innovation. We use existing substitute teacher systems to deliver immersive, standards-aligned future-focused exploration without changing school schedules, adding work to classroom teachers, or requiring after-school participation. This ensures universal access without expensive bussing.
How the Clean Economy Educators program works
The full path for classroom teachers, substitute teachers, and school and district leaders, from booking a trained Clean Economy Educator to students exploring clean economy careers, lives on the How It Works page.
This program is a win for all
School districts
Reduce substitute shortages
89% of Minnesota school districts report significant sub shortages. Higher wages and looser licensing requirements cannot solve the problem that it is difficult for subs to walk into a classroom and teach content the sub may or may not know anything about. But providing rewarding jobs will lessen sub shortages.Source: Minnesota PELSB teacher supply and demand report
Improve learning and career pathways awareness
Did you know that an average of 7% of a student’s time in school is taught by a sub? This works out to be nearly an entire academic year by the time students graduate from high school. We can do better than just “hold down the fort.” Lessons are hands-on, collaborative, and rooted in Minnesota’s workforce needs.Source: ERIC review of substitute teacher instructional time
Support classroom teachers
Classroom teachers will be relieved of covering for their colleagues.Source: Minnesota PELSB teacher supply and demand report
Substitute teachers
Actual teaching, not just babysitting
Walking confidently into classrooms as an expert, getting to teach important and engaging lessons, is far more rewarding than overseeing independent seat work that often becomes a power struggle to get the students to stay on task.
Classroom teachers
Lighten your already too heavy load
No more needing to leave sub plans, just select a Clean Economy Lesson tied to your content area. Enjoy fewer days of covering your colleagues’ classes during your prep and lunch hours.
Students
In-school field trips
Discover exciting and emerging clean economy careers and the solutions building a better world that you can help create. Apply math and science to real-world energy challenges.
Minnesota economic partners
Train the workforce needed
Minnesota employers and business groups report a persistent “skills gap” and are seeking closer collaboration with schools to help better prepare students.Source: Minnesota Office of Higher Education on school-employer partnerships
How Clean Economy Educators works
Every booking comes with a real lesson
When a teacher is out, the class still learns something worth remembering. Every substitute arrives with a ready-to-teach clean economy lesson.
Posting a class takes a minute
Pick the day, describe your class, and approved substitutes who match your school see it right away.
Students meet real careers, not a worksheet
A substitute day becomes a chance to explore wind, solar, water, and food careers, and the people who do that work.
Substitutes choose where and when they work
Set your availability and the schools you would actually drive to. Confirm only the bookings that fit your life.
Built with schools, starting in Minnesota
We launched with Minneapolis-area educators and every public school in the state in our directory. This is where it starts, not where it ends.
Lessons from trusted partners
Materials from Clean Economy Educators, SubjectToClimate, Spark-Y, and Climate Interactive. Reviewed, credited, and ready for class.
