Substitute days can open doors to clean-economy careers
The Clean Economy Educators program brings schools, trained substitutes, and classroom-ready lessons together, so a day the classroom teacher is away becomes an in-school field trip about clean economy topics.
Students spend about 10 to 11 days per year with substitute teachers. Over 13 years from kindergarten through grade 12, this totals roughly 130 to 143 days, nearly an entire 165-day academic year! (Source: Brookings Institution)
Schools need meaningful, engaging lessons when teachers are away. Clean Economy Educators transforms underutilized substitute teacher days into future-focused “in-school field trips” introducing students to emerging career pathways.
We're training substitute teachers to confidently deliver lessons selected by the classroom teacher, aligned with the subject area, and designed to introduce students to exciting, family-sustaining careers in Minnesota's growing clean economy.
Teachers need a dependable substitute, substitutes need a clear plan, and students deserve a day that still feels purposeful. A substitute day becomes a chance to introduce young people to practical work that strengthens communities and protects food, water, clean air, healthy places, and a stable climate.
How the model works
District substitute teachers trained as Clean Economy Educators work within the school day that already exists. An in-school field trip gives teachers and substitutes a shared lesson plan without asking schools to create a separate program period.
- 01
A classroom teacher makes a request to cover an absence
The teacher shares the class context and can assign a reviewed Clean Economy Educators lesson or let a trained substitute choose one.
- 02
A trained substitute accepts the assignment
The substitute confirms on the Clean Economy Educators app and picks up the absence in the district's absence management system.
- 03
Students keep learning
Students explore real work, practical skills, and the part they can play in a changing economy.
What students can gain
The program has not yet onboarded its first schools, so these are the experiences we are building toward, not claims about results already delivered.
Students see a future they can be part of.
Clean Economy Educators helps students connect classroom learning to real-world challenges, careers, and opportunities in Minnesota's growing clean economy. Through engaging, standards-aligned lessons, students:
- See the relevance. Connect science, math, social studies, and other subjects to real problems and solutions.
- Discover careers. Learn about the people and jobs helping create cleaner, healthier communities and a more sustainable economy.
- Meet possibilities. Explore pathways they may not have known existed, including careers that combine their interests with purpose.
- Build confidence and agency. Discover that they have the knowledge, skills, and ability to contribute to solutions.
- Think like problem-solvers. Practice creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and systems thinking around authentic challenges.
- Connect learning to their community. See how clean-economy solutions can improve the places where they live, work, and go to school.
- Imagine their future. Leave with a broader sense of what they can do, who they can become, and how their education can open doors.
In short: Clean Economy Educators helps students move from “Why do I need to learn this?” to “Where could this take me?” We don't teach fear. We teach inspiring possibilities for a brighter future.
Built on a nonprofit mission
Clean Economy Educators is a new program of We All Need Food and Water, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that uses joyful, inclusive education to help people protect food, water, air, and one another. We bring that mission into clean-economy career exploration through equity, empathy, shared values, and a thriving future.
Learn about We All Need Food and Water
Launching in Minnesota
Minnesota is where Clean Economy Educators is starting. We are focused on making the program work well for the first schools and teachers we serve before we expand, and we will share what we learn along the way. Educators and supporters outside Minnesota can tell us where interest is building.
Share interest outside MinnesotaMinnesota's public-school opportunity
The figures below describe Minnesota's public-school landscape, not Clean Economy Educators participation. They show how many learners and schools could eventually benefit as the program grows. The totals focus on public schools, including charter schools, because one consistent official dataset supports a statewide school and district finder. As partnerships develop, we also want to learn with private schools, alternative programs, juvenile justice education settings, and other places where young people learn. Those are future possibilities and are not included in the totals below.
- Public-school enrollment
- 875,579
- Operational public schools
- 2,741
- School districts
- 329
Choose a district from the adjacent selector for the complete keyboard and screen-reader experience.
Find the places CEE could serve
Search all 2,731 schools, or choose one of the 329 geographic school districts. The map is for finding a place, not ranking districts.
Figures come from the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, using the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 Common Core of Data and school-directory releases. Directory counts can vary between annual releases. Review the source data.
605 charter and other public-agency schools do not have a standard geographic district polygon. They remain available through the school search above.
A deliberate path beyond Minnesota
We're excited to announce our first engagements in Minnesota, and we're eager to grow throughout the country. We'll share what we learn as we go, and we're not ready to announce timelines for other states yet.
- 01
Start in Minnesota
Work with Minnesota schools, substitutes, and community partners, and shape the program around what we learn together.
- 02
Share what works
Publish the lessons, materials, and playbooks we develop so other communities can build on what we have tried.
- 03
Invite others in
Educators and supporters everywhere can tell us where interest is growing and what students in their communities need.
- 04
Grow with local partners
Grow state by state with local employers, educators, and nonprofits who know their communities best.
A map of the United States with Minnesota highlighted as our first home. We have not announced launch dates for other states.
Help build the first Minnesota network
Classroom teachers, substitutes, schools, and community partners each bring a different piece of the model. Learn how participation works, explore the lesson library, or start a conversation with us.