I’m Cristina Trecha (rhymes with you betcha) and I am on a quest to create unconventional, professionally fulfilling, and playful opportunities for preK-20 educators to lead and shine bright from wherever they are – geographically and professionally.
I currently live on Chinook and Cowlitz land in what is today known as Southwest Washington, and I work with districts and organizations from Washington down to California and from Texas back east to New York. A large part of my work is contracting with County Offices of Education, School Districts, Schools, STE[A]M Hubs, and Museums to connect educators in community across distances around shared interests such as place-based initiatives & tribal conversations. I also provide concrete ideas for creative adult facilitation approaches and one-on-one coaching for adults to confidently develop their own facilitation and presentation style.
Want to connect your district with a larger network of teachers? Looking for relevant and responsive professional development for you and your team? Want to learn together? Get in touch below and let’s get started!
I left entomology research in 2005 and earned an M.A. in History of Science at UCSD. From 2007-2015 I was the director of professional development at the Fleet Science Center, the San Diego Science Project Director at UCSD, and an NSF Cosmic Serpent Fellow. The experience of working directly with Indigenous Knowledge holders bridging Western science and Native science via Cosmic Serpent has deeply informed my perspective and interests. My family came to the Pacific Northwest as settlers via the Oregon Trail onto the land of the Cayuse, Walla Walla, and Umatilla Tribes and I believe rural educators – settler decedents or not – should be aware of and actively involved in learning more about what it means to live and teach on Native Land.
In order to increase rural teacher access to rich and fulfilling professional community, I designed and launched the Oregon Science Project in 2016. Based loosely on the Writing Project and initially funded by the Oregon Department of Education, this teacher-centered approach to develop teachers into regional, rural Learning Facilitators is now an independent model that is embedded throughout my work. This includes my role as Facilitator of the Rural STEAM Leadership Network of over 280 rural educators from throughout Oregon. This network was originally funded in 2019 by Innovation Funds from the Oregon Department of Education.