
ELWC Training for Trainers
Building Confidence and Expertise as a STEM Educator and Trainer. All Trainings Now Online
is a training for trainers for 12 Black, Indigenous, Latinx/Latino, Asian, and Pacific Islander (BIPOC) educators who want to become an early STEM Master Trainer and/or Community Trainer.
This project is a partnership between Early Learning Washington County, Community Action Child Care Resource & Referral and Portland Metro STEM Partnership.
The cohort program is designed to grow the pool of multilingual early STEM Master Trainers and/or Community Trainers in Washington County.
The training series includes: Four Set 1 trainings, two Set 2 trainings, and additional coaching.
The Early Learning Washington County Training for Trainers
The goal of this Trainer for Training is to support Early Learning educators, and especially those who are multilingual, to become leaders in STEM/STEAM education in Washington County in 2023.
By the end of this workshop, you will:
- Gain experience participating in and hosting Zoom meetings to support adult learning.
- Explore best practices in adult learning
- Explore best practices in Early Learning STEM/STEAM education
- Co-facilitate NGSS 101 for Early Learning Educators (part in person, part on Zoom)
- Be ready to submit your form to become a Community or Master Trainer.
- Begin writing a proposal for a STEM/STEAM workshop and submit it to ORO
Through the participation in this multilingual cohort educators will deepen their Early STEM knowledge as well as adult learning principles related to STEM education. They will learn how to refine an existing workshop based on the strengths and needs in their communities, develop, and grow their facilitation skills, and learn from facilitators and other educators to include culturally and linguistically responsive practices.
Examples of workshop topics include, Next Generation Science Standards, Understanding Zoom, Writing a Proposal for ORO and Creating a PowerPoint. A full list of trainings can be found below.
Materials will be available in English and Spanish!

Expectations for cohort participation:
This cohort opportunity provides up to 27 hours of instructional education and additional coaching support to benefit your professional development. There will also be a 6 hour session of hands-on co-facilitation practice. The coaching and co-facilitation time will not count as ORO training hours. The total commitment is between 32 and 40 hours, depending on your needs. Apart from the Trainer to Trainer workshop (which is optional for those that are already Community or Master Trainers), cohort members are expected to participate in all sessions.
Trainings will be a combination of online and in-person learning.
Cohort Schedule:
For a complete list of trainings with dates and times and other details, please refer to this document.
- Timeline
Applications are due by March 15, 2023.
The first session begins on March 30, 2023, for those that must take the Trainer to Trainer workshop. The final session is on July 27, 2023.
- The Trainers
This program is created and facilitated by:
- Leah Plack, Portland STEM Metro Partnership Project Coordinator. Master Trainer
- Courtney Walsh, Child Care Resource & Referral Professional Development Coordinator
- Martina Jallad, Child Care Resource & Referral Quality Improvement Specialist
- Additional trainers will be added!
- The Cost
If you are accepted, there is no cost for participation. Early Learning Washington County (ELWC) is the sponsor of this training so ELWC will issue to educators a stipend to ensure full participation.
Do I Qualify?
Training Qualifications:
Participants need to have the minimum educational requirements to participate. This training is for those that are already Master Trainers and/or Community Trainers in other subjects, and people who are close to attaining their Community/Master Trainer certificate in 2023.
You can view the Master and Community Trainer requirements here: https://www.pdx.edu/education-career-development/certified-oregon-registry-trainers
If you find that you’re not there yet but are interested, let us know! We will connect you with people to support you to become a community trainer so that you can qualify for future cohort opportunities.
Washington County Priority:
Educators from Washington County will be given priority. If slots are not filled, we will accept providers from other regions, so you are welcome to submit your application.
How to Apply
Application Process:
First review of Applications on March 15th, 2023. Please apply if the link is available
Acceptance notices will be sent by March 17th
The program will start on March 30, 2023 and will complete on July 27, 2023.
Click here to access the application: link
For any questions: Please contact Johnathon Pierce at 503-913-7999 or by email at johnathonp@unitedway-pdx.org