Nonprofit Spotlight
Our April Spotlight is on SEMIS Coalition!
The SEMIS Mission: The Southeast Michigan Stewardship Coalition facilitates school-community partnerships to develop students as citizen-stewards of healthy ecological-social systems.
The Southeast Michigan Stewardship Coalition (SEMIS Coalition) supports over 50 K-12 teachers and 2,000 K-12 students in southeast Michigan to connect classroom learning to their community through place-based education. Place-based education engages learners in local, hands-on, and relevant learning experiences that encourage young people to become active stewards of their communities, caring for themselves, their peers, and the neighbors (both human and non-human) they share their place with. Place-based education emphasizes student-driven inquiry, deep understanding of and connection to local place, and young people taking informed civic action in collaboration with their community members. A place-based approach to learning can grow young people’s sense of efficacy, their engagement in learning, and their understanding of the relevance of their learning across many subjects, including science, social studies, literacy, technology, engineering, art, and math.
As a program of Eastern Michigan University and a regional hub of the Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative, the SEMIS Coalition employs research-based practices in place-based education, including sustained teacher development and coalition building, collaborative instructional design, 1:1 classroom coaching, and customized on-site professional learning experiences. The SEMIS Coalition also fosters partnerships between schools and community organizations and collaborates closely with school administrators to support meaningful, sustained changes to K-12 education that support just, sustainable, and caring communities.
Details
Events to support The Southeast Michigan Stewardship Coalition
SEMIS Coalition Annual Community Forum
May 19, 2025
8:30 am –2:00 pm
The SEMIS Coalition Annual Community Forum will be held at the Eastern Michigan University Student Center in Ypsilanti, MI. The Community Forum is their annual celebration of youth-led place-based education efforts in Southeast Michigan. The event will include student-led presentations, intergenerational community conversations, and highlights from the past school year from schools and community partnerships. Click the event link above to learn more and check out their student gallery!
Resources Provided
The SEMIS Coalition provides sustained and collaborative professional learning to K-12 educators and community partners to grow their practice of ecologically-focused and justice-oriented place-based education. The SEMIS Coalition also helps educators build local partnerships with community-based organizations and municipal leaders, provides resources to support place-based learning experience and student-led community projects, and supports access to regional events like the youth-led Annual Community Forum. Educators or community partners interested in participating in Coalition activities are encouraged to reach out to them at [email protected].
How to support
The SEMIS Coalition is a strengths-based coalition that prioritizes sustained, reciprocal and transformative relationships with community members across our region. Coalition and community members can support their work through a variety of means, including serving as a place-based community partner and sharing specific expertise or experiences with students, partnering with or hosting teachers for professional learning experiences, providing financial support through one-time or monthly sustaining gifts, identifying and sharing grant or other funding opportunities for the Coalition, partnering with them on research projects, supporting outreach and storytelling, and volunteering to support their community events. If you would like to become a member of the Coalition and or learn more about ways to contribute to their organization, they’d love to connect with you! Email them at [email protected].
Why Zing Loves SEMIS
In supporting the education sector in our community, we're passionate about giving to organizations that support in an overarching way, ensuring that all students, families, and faculty in the area are given the tools they need to thrive. The work that SEMIS Coalition does for the community is thoughtful and truly enhances the education experience. We're dedicated to continuing to help them build these bridges with young people, educators, and the residents of Southeast Michigan.