Professional development workshops for teachers

Join us in person at SRP’s free teacher workshops

We’re excited to offer in-person teacher training workshops, all hosted at SRP’s Tempe facilities. Here’s what you need to know to attend:

• Workshops are offered Saturday mornings from 8 a.m. to noon.
• They’re open to K–12 educators in SRP’s service and impact areas.
• Educators will receive a certificate for continuing education units for four hours for each workshop.
• All workshops are free to educators.

Free teacher workshops

Explore our professional development offerings below.

• Powering Our Future (Grades K–2): Engage in hands-on K–2 engineering experiences that focus on understanding the differences between technology and engineering and explore how to support K–2 students with engineering design challenges that incorporate the 5E instructional model. 
• Powering Our Future (Grades 3–5): Learn about the renewable and nonrenewable resources used to generate electricity through GRC (Gather, Reason, Communicate) and 5E Picture-Perfect Science lessons. We will explore how the different resources are used and the advantages and challenges of each type.
• Powering Our Future (Grades 6–8): Explore energy transfers and transformations through a phenomena-based 5E lesson and apply this knowledge through engaging in an engineering design challenge focused on kinetic and potential energy.
• Powering Our Future HS (Grades 9–12): Engage in hands-on activities to learn about solar energy, energy transformation and energy generation. This workshop features 3D-modeled instruction using both the 5E and GRC (Gather, Reason, Communicate) instructional models. 
• Electricity (Grades 3–8):  Explore electricity by engaging in a 5E lesson using investigation stations that guide students through sensemaking focused on how energy is transferred through circuits.
• Magnetism (Grades 3–8): Explore magnetism by engaging in a 5E lesson using investigation stations that guide students through sensemaking focused on magnetic force at a distance, orientation, interactions of magnets, and discovering key differences between magnetic and nonmagnetic materials. 

Cash in on a Powering Our Future grant

Here are the details:

• Grants are only available to attendees of SRP's series of Powering Our Future workshops.
• Educators can attend up to three workshops per school semester for a total of twelve professional development hours.
• Educators can apply for one grant per school year but are welcome to attend multiple years and reapply.
• Teachers must attend the workshop before applying for the grant.
• Other workshops are not eligible for the grants; however, educators will receive materials at the workshop to help teach the content.

Summer in-person workshops for teachers

Arizona Science Teachers Association Picture Books Powering Early STEM Learning

June 2–3, 2026
8 a.m.–3:30 p.m.
PERA, 1 E. Continental Dr., Tempe, AZ 85288
Audience: PreK-2 teachers

Join SRP, the Arizona Science Teachers Association and the Arizona Department of Education for the Picture Books Powering Early STEM Learning workshop at SRP’s PERA Training and Conference Center. PreK–2 teachers will explore how picture books support engaging learning in physical, life and earth sciences through Even More Picture-Perfect Science lessons.

Arizona Science Teachers Association Building 3D Science Learning With Picture-Perfect Lessons

June 4–5, 2026
8 a.m.–3:30 p.m.
PERA, 1 E. Continental Dr., Tempe, AZ 85288
Audience: Grades 3–5 teachers

Join SRP, the Arizona Science Teachers Association and the Arizona Department of Education for Building 3D Science Learning With Picture-Perfect Lessons at SRP’s PERA Training & Conference Center. Teachers of grades 3–5 will experience standards-aligned 5E science lessons that use picture books to support three-dimensional learning across life, physical and earth sciences.

Arizona Project WET

June 1–3, 2026, 2 ½ days, Foundations of Water Education for Upper Elementary
Audience: Grades 3–5/6 teachers

June 4–5, 2026, 2 days, Getting Little Feet WET for Lower Elementary
Audience: Grades K–2 teachers

Monday–Tuesday and Thursday–Friday run from 9:30 a.m.–4 p.m. with a half-day from 9:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. on Wednesday
SRP Public Administration Building, 1500 N. Mill Ave., Tempe, AZ 85288

Salt River Project (SRP) and Arizona Project WET (APW) invite you to an immersive, experiential STEAM academy focused on elementary water education. The SRP Academy is dedicated to engaging primary teachers in the 3– 5/6 and K–2 grade bands. Sessions deliver exclusive insights, presentations from special speakers and visits with industry experts, as well as hands-on activities from APW’s curriculum guides.

Arizona State University’s Mary Lou Fulton College for Teaching and Learning Innovation

June 9–12, 2026
7:30 a.m.–3:15 p.m.
PERA, 1 E. Continental Dr., Tempe, AZ 85288
Audience: Grades K–8 teachers

SRP and ASU Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College invite educators to attend Teaching Inquiry-Based STEM Science (TIBSS), a hands-on summer institute that helps educators design and lead engaging, inquiry-driven STEM lessons. Through model activities and practical strategies, participants learn to foster questioning, investigation, evidence-based reasoning and real-world problem solving. Educators leave with ready-to-use tools to boost student engagement and support authentic scientific thinking in K–8 classrooms.