Trena Noval

Trena Noval co-leads Our Changing Planet; is cofounder of Bay Area Integrated Design for Education, the Arts, and Leadership (IDEAL), a new organization whose mission is to foster innovative teaching and learning through integrative creative practices that cultivate liberatory learning spaces; and, along with veteran educator Ana Raquel Thomas, is a cofounder of Creativity Lab, a new science and environmental literacy project. Trena is an artist, educator/activist, and writer, whose work engages participatory research, cross-disciplinary platforms, learning pedagogies, and community engagement. At the heart of her interests is the investigation of social and natural ecologies—relationships of people and place with a focus on justice, the environment, and creative actions. Trena’s work in education has focused on integrated learning practices and pedagogies in program design and leadership development in both public and nonprofit educational sectors, creating communities of practice that engage liberatory spaces for learning. She is one of the founding faculty of the Integrated Learning Specialist Program, where she developed principal and teacher leadership initiatives and supported integrated learning demonstration sites across the county. In collaboration with UC Berkeley Principal Leadership Institute, she is a co-lead for a leadership research initiative that examines school leaders who practice leadership through integrated learning pedagogies. She serves on the board of directors for Youth Art Exchange, and she is a member of the 2019/2020 Stanford Arts Institute's Creative Cities Working Group. Trena teaches at California College of the Arts.

Trena Noval co-leads Our Changing Planet; is cofounder of Bay Area Integrated Design for Education, the Arts, and Leadership (IDEAL), a new organization whose mission is to foster innovative teaching and learning through integrative creative practices that cultivate liberatory learning spaces; and, along with veteran educator Ana Raquel Thomas, is a cofounder of Creativity Lab, a new science and environmental literacy project. Trena is an artist, educator/activist, and writer, whose work engages participatory research, cross-disciplinary platforms, learning pedagogies, and community engagement. At the heart of her interests is the investigation of social and natural ecologies—relationships of people and place with a focus on justice, the environment, and creative actions. Trena’s work in education has focused on integrated learning practices and pedagogies in program design and leadership development in both public and nonprofit educational sectors, creating communities of practice that engage liberatory spaces for learning. She is one of the founding faculty of the Integrated Learning Specialist Program, where she developed principal and teacher leadership initiatives and supported integrated learning demonstration sites across the county. In collaboration with UC Berkeley Principal Leadership Institute, she is a co-lead for a leadership research initiative that examines school leaders who practice leadership through integrated learning pedagogies. She serves on the board of directors for Youth Art Exchange, and she is a member of the 2019/2020 Stanford Arts Institute's Creative Cities Working Group. Trena teaches at California College of the Arts.

Ana Raquel Thomas

Ana Raquel Thomas has been teaching elementary children with the Oakland Unified School District since 1995. She has facilitated numerous student-centered environmental justice projects involving booklets, plays, brochures, videos, and reports with students. In addition, along with educator Trena Noval, she is a cofounder of Creativity Lab, a new science and environmental literacy project. Ana originally went to Humboldt State University to “save forests” but ended up writing a degree that combined African history, women’s studies, and sociology. She models her teaching practice after her mentor teacher, Gail Meadows, whose approach to naming oppression, naming pollution issues, and community education and action has inspired Ana. Her students are ready to teach back to our community, whether about the deep sea, eliminating marine debris, Black history, interactive learning stations at recess, historical reenactment, or any topic really!

Ana Raquel Thomas has been teaching elementary children with the Oakland Unified School District since 1995. She has facilitated numerous student-centered environmental justice projects involving booklets, plays, brochures, videos, and reports with students. In addition, along with educator Trena Noval, she is a cofounder of Creativity Lab, a new science and environmental literacy project. Ana originally went to Humboldt State University to “save forests” but ended up writing a degree that combined African history, women’s studies, and sociology. She models her teaching practice after her mentor teacher, Gail Meadows, whose approach to naming oppression, naming pollution issues, and community education and action has inspired Ana. Her students are ready to teach back to our community, whether about the deep sea, eliminating marine debris, Black history, interactive learning stations at recess, historical reenactment, or any topic really!