Amy B. Demarest teaches standards-based curriculum design, authentic assessment and watershed education in northern Vermont. A central theme of her work, first as a middle-grades classroom teacher and now at the university level, is to find ways to design curriculum that engages students in the stories, questions, and issues found in the places they live (ourcurriculummatters.com).

Winner of the 2015 American Association for Teaching and Curriculum's O.L. Davis, Jr. Outstanding Book Award!

"What I find especially helpful in this book is the deliberate and repeated way it demonstrates what it means to transform experiences outside the classroom into meaningful 'texts' that are worthy of close examination and analysis. It also provides many examples of ways this process can lead children and youth to become the creators of knowledge rather than only its consumers. As educators we neglect this possibility at our peril and the peril of students who learn in too many classrooms to become disengaged and uninvolved. The learning experiences described here serve as an antidote to that kind of alienation."

Gregory Smith, Lewis & Clark College, USA

"An excellent introduction to the many curriculum projects that are available to the K-12 teacher just outside the classroom door. Drawing from a variety of approaches--from service learning, to place-based learning and integrated, thematic instruction--this book shows how extending the classroom into the community is not only possible, it's potentially transformative for both students and teachers."

Jay Roberts, Earlham College, USA

"A comprehensive and thought-provoking approach to engaged learning that benefits individuals and communities. Through the curriculum planning guides, insightful quotations from scholars, and eloquent narratives of practicing teachers, we see hopeful possibilities for what education and schooling could become."

Christy M. Moroye, University of Northern Colorado, USA

"Demarest is clear and concise with her language and profiles six different teachers throughout her book to highlight and complement her central points. Current K-12 teachers and those studying to become teachers themselves would benefit immensely from the tools provided here."

Matthew Pariselli, Green Teacher (107, Fall 2015)