Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators Given to 11 US Teachers

The White House Council on Environmental Quality, in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has announced the winners of the 2013 Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators. Eleven teachers from around the country are being recognized for their exceptional work as leaders in the field of environmental education in formal school settings. Award recipients and their local education agencies will receive commemorative certificates and monetary awards to help support and encourage their use of environmental education in their classrooms and schools.

“The men and woman who are receiving this prestigious award have taken innovative steps to educate students about environmental stewardship and civic responsibility, and their work is a critical part of creating a cleaner, healthier and more sustainable future,” said EPA Acting Administrator Bob Perciasepe. “Thanks to their creative approaches to environmental education, students are developing a greater connection to the world around them – a skill that will benefit young people throughout their careers as they pursue the green jobs of the 21st century. At EPA, we are grateful to know that such exceptional educators are in American classrooms today.”

The Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators recognizes outstanding K-12 teachers and their local education agencies across the United States for excellence in integrating environmental education into their lessons and connecting students with their communities and the natural world.

This program recognizes and supports teachers from both rural and urban education settings who make use of experiential and environmental opportunities that utilize creativity and community engagement to help students develop a sense of civic responsibility and stewardship in ecosystems. This year’s winning teachers’ programs range from students’ participation in watershed stewardship and civic engagement in Virginia, to creating recycling programs for an entire school in Kansas, to land stewardship practices in Idaho. Many teachers have inspired and empowered their students to create spaces for “green” clubs and special environmental science projects that include whole communities and businesses that help to create learning opportunities that students may otherwise not experience. These teachers demonstrate exceptional skill integrating learning outside their classrooms and making use of real-world issues to help students connect with, and participate in the world around them.

“This award recognizes the outstanding educators in our classrooms who are taking innovative approaches to helping students understand the impact they can have on our physical world,” said Nancy Sutley, Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality. “The teachers who have earned this award are inspiring our nation’s future leaders to be responsible stewards of our environment, and preparing them to excel in the 21st century economy.”

Recipients of the Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators include:

• Mary Marguerite Murphy, Camden Hills Regional High School, Rockport, Maine
• Mary Breslin, George Washington Middle School, Alexandria, Va.
• Carolyn Ruos Thomas, Wildwood Middle School, Shenandoah Junction, W. Va.
• Jeanna Burroughs Goodson, Maiden High School, Maiden, N. C.
• Mary Catherine Padgett, Ford Elementary School, Acworth, Ga.
• Anne Wiszowaty, North Shore Community School, Duluth, Minn.
• Mike Todd, Ames High School, Ames, Iowa
• Dominick S. DeRosa, F.L.Schlagle High School, Kansas City, Kan.
• Dominique Evans-Bye, Clark Magnet High School, La Crescenta, Calif.
• Ralph Harrison, Science and Math Institute, Tacoma, Wash.
• Lindsey Hoffman-Truxel, Barbara Morgan Elementary, McCall, Idaho

More information about the winners and this program: http://www.epa.gov/education/teacheraward

 

Elegant Green Roof Biomass Building Slashes School Energy Bill

Read the full post at Archetizer.

The Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut, has made an undeniably compelling case for biomass energy. By replacing its outdated oil-burning boiler with a squeaky clean wood-chip biomass burner, the boarding school has reduced its winter energy bill by $350,000 and slashed its carbon footprint between 35% and 45%. Not to mention: The organic, undulating living green roof ain’t too shabby either.

 

John Wiley, Elsevier to sponsor APEC prize for ocean research

APEC member economies have announced that they will honour a young scientist in 2013 whose collaborative work in the region has made an outstanding contribution to sustainable ocean development. Publishers John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and Elsevier are sponsors for the APEC Science Prize for Innovation, Research and Education (ASPIRE Prize).

‘Sustainable Ocean Development’, the theme of this year’s ASPIRE Prize, is seen to reflect members’ focus on boosting cooperation that can help to generate innovative, environmentally and economically sustainable management solutions for the region’s oceans and waterways. It targets young scientists from APEC economies who specialise in fields such as oceanography and marine sciences, aquaculture and fisheries science, hydrology, hydrography and costal geography. The merit of their collaborative accomplishments must be evidenced by scholarly publication.

Each APEC member economy may nominate one individual under 40 years of age for the 2013 ASPIRE Prize which is sponsored by Wiley and Elsevier, and carries $25,000 in prize money. The submission deadline is May, 3 2013.

 

IL Wind for Schools Selects Six Districts for 2013-14 Partners

The Illinois Wind for Schools (ILWFS) program has selected the schools that will participate during the 2013-2014 school year.

ILFWS is made possible through Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) grant funding and is sponsored through a partnership with the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs (IIRA) at Western Illinois University, the WIU College of Business and Technology, the Center for Renewable Energy at Illinois State University and the Illinois State University College of Education.

Through an application process, six school districts were selected as 2013-2014 ILWFS partner schools, including:

• Freeport School District #145, Stephenson County;
• Collinsville Community Unit School District #10, Madison County;
• Jasper County Community School District #1, Jasper County;
• Champaign Community Unit School District #4, Champaign County;
• Prairieview-Odgen Community Consolidation School District #197, Champaign County; and
• Webber Township High School District #204, Jefferson County.

According to IIRA Wind Energy Program Coordinator Jolene Willis, the program integrates wind energy topics into the classroom, offering curriculum-development resources, teacher professional development, on-site technical assistance and instructional equipment to middle school and high school teachers throughout Illinois. Willis said the ILWFS program addresses specific Illinois Learning Standards goals in mathematics, including estimation and measurement, as well as data analysis and probability and it encompasses specific science goals, which include inquiry and design; concepts and principles; and science, technology and society.

“Participating teachers will be required to attend the on-site workshop and maintain communication with ILWFS staff, providing evaluation and feedback of the lab activities, curriculum and equipment throughout the 2013-2014 school year.”

The ILWFS program will begin this summer with a teacher workshop held on site at each partner school for all participating teachers. The program also provides curricula and lesson plans, equipment for hands-on activities and basic supplies at no cost. Continuing professional development units (CPDUs) will be offered to all teacher training sessions required of program participants, as well. Willis noted the ILWFS team will present a background of the energy and wind energy industries, wind energy fundamental principles and curriculum and methods used to integrate energy and wind energy materials into the classroom.

Prairieview-Odgen Community Consolidation School District #197 Superintendent Vic White said he is honored that his district was selected by the ILWFS program as a partner school.

“The training being offered to our teachers will prepare them to effectively instruct Prairieview-Ogden students,” White said. “Incorporation of this curriculum, hands-on activities and equipment and the on-site 50kW Endurance Wind Turbine installed at South Elementary will help us achieve our goal of educating the next generation about wind energy.”

Topics of the summer workshop will include fundamentals of wind energy, principles of wind turbine operation and ideas for integrating wind energy into the existing curriculum. In addition, participating schools will receive a classroom set of experimental model wind turbines, equipment with which to build and test the model wind turbines, a pack of experimental weather balloons, a model wind tunnel and customized lab activities and a comprehensive wind energy curriculum.

The wind energy curriculum includes lesson plans in five distinct areas: energy and electricity; wind and weather; turbines and engineering; environmental considerations; and economics.

In Fall 2013, ILWFS staff will install scientific weather instrumentation on the school grounds at each partner school. Teachers and students will then be able to easily access data collected by the weather instrumentation using any internet connection. Wind energy lessons will be integrated into the existing curriculum throughout the school year and the program will conclude in spring 2014.

Matt Aldeman, senior energy analyst for the Center for Renewable Energy at Illinois State University said that the program’s purpose is to engage Illinois school teachers and students in energy education, specifically targeting wind energy.

“We hope to educate students with the knowledge of wind energy principles, to position the next generation of career and technical professionals to enter the growing U.S. wind industry. We will also be able to provide technical assistance to Illinois school administrators on renewable energy integration in school facilities.”

In addition to working with the six partner schools, the ILWFS program will conduct a free summer workshop for any Illinois middle school or high school educator interested in incorporating wind energy topics into his or her curriculum.

For more information, contact Willis at (309) 298-2835 or Aldeman at (309) 438-1440.

Learn more about Illinois Wind for Schools at www.ilwfs.org.

 

Allegheny County Health Department (PA) 2012-2013 Environmental Poster Contest

Four students in grades 6-8 are winners in ACHD’s 14th Annual Environmental Poster Contest, held each year in commemoration of Earth Day.

The theme of this year’s contest was “Pollution Prevention Starts With You!”

Students were asked to create 11″x17″posters that will show us what they can do to prevent pollution in their own home, school, or neighborhood.

View the winning posters at http://www.achd.net/air/2013postercontest/.

 

Texas School District Saves with Fluorescents

Read the full story in Energy Manager Today.

San Antonio’s Comal School District says it will save about $54,000 per year in energy with help from Acuity Brands lighting and controls solutions.

Kinder Ranch, an 87,300-sq-foot elementary school, is the first in the district to feature a high performance lighting solution.

 

2013 EE Week Photo Contest

Do you have an inspiring photo of how you and your school or organization are engaging students in environmental education? EE Week invites you to upload your photos, including those from digital cameras, camera phones and social media sites like Instagram to the EE Week Photo Contest. Your photo can depict activities either inside or outside the classroom, before, during or after EE Week.

The 2013 EE Week Photo Contest — which runs from April 1 through May 31, 2013 — is open to individuals affiliated with a school or organization providing K-12 educational programs. Photo Contest applicants must be 18 years of age or older, have a valid email address and be residents of the United States.* Read the complete contest rules.

Entries will be judged on quality, visual appeal and the student learning that resulted from the environmental education efforts depicted in the photo. Prizes include a Samsung Galaxy Note® 10.1 (Wi-Fi) 16GB, a 14.2 Megapixel Samsung SMART Camera and a Dual-View Smart Camera with Built-in Wi-Fi.

 

Youth symposium highlights Great Lakes stewardship, research

Read the full story at Great Lakes Echo.

For four days in May, the Lake Superior Youth Symposium will bring students, teachers and scientists together to promote better stewardship of the Great Lakes.

The symposium starts May 16 in Houghton, Mich. at Michigan Technological University’s Great Lakes Research Center.

The goal of the symposium, now in its 10^th year, is to work with middle and high school students and their teachers to improve their understanding of environmental science and encourage the conservation of the Great Lakes.

 

Webinar: Emerging Contaminants: Threats to Great Lakes Water Quality

Thursday, April 4, 2013 3:30 pm CDT
Register here.

Join us on a webinar to learn about emerging contaminants threatening the Great Lakes, the sources of these contaminants, and how we can prevent contaminants from entering our water.

Presenters and topics will include:

• Emerging Contaminants Threatening the Great Lakes – Ted Smith, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Great Lakes Water Use Cycle: Sources and Transport of Contaminants – Olga Lyandres, Alliance for the Great Lakes
• “Moving Mercury” and “It Adds Up and Up” (lesson plans from Great Lakes in My World) – Katie Larson, Alliance for the Great Lakes
• Synthetic Musks: A Significant Emerging Contaminant Group –Lon Couillard, Milwaukee Water Works
• Sensible Disposal of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (a service-learning project) – Terri Hallesy, Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant College Program

 

New Climate Science Educational Resources

Purdue University and the Indiana State Climate Office, through a grant from the National Science Foundation, have developed a comprehensive new resource for climate science instruction. Dynamics of Climate is appropriate to use in informal settings as well as classrooms.

You are invited to register for Dynamics of Climate, a facilitator conference for implementing this new toolkit for climate education.  The conference will be held on May 15-17, 2013, on the West Lafayette campus of Purdue University.