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Chesapeake Education, Arts, and Research Society
Promoting the health of all life in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed through
arts, education, research, and action projects conducted by grassroots volunteers.
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Greetings!
Although it's February, I saw green sprouting today & felt the warmth of Spring breezes. Thus the planning of food forests in Greenbelt and the Green Man Festival seems timely and the science experiments of Taproots, appropriate. The Chestory virtual archive of educational resources (art, songs, and curriculum) will be available after years of collection and months of hard work. It will begin to sprout forth at the MAEOE (Maryland Association for Environmental Outdoor Education) Conference and bloom into the Spring/Summer with public presentations & teacher trainings. We hope to see you at our planning meetings and events as welcome your involvement!
In friendship, Kim Walsh ~ Executive Director |
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Food Forests are coming to Greenbelt!
Wednesday, February 8th (7-9:15 PM)
Learn about design & installation from an expert.
Greenbelt Community Center, Room 114
For more details, download flyer!
ANY DAY - drive past the Greenbelt Baptist Church (Crescent & Hillside) and take a look at the new solar panels on the flat section of the church roof! For more info and photos of the installation, visit www.greenbeltcommunitysolar.com
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Center for the Chesapeake Story Collection~
The Chestory Archive Website: Teachers Resource
Our CCC Volunteer, Concetta has been cataloging away at the Calvert Marine Museum in Solomons, Maryland to record,
preserve, and store the wealth of educational, professional, and personal materials that Tom Wisner, the Bard of the Bay, donated when he passed away in April 2010. After months of working thanks to the Chesapeake Conservation Corps program through the Chesapeake Bay Trust, this phase of the project is finally complete! This marks a milestone in the Chestory Archive. Now begins the phase of choosing what materials will be made available on the Chestory Virtual Archive, Tom's vision of a free source for of art and educational materials for teachers, students, and anyone interested in reestablishing a meaningful connection with our own Chesapeake Bay Watershed or their own watershed.
The Collection will be reexamined and materials will be scanned and uploaded onto the Chestory Virtual Archive website, which is available to the public NOW in a very preliminary format.
A functional prototype of the Chestory Virtual Archive website will be available starting next week, just in time for the 2012 Annual MAEOE Conference, "Fulfilling Environmental Education's Promise: Authentic Learning & Real World Impact" in Ocean City, Maryland, February 9-11. The website will feature materials from the Chestory Archive as well as other resources and information to help you reconnect with your home.
For more information on this project please feel free to contact Concetta at concetta@chears.org. If you would like to attend the 2012 Annual MAEOE Conference to have access to the network of educators in Maryland, follow the link above. If you are already planning on attending, stop by and visit our booth at this Conference, where you chat with CHEARS volunteers and meet Concetta to discuss this project more.
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TapRoots: Surfacing Academic Success
Comparing combustion rates to respiration rates!
TapRoots is an agricultural educational program committed to introducing topics of environmental sustainability, agroecology, food safety and nutrition. Through rigorous hands-on learning activities, students relate to the environment on a more personal level while simultaneously broadening their ecological understandings.
Since the beginning of 2011 TapRoots has leveraged the school garden and surrounding landscape to engage students of Greenbelt Middle School in environmental science. The school is slated to move into its' new LEED Gold educational facility late this year. As the students and faculty advance into a biocentric era, TapRoots will walk alongside them as stewards to ensure that every student is environmentally literate before they enter high school.
The next few months are rich with exciting opportunities for the students, including a chocolate making demonstration led by Rob Valencia of Northside Social in Arlington, VA; the expansion of the school garden; and a trip to Michcelle Obama's White House Garden in late spring.
TapRoots seeks community support. If you are interested in progressing our program please contact Tony DiMeglio via e-mail at tonydimeglio@gmail.com. We also welcome you to stay connected by visiting our website www.tapproots.org.
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8th Annual Green Man Festival ~May 12-13, 2012~
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Accepting applications from art/craft vendors, community organizations, non-profits, and musical acts/performers!
On-line and downloadable paper applications are ready!
Go to the to apply! |
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Gather 'Round Chesapeake: Tom Wisner's Vision
When Tom Wisner, the Chesapeake Bay 'Bard' died in April 2010, he'd already given us living treasures: dozens of recorded Chesapeake songs, stories and radio shows. Now, Sara Ebenreck Leeland, co-founder and partner with Tom in Chestory (Center for the Chesapeake Story) project, has published a book that collects Tom's written reflections on the powerful insights that guided his work. Gather 'Round Chesapeake: Tom Wisner's Vision is a collection of Wisner's writing, from short celebratory poems to analysis of how our cultural ways of thinking about 'nature' results in the destruction of our waters and what an alternative 'Come Full Circle' way of living might be like.
"Thanks to water for its grace, For singing on the roof when it rains". "Spiritual learning comes backwards."
"You begin mostly in the dark, choosing paths from impulse by following your heart. Then, much later, truths begin to emerge, ...and you learn why you did those things."
The book is available from the following websites.
www.chestory.com
www.amazon.com
www.saraleelandbooks.net
and selected Chesapeake bookstores.
In the works are:
- A songbook of Tom Wisner's songs for children.
- A songbook of additional Tom Wisner songs.
- A digital-archive of Wisner's regional stories & songs.
For more information, contact Joan Clement at Chestory@gmail.com
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VIDEO of the MONTH
Smithsonian Folkways ~ Tom Wisner ~ When one hears the phrase "think globally, act locally", there was no better embodiment of that thought than the late Tom Wisner. Wisner (1930-2010) was a musician, songwriter, poet, artist and educator whose every act was in service of his beloved Chesapeake Bay watershed.
To view video, click HERE!
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CHEARS on FACEBOOK!
Become a fan of CHEARS on Facebook and receive updated information in a format that may best suit your networking preferences. We will continue to communicate via email but are pleased to offer yet another method to share information about upcoming events, discussion boards, photo albums, and much more.
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Follow CHEARS
on Twitter!
 Receive up-to-the-minute information by following CHEARS on Twitter-an information sharing network.
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Simply register at
http://twitter.com
- Add CHEARS as a friend and follow
- Choose how you wish to receive information (email, text message, rss feed)
- And never again miss any of CHEARS's exciting educational, environmental, community, and activist events!
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Chesapeake Education, Arts, and Research Society4 Maplewood Court · Greenbelt, MD · 20770 www.chears.org
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