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| Interact With Green Schools Online! | |
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| Greetings! | |
New programs, new funding opportunities, new learning resources! All good stuff !
It has been a busy fall so far for all of us at Green Schools.
Enjoy our November Newsletter!
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| Come to the MANSFIELD SCHOOLS GREEN SCHOOLS COMMUNITY FAIR - Nov 14th 1 - 4 PM Mansfield High School | |
Mansfield Schools is promoting the sustainable way of living with a community fair on Sunday November 14th with the help of Green Schools.
This interactive and family friendly event will show kids and their parents how they can make a green difference in their community.
Presentations by many in the school community including principal Dr. Joseph
Marazsczak, State Rep Jay Barrows, Superintendent Brenda Hodges, and our own Robin Organ.
Music is being provided by our new GREEN ROCKERS, and also 'The Reducers' throughout the day.
Also present will be the EPA & Mass DEP, Mansfield Beautification Committee, The Green Earth Hornets, Stand for Children, Green Schools Ambassadors, Newton North High School Greengineers, Go Green Web Directory, Roots and Shoots, Pearl's Premium, Honest Tea, Cabot Creamery Cooperative, Pop Chips, Ava Anderson Non-Toxics, Usborne Books and many others.
If you're in the Mansfield area on Sunday please join us for this great event in support of 'America Recycles Day', which is November 15th.
If you're school district is interested in a similar event, let us know, and we'll help you develop your own community green day! |
| America Recycles Day - November 15th !! |
With about a week to go until America Recycles Day we wanted to let you know that Green Schools received a $200 grant to coordinate America Recyles Day with the Mansfield Schools Green Community Fair, which is one of hundreds of programs nationally bringing this national initiative home to schools, your places of work, and your communities. Green Schools is part of a network of more than 1,100 organizers planning events throughout the country that will educate an estimated 2.5 million people about how, where and why to recycle. As a community-driven national initiative, these events are fundamental to the success of America Recycles Day. At the national level, Keep America Beautiful is dedicated to providing us with materials that support our local events and outreach. To receive important updates and news about America Recycles Day nationally please visit the link below. America Recycles Day 2010 |
| Recycling is Good for your Community in Many Ways | |
Mass Recycling's Director Laurie Burt has issued a statement on how recycling can impact not only the greening of your town, but also how it can help save your town money.
For more information visit the link below:
Mass DEP Statement on Recycling |
| One-Stop Resource for Green Services and Products in Massachusetts- gogreenwebdirectory.com |  Paula Keif believes that even the simplest change in ones daily behavior can make a difference in protecting the environment, and thus the germination of a great idea!
Paula's passion for the environment and over 20 years of experience in both the non-profit and private sectors led her to this latest venture. The idea for a Web-based Green Business Directory came about during a house renovation project where Paula and her husband spent a significant amount time searching for local green businesses. As a result, Paula developed the Go Green Web Directory so that others looking for a healthy green lifestyle would have the information and resources readily available to them. The Go Green Web Directory is also a place where consumers and businesses can network and share ideas.
We encourage you all to check out the Go Green Web Directory ! ...and learn how you can become greener in your life. |
| Oil Spill Education Resources |
On April 20, 2010, an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico resulted in the largest offshore oil spill to date. Young people are asking their teachers and parents difficult questions about the causes and effects of the spill, and many schools have opted to focus on the Gulf Oil Spill as a unifying interdisciplinary theme to explore throughout the 2010-2011 school year. The resources and curricula provided here offer students and educators an opportunity to explore the effects of oil spills on people, wildlife and ecosystems, investigate clean up strategies and reflect on ways to prevent future environmental catastrophes of this scale.
a sad and devastating image for the Gulf of Mexico |
| GREEN ROCKERS bring Music to GREEN Schools ! | |
With the assistance of the Music On & Up organization, we now have a lot of talented and excited young people available to liven up our events and programs. Music On & Up both manages young talent and provides showcases of young talent at venues such as Boston's Hard Rock Cafe. They assisted us with seeking out not only talented youth bands and performers, but also those that had a 'green soul'.
Our own "Reducers", are now not the only performers to help us spread the green message at our events. In October we selected seven Green Rockers from a formal application process. Each of applicant had to get recommendations from their music teachers, and also tell us about any environmental activities they are involved in, and why being a part of Green Schools would be important to them.
Our 2011 GREEN ROCKERS are: Alissa Musto, 15, keyboardist and singer/songwriter from Rehoboth, MA Katherine and Kristen Veayo, 15, a singer/songwriter duo from Winthrop, ME Awesome Express, a high school rock band from the Plugged In Band Program In Needham, MA Emily Marie Coffey, 11, a broadway/pop singer from Windham, NH Amanda McCarthy, 17, a singer/songwriter from Londonderry, NH Michael Kalisz, 14, a singer/songwriter and keyboardist of Acushnet, MA Michael and Marisa, 12 and 13, a pop/duo from Boston, MA  The Veayo Twins even wrote a song for Green Schools, which you can now listen to on YouTube! Go Green with the Veayo Twins Song !For more information on Music On & Up's young performer initiatives and our GREEN ROCKERS, contact the organization's Director, Patty Duffey at Music On & Up at 978-758-0823 or email her at the link which follows. EMAIL |
| "Like a Drop of Water" Essay Contest |
Like A Drop of Water's writing contest offers young people, ages eight through seventeen, world wide the opportunity to share their ideas on how they and their countries can reduce climate change and pollution. We hope parents, grandparents and teachers will feel free to share their ideas with their young author. Teachers and their students may submit a class essay as well as serve as judges.
Beginning in June 2010, for at least the next five years, six or more winners per month will receive awards of $50.00 to $100.00.
Each year the top fifty essays will be sent to the White House and made available to governments across the world. Bi-yearly, the one hundred winning essays will be published as an e-book for world wide distribution.
Like drops of water that make up the oceans, millions of people of all ages, can lead the way to creating the positive changes we need to create a sustainable planet. We hope you will join us on this journey.
Richard Wainwright
Executive Director
For more information and to submit an essay visit the website: Like a Drop of Water Essay Contest |
| Planet Pals Partnership |
Planetpals.com is a recipient of Encyclopedia Britannica Top Websites for exceptional content. A great educational & family resource for environment, earth science, nutrition & peace. Highly recommended by top educational & environmental portals, libraries & schools
Since 1998, Planetpals.com, its characters & activities have been used by schools & organizations internationally for environmental education, Earth day events, recycling programs, & projects.
Planetpals Characters, is not just another group of green characters! Their theme song You can be a Planetpal, too.
Planetpals Characters were developed as a unique way to teach kids about their world. Healthy Planet, Healthy Kids- Inside and Out. Planetpals encourage kids to "Be a Planetpal, too" and "Love the planet, everyone and everything on it".
Planetpals can be found on planetpals.com
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| Corporate Sponsor CORNER: SolSolution |
 SolSolution is a nonprofit corporation whose mission is to simultaneously generate clean, renewable electricity and increase the quality of education in underprivileged schools. Funds from the sale of clean, solar-generated electricity are shifted to school's educational budgets for the purchase of tangible resources.
The problems that SolSolution solves are widely known. Our environment suffers from large-scale pollution and carbon emissions from fossil fuel based electricity generation, and education in low-income communities and more generally in the U.S. suffers from massive under investment.
Our solution effectively addresses both of these major issues, resulting in substantial returns and measurable benefits for both our students and our environment. Our vision is ambitious but achievable. We aim to be the leading provider of solar electricity to U.S. schools by installing 1 GW of solar power by 2020 and shifting over $200 million to low-income schools. For more information on SolSolution we encourage you visit their website at: SolSolution
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| Organizations Working Together in East Falmouth |
The Green Schools Organization recently facilitated a program in East Falmouth, MA Schools where 5 organizations all worked together delivering the message to children on sustainability and a healthy environment. Project Green Schools staff, The Reducers- the Green Schools Official Band, the East Falmouth Elementary School Staff and administrators with Justine Dale- Prinicipal, Donna Jewett & Christina Rawley of Falmouth Climate Action, and 350.org all contributed to this program.
This is an example of the cooperative efforts Green Schools and many other organizations will need to develop if we are going to make the changes to improve our own health and the health of this planet.
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Thanks much to all of you who support Green Schools with your generosity and time...
Unfortunately, it will always take money to do what we do, and to continue to offer the school programs we have. Thus, thanks again to all who diligently voted every day on the Tom's of Maine program we mentioned in our September newsletter, but unfortunately we were not one of the final 5 finalists, but having been selected as one the final organizations from hundreds of submissions for the public vote was indeed an honor and a statement of the respectability of our mission. We have assembled a good team from our Board of Directors to help drive additional funding and with grant requests, corporate sponsorship programs, and additional fund raising ideas, we will continue to be able to offer these beneficial educational programs.
Thanks again to our corporate supporters, who not only have assisted with funding, but also offer advice and volunteer in many ways.
Our newest business sponsors who we graciously thank for their support and efforts to making schools a safer place:
Cartridge World recently sponsored 25 Chapters of The International Green Schools Society [IGSS]. The International Green Schools Society is a student-run organization for Middle/High School students, that encourages sustainable living and environmental advocacy. The organization will reward and honor members who exemplify environmental stewardship. Be on the lookout for more information, and let us know if interested in starting a chapter in your Middle/High School. We truly appreciate their support of this exciting new program.
Green Schools is now residing in a new office at Mansfield High School, thanks greatly to the support and encouragement of Superintendent Brenda Hodges. We also wish thank MA Audubon's Stony Brook Wildlife Sanctuary for 3 years of support! We look forward to our new home, but will miss our friends at MA Audubon, who will still be supporting our programs as we move forward.
We hope we see many of you at the Mansfield Green Community Fair this weekend!!
Sincerely,
Robin Organ Founder and Executive Director
Green Schools
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