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 Dear Powerful Choices Students, Teachers and Partners,
Welcome to the back-to-school teacher edition of the Powerful Choices e-newsletter! Our team is geared up and ready to embark on another exciting adventure in the schools of the greater Puget Sound region. We hope you had a great summer! Here are some highlights of our summer:
- clearing invasive species from the Cedar River watershed
- a natural history/climate "disruption" teacher workshop on Ross Lake
- weekends working PSE's "Rock the Bulb" CFL lighting campaign
- learning about water toxicity from a scientist
- and even "solar baking" of cookies on the dashboard of a car during August's record-breaking heat wave! (pictured above, facilitator Lynne Dial.)
Although it's always difficult to accept that the days are getting shorter and the school year is just getting started, we hope to make the transition back to school easier with some inspiration for action. Just like every new calendar year brings promise for new beginnings, we hope that the new school year serves as a catalyst for positive change!
The theme of this fall issue is INSPIRATION; we are chronicling people, programs, activities, and campaigns that inspire us. As the school year progresses, we welcome submissions from students! Share artwork, essays, poems, films, Powerful Choices pledges, or anything else that shows how you are making powerful choices in your everyday lives! Share your inspiration with us by submitting your work to: powerfulchoices@pse.com. We look forward to visiting your classroom soon!
Sincerely,
Powerful Choices Staff |
| OPPORTUNITIES FOR ACTION: ITSCOOL |
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 ITSCOOL: Selling CFL's to raise money for youth groups
We are excited to announce that PSE's Powerful Choices for the Environment team is helping to launch ITSCOOL, an innovative fundraising program with a service learning component. Youth raise funds for their organization through the sale of CFL (Compact Fluorescent Light) bulbs while spreading the word about climate change.
ITSCOOL provides curriculum and fundraising materials--including multimedia presentations, flyers, staff support, and CFL's--to help students understand climate change, how we impact the planet, and ways to diminish our impacts--all while raising funds for your organization!
We are seeking interested parties immediately for the fall and spring campaigns. If you--or someone else you know--would like to learn more about the program, please contact us! We're happy to provide more information.
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| OPPORTUNITIES FOR ACTION: COOL SCHOOL CHALLENGE WORKSHOPS |
Cool School Challenge workshops
This fall, a series of free teacher workshops will be conducted to introduce teachers to the Cool School Challenge and to show how it can be used to engage students in strategies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions at your school.
Continuing education units (CEUs) will be provided at most workshops. Dates and locations for fall 2009:
- October 17, 2009 | Padilla Bay, Mount Vernon
- November 7, 2009 | Wild Horse Wind Farm, Vantage
- December 5, 2009 | Bainbridge Island School District, Bainbridge Island
- December 12, 2009 | Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, Tacoma
Check coolschoolchallenge.org/workshop-schedule.aspx as details for these workshops are finalized, or e-mail info@coolschoolchallenge.org to add your name to our e-distribution list and receive electronic notification of updates. | |
| OPPORTUNITIES FOR ACTION: WASHINGTON GREEN SCHOOLS |
Registration is now open for both public and private K-12 schools across Washington state to participate in the new Washington Green Schools program
This voluntary program provides
on-line resources and tools that
students, teachers, and staff can use to assess and take actions to 'green up' school campuses and operations. The program emphasizes five environmental categories:
- Energy Efficiency
- Recycling and Waste Reduction
- Toxics reduction and Indoor Air Quality
- Transportation and Outdoor Air Quality
- Water Quality and Conservation
School participation can lead to environmental and economic benefits such as reduced garbage and increased recycling rates, healthier indoor and outdoor air quality, lower utility costs, and less waste. In addition, students gain valuable leadership and community service skills as well as hands-on environmental education.
Free trainings are scheduled this fall for teachers, administrators, resource conservation managers, parent volunteers, and other interested individuals to provide step-by-step guidance on forming a school "green team." For more information, contact: info@wagreenschools.org.
Washington Green Schools is a collaborative partnership of agencies and organizations, grant-funded by the Washington State Department of Ecology. Sign up now at wagreenschools.org. |
| OPPORTUNITIES FOR ACTION: INTERNATIONAL DAY OF CLIMATE ACTION |
350.org International Day of Climate Action
Let's face it -- everybody likes a holiday. With that in mind, mark your calendars for October 24, 2009: International Day of Climate Action. "350" represents the amount of carbon in the atmosphere, in parts per million (ppm), that prominent climatologist James Hansen suggests we need to attain in order to have a planet "similar to the one on which civilization developed and to which life on earth is adapted." Currently, the atmospheric carbon concentration is 387ppm. The world can get back to 350ppm -- with your help.
October 24 marks the day when people around the world will take actions to make this important number visible to everyone. Visit 350.org to find out what actions are being organized in your community. Or, if you would like to organize an action in your own community, spread the word from the website. Join the world on October 24 for the largest worldwide grassroots action on climate change, ever! |
| FEATURE ARTICLE: COMPOSTING IN YOUR SCHOOL |
Nasty to Nice: Composting in your school with Marcia Rutan, Seattle Public Utilities
Composting food waste is a great way to limit the amount of garbage your school sends to the local landfill. There are many other benefits to composting as well, including greenhouse gas reduction and increased soil health. In order to understand how composting works, and to gather tips to make it easier for you to start a composting program at your school, the Powerful Choices team interviewed Marcia Rutan, recycling program coordinator at Seattle Public Utilities.
How does composting work?
Food, along with other organics, naturally breaks down into an earthy material full of microbial activity called compost. Air and some moisture help this process. When piled into a "heap" with a good mixed "feedstock" of carbon (like leaves) and nitrogen (like food or grass), the material heats up, which speeds up the action.
What types of things can be included as food waste?
In backyard composting systems you can include all food scraps except for meat and dairy, which attract pests. In curbside food waste collection programs, accepted items depend on each city or county's program.
What are the benefits to food waste composting or collection at school?
Some schools compost on site, and many schools have food waste collection programs where the waste is put into carts and taken away for composting at a facility. Either method keeps food from going to the landfill.
What happens to food waste once it is collected in the region?
This varies according to region. In the Seattle area, the food waste goes to the permitted Cedar Grove Composting facility. In other areas there are other permitted facilities. At the facilities they usually go through processes that include grinding, being piled into heaps or windrows, aeration, sitting and heating up, cooling down, screening, and being bagged or placed in bulk piles for sale. In addition, they are picked over for materials that do not belong in compost such as glass, plastic bags, shovels, gardening gloves, etc.
Where does it go? Facilities usually sell compost-based products for use on gardens and landscapes.
How can students become involved in composting at school? Students can help monitor lunchroom stations, promote the program, educate others, and learn more about the compost and food cycles. On-site composting programs offer similar opportunities but may include other steps.
What are the major "selling points" to use in order to get school administrators on board with starting a composting program at a school?Education, environmental good, and community service may all be helpful "selling points." Of course administrators will want to know that the program will not be a mess, and that costs will be controlled.
What are common barriers that people face when attempting to start a school composting program?
School administrators and facilities or lunchroom staff may be concerned about costs, labor issues, and sustainability of the program. A teacher or parent advisor will be needed as well as a steady pool of student helpers.
How can one overcome these barriers?
Careful planning is always a good first step. Involve your stakeholders from facilities, the lunchroom, the administration, the local compost facility or hauler, students etc. from the start. Presenting a proposal and plan to the administrators or School Board may be useful.
Are there any programs to get a school started with composting?
The Department of Ecology's Terry Husseman Sustainability Awards program http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/swfa/terryhusseman.html provides startup grants for projects. Local compost facilities and solid waste agencies may be able to provide technical assistance or grants, as well as educational materials.
What ways can a composting program become incorporated into a school's curriculum?Composting food can be included as an example of a natural cycle and an example of biological activity including a study of worms and insects. Horticultural programs or classrooms may wish to conduct garden experiments (with and without compost). Climate change and food/soil security can be discussion points for older students in social studies as well as the effects of garbage and waste on natural resources.
Marcia Rutan has worked in local government with recycling, composting and school programs for over 19 years. She currently works for the City of Seattle as a recycling program manager and co-leads the Washington Green Schools program. She can be reached at Marcia.rutan@seattle.gov or 206-684-3976. |
| TEACHER FEATURE |
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Teacher Feature: Doug Olsen is a teacher at Sakai Intermediate School on Bainbridge Island, Washington.
Could you talk about Sakai's Solar panels and your role in acquiring these as well as your plans to use them in your curriculum?
Our school wrote a $20,000 grant to PSE for an 1,100 watt system of solar panels. At the same time we felt if we could get this grant we could form a partnership with our community and raise enough money to purchase another 4,000 watts. Todd Erler, a fifth grade teacher in our school helped form a local community foundation called Community Energy Solutions. Through his planning and outreach Community Energy Solutions raised another $30,000, enough to install a 5.1 kw system installed last Fall on the roof of our school.
Are you still raising Salmon in your classroom? Can you highlight the learning opportunities for students involved in this program?
We hatch about 2,000 chum eggs every year in a large tank outside our library. The eggs come from Dog Creek Hatchery in Indianola. All students follow the progress of the young chum through our morning TV broadcasts.
You recently attended the NEED conference. How are you going to incorporate what you saw or learned into your school or classroom? Energy is a common thread of everything done in a science classroom. This conference helped me see how I should teach about the forms of energy, Potential and Kinetic, and the various kinds of energy in each category. I plan to do this early in the school year so that I can loop students back to these principles in every unit and have students become skilled at diagramming the flow of energy used in key labs throughout the year.
Can you say what Powerful Choices has meant to you and how it impacts your students each year?
As a teacher I love the Powerful Choices program. The staff comes with a very motivating and engaging curriculum. It makes the students think about their actions on the world they live in. I can use Powerful Choices to reinforce the power students have as consumers of products and resources to make a difference in their environment.
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| POWERFUL CHOICES FACILITATOR PROFILE |
 Josh Mitchell has been a facilitator since April of 2005. While he was working on his education degree at Iowa's Luther College, he began his understanding of how human interactions have impacts upon their local ecosystems. As a partner in a tree farm, he planted over 20,000 trees, re-established 100 acres of native prairie and natural wetland, and managed a small hobby farm of goats, sheep, donkeys, horses, a small orchard, and many organic gardens. After four years of school and his tree farm venture, Josh began teaching high school special education and worked as an assistant wrestling coach at West Liberty High School in Iowa. During the summers, he worked for the University of Iowa's Wildlife camps, extending his knowledge and passion for nature to fifth-grade students.
Since moving to Seattle in 2003, Josh and his dog Else have embraced all that the Northwest has to offer. You may find them out climbing, biking, fly-fishing or rambling through the woods to escape the city for a night (or a week). Josh's latest adventure was riding his bike along the Pacific coast from Astoria, Ore., to Crescent City, Calif. (without dog, sadly). |
| RESOURCES:
NATIONAL ENERGY EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT (NEED) PROJECT |
The National Energy Education and Development Project (NEED) provides a great deal of resources that can be used to enrich some of the lessons taught during Powerful Choices. Classroom curriculum related to energy topics are offered for primary, intermediate, and secondary students of all levels. Some of our favorite lesson plans from NEED are listed below.
Transportation Fuels: The Future is Today is a series of cooperative learning activities in which secondary students evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of conventional and alternative transportation fuels for themselves and their communities.
http://www.need.org/needpdf/Future%20Is%20Today.pdf
Mission Possible: Energy Trade Offs challenges students to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of the energy sources used to generate electricity by developing energy plans for a fictitious country.
http://www.need.org/needpdf/Mission%20Possible.pdf
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Powerful Choices for the Environment (formerly called In Concert with the Environment) is an environmental education program that is changing how Washington state's middle school students and their families think about and use natural resources in their daily lives. Environmental education professionals, trained in science education and local resource use, in cooperation with over 20 local partnering agencies, deliver this hands-on, four-day program. The program is designed to empower sixth to eighth grade students across the region with the knowledge that their everyday choices do make a difference. For more information, visit Powerful Choices at PSE.com.
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