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Check out the latest edition of our Student Ambassador Newsletter 

Green Schools is lucky to have the helping hands of some very talented youth from across the state to further its environmental and health mission. There are many roles for interested students. Mark is currently an 8th grader at St. Mary's Catholic School in Mansfield, MA. He's making his "mark" with Green Schools as an intern working on our website. 

 Green Schools: Why do you think being Green is a good thing?

Mark: I believe that being Green is essential to the world because we need to keep our planet and ourselves clean and healthy. We can do this by helping and informing kids in school right now about the pollution in the atmosphere. We also need to keep our bodies healthy by watching what we feed our bodies. By informing kids in school now, we can help set up a brighter future for the world.  

Read the rest of our Interview with Mark on our Blog

 Applications are being accepted for the 2013 Secretary's Awards for Excellence in Energy and Environmental Education

Visit website for application and more information

 Link for Brochure

Green Schools welcomes New Advisory Board Member, Secretary Richard K. Sullivan, Jr.

Secretary Richard K. Sullivan Jr. oversees the Commonwealth's six environmental, natural resource and energy regulatory agencies: the Departments of Environmental Protection, Public Utilities, Energy Resources, Conservation & Recreation, Agriculture, and Fish & Game. He also serves as Chairman of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, the Energy Facilities Siting Board, and the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center.

Under Governor Deval Patrick, Massachusetts is the first state in the nation to combine energy and environmental agencies under one Cabinet secretary with the shared mission of bringing clean energy technology to market, curbing greenhouse gas emissions and cutting energy costs. Governor Patrick's land conservation initiative is the largest in the Commonwealth's history, with protection of more than 75,000 acres of land from 2007 to 2010.

Shelley Bengtson has been the Environmental Specialist at OPS for the past 17 years. She has worked with IAQ issues for the past 24 years and is a certified Indoor Environment Consultant. OPS received the EPA's IAQ Tools for Schools Excellence award in 2006 and Model of Sustained Excellence in 2009. 

Shelley writes: 

"Dear School Leader,

Every school district values educational achievement, low absentee rates, high grades and test scores, and an active and involved student body. To achieve these results, schools across the country are focusing on creating healthy indoor environments, which can drastically improve student health and achievement.

As a Green Ribbon Schools recipient, I am excited to share the story of my school district, Omaha Public Schools (OPS) in Nebraska, and how we were able to create healthy indoor environments for our students. Our school district has proactively addressed student environmental health issues for the past 13 years and has won Department of Education's 2011-2012 Green Ribbon Schools (GRS) award and EPA's Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Tools for Schools National Excellence Award in 2006 and Model of Sustained Excellence Award in 2009. These awards recognize the achievements of schools that create a green and healthy learning environment and institute proper IAQ management."

Read more about how OPS achieved healthy indoor air quality 

A Great Green Fundraiser for your School or Organization!

Check out this textile recycling program from New Business Member, Bay State Textiles. 

Picture your School/Organization's logo on this bin and Go Green!

Raise Money for your Team, School or Non-Profit

Americans throw away 16 Billion pounds of textiles (clothing, shoes, linens) every year. Turn these throwaways into cash for your organization.

Bay State Textile Corp is a Massachusetts based recycling company. Over the last several years Bay State Textile has been working with several municipalities with diverting their post-consumer textile waste away from the general waste stream.

Did you know that Americans discard over 16 billion pounds of post consumer textile waste every year? This is primarily made up of clothing, household linens, and shoes. Less than 25% of the 16 billion pounds is reclaimed. It is sold in thrift stores and exported to several countries; primarily third world countries.

The Bay State Textile program is a win, win, win program for everyone.

Have you ever wondered if you can recycle milk or juice cartons?

You might be surprised how widely available this option has become in the last year.

Read on to learn more

The2013 Japan-U.S. Teacher Exchange Program for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) will provide 24 U.S. teachers and administrators with the opportunity to travel to a conference in San Francisco and to Japan to learn about ESD efforts and strengthen ESD curricula in both countries. ESD is "a vision of education that seeks to balance human and economic well-being with cultural traditions and respect for the earth's natural resources," according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The 24 educators from Japan will travel to the United States in late April, and 24 educators from the U.S. will travel to Japan in June. At the end of the program in each country, all 48 educators will gather for a few days of joint collaboration.

Please visit our website for more information or to start an application. The application deadline is February 6, 2013.

As Edith Cunningham browsed the toy aisles at a Target near her Norwood home recently, she shopped for rugged toys traditionally aimed at boys. But she was shopping with her almost 5-year-old daughter, Madelyn, in mind.

"Not every little girl is into the frilly, girly things," Cunningham said. "Madelyn is one who is not. You could offer her those things, but in our house she ignores them and instead plays with her older brother's toys and games, because they are more serious and more challenging to her."

Debbie Sterling understands their dissatisfaction. A 29-year-old engineer, entrepreneur, and Lincoln, R.I., native, Sterling has been heralded in retail and academic circles as the creator of GoldieBlox, an alternative to toys more concerned with looks than brains.

The GoldieBlox kit, which retails for $29.99 and is marketed to girls ages 5-9, is a doll/figurine set, an illustrated book series, and a board game with a tool set, of sorts. In the books, GoldieBlox, a little girl engineer, goes on adventures around her community with her friends, pets included. Along the way, they encounter challenges that can only be fixed by building some sort of contraption.

Read Full Article

Designed to encourage students to excel in science and math and to pursue careers in those fields, the National Science Bowl brings together thousands of middle and high school students from across the country to compete on a range of science disciplines in a fast-paced, Jeopardy-style format. 

To register for their respective regional competitions in the upcoming Science Bowl, teams should go to the National Science Bowl website. In addition to basic registration information, the website also provides information on how teams can prepare and what they can expect in the upcoming regional events