September 2015 News
In This Issue
NGSS Chapters
Engage Your Fellow Students
Green Schools at the White House
Meet Your NGSS Student Co-Presidents
Green Apple Day of Service
Recycle Bowl and KAB National Awards
Cut the Red Tape! Project
The Adirondack Youth Climate Summit
Check Out Our Partners
Grant and Scholarship Opportunities

Interact With Green Schools!


 

Green Schools Sponsors

 

 

 

   

 

 Partners 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

  

 

  

 


Join Our Mailing List! 

 

 
 

Start a National Green Schools Society Chapter TODAY!
Now is the time to sign up for a National Green Schools Society Chapter for your school and students. Complete a NGSS Application TODAY. 
National Green Schools Society (NGSS) provides a k-12 student recognition and awards program for environmentally focused students who are creating extraordinary impact in schools, organizations, and communities. Many of our students join NGSS to receive recognition for environmental service projects, environmental activism and leadership, environmental STEM projects (E-STEM), school projects that focus on the environment, and group projects. NGSS often is the catalyst to start or restart an environmental club in a school, and it serves as a continual motivator for students and advisors to maintain the club each year. This year we worked with students in public, private, charter, and home school.

For 2014-2015 school year, we recognized an array of student projects that include:
  • Environmental service project building trails in the Puerto Rico rainforest
  • Recycled art and ocean project
  • Elementary education program created and delivered by high school students
  • School garden programs and outdoor classrooms
  • Student-led divestment from fossil fuels activism on a state-wide level
  • Student leadership working with a town sustainability committee
  • Science experiments looking at global warming and ocean acidification impacts
Superintendents, administrators, and teachers say that NGSS is a no-brainer - it helps them to recognize environmentally focused students and highlight their achievements.
NGSS Chapters: get ready to make your mark
It's the start of another school year and it's time for your NGSS Chapter, Green Team or Environmental Club to plan out your environmental, climate or sustainability projects and events for the year. The planning that takes place at the beginning of the year is vital to your success.

National Green Schools Society has been working on selecting established and successful programs that can help you get started. Here is what we recommend.

First, review the NGSS list of partners below and found on the website. Decide on the partner programs you want to do or write up a list of projects that you want to do this year. We highly suggest that you do a Green Apple Day of Serviceat the beginning of the year. And, contact the Alliance for Climate Education (ACE) to set up a date to host an ACE Assembly. Contact Eco-Schools USA and sign up to be a free member - and join the thousands of schools working on sustainability - and check out Eco Schools resources. And importantly, take a look at The Wild Center's Youth Climate Summits and plan one for December or after winter break to get students in your school interested in acting on climate.

The most important thing to do is to take action, plan your year in advance, and recruit your fellow students to join in on protecting the environment.

For other ideas, please access the 12 pathways for resources and tools to help you. 
Engage Your Fellow Students!
Ask your fellow students to join the NGSS Chapter! Put up this flyer around your school with information on your chapter or team's next meeting. 
Green Schools Student Leaders Return to White House
The White House hosted a Back-to-School Climate Education Event to support the Climate Education and Literacy Initiative, launced in December 2014 to connect students and citizens with the best-available, science-based information about climate change. 



Pictured (left to right): NGSS National Ambassador Eugen Florin Cotei, Green Schools Executive Director Robin Organ, NGSS Student Co-President Melissa Cowell. 

Meet Your NGSS Student Co-Presidents
Hi! My name is Melissa Cowell and I am entering my Senior year at Ursuline Academy. I have been a member of GreenSchools since ninth grade, when I joined to not only expand my own knowledge on environmental issues, but to also help everyone else realize the issues we are facing today. 


Hi! My name is Ehasanuzzaman Satu, but you can call me Satu! This upcoming school year, I will be entering my Senior year at Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School. I've been a part of GreenSchools since late February 2015, I was first recruited tojoin the Massachusetts Green Students Leadership Council through a science teacher at my school. 

Green Apple Day of Service
 
The 2015-2016 school year is coming to a quick start and we'd like to encourage each NGSS Chapter to participate in a wonderful service project coordinated by one of our partners; the U.S. Green Building Council's Center for Green Schools.
 
Green Apple Day of Service gives teachers, students, parents, companies and local organizations the opportunity to help transform schools into healthy, safe and productive learning environments through local service projects. Improve indoor air quality, start a recycling program, have your students create an environmental signage campaign, or focus one of your lessons on environmental literacy. You can find more ideas and register an event today at greenapple.org/projects 
 
Event Date: September 26, 2015  - Please note that schools/groups can lead a GADOS at anytime not just on 9/26/15

Download the GADOS Project Toolkit

Download the GADOS Flyer
Recycle Bowl 2015 Registration and KAB National Awards 
Through Recycle-Bowl, we hope to galvanize recycling in elementary, middle and high schools across America.

Registration for Recycle Bowl 2015 ends October 13th! Competition begins October 29th!


Keep America Beautiful National Awards Program - To honor the work of all our partners whose commitment to community improvement delivers more beautiful, cleaner, and improved neighborhoods and public spaces.

Application Deadline October 1, 2015! 
Cut the Red Tape! Project
Schools can Act on Climate & Cute the Red Tape

The project aims to involve schools, students and their parents all over the world demonstrating we need everyone involved to face what has been called the biggest threat for younger generations. By signing the ACT-ON-CLIMATE school declaration, schools commit to at least 5 climate change mitigation actions such as implementing reduction strategies and reducing their C02 footprint, going paperless, and/or hosting MEATLESS MONDAYS to name a few.

Join Green Schools at The Adirondack Youth Climate Summit
November 12 & 13, 2015 

The Adirondack Youth Climate Summit is a two-day event held at The Wild Center in Tupper Lake, NY where students gather to learn about climate change and discuss sustainable solutions. The Adirondack Youth Climate Summit brings together a diverse set of nearly 200 high school & college students, teachers, and faculty from 30 schools across the Northeastern U.S. The Summit combines informative plenary sessions and workshops in an engaging atmosphere during this transformative educational experience. School teams create unique Climate Action Plans at the Summit to implement climate solutions in their schools and communities.

Download the flyer to learn more about how your school can attend! 
Check Out Our Partners

When you become a National Green Schools Society Chapter you can get started right away with environmental service projects from our outstanding partners. We know that it is common for students and advisors to wonder about where to go for project ideas or they may have a hard time getting the environmental club started during the first few months of the year. To help you get started and keep the momentum going, check out our partner programs and pick one. We have carefully selected these partner programs because they are well supported, easy to implement, and really deliver on environmental impact in schools and communities. At the end of the year, apply for NGSS recognition using the projects and programs from our partners or use your school-based projects! All of these programs are FREE.


Eco-Schools USA
Eco-Schools is an internationally acclaimed program that provides a framework to help educators integrate sustainability principles throughout their schools and curriculum.

 

Alliance for Climate Education (ACE)
ACE does two things best. First, it teaches climate science that puts teenagers at the center of the story. The live, in-school assembly is award-winning and proven to work. Second, it gives every student a chance to take action. 


 The Center for Green Schools at the US Green Building Council (USGBC)

Green Apple Day of Service
Green Apple is a global movement to put all children in schools where they have clean and healthy air to breathe, where energy and resources are conserved, and where they can be inspired to dream of a brighter future. 


 Green Schools Alliance

Green Cup Challenge
The Green Cup Challenge invites all K-12 schools to measure and reduce energy use, improve recycling and waste reduction and promote water conservation. 

Planet Aid
Planet Aid is a nonprofit organization that collects and recycles used clothing and shoes to protect the environment and support sustainable development in impoverished communities around the world. 

 

Click to learn more about each partner 
Grant and Scholarship Opportunities

 The Karma for Cara Foundation is encouraging kids 18 and under to apply for funds between $250 and $1,000 to complete service projects in their communities. Whether it is turning a vacant lot into a community garden, rebuilding a school playground or helping senior citizens get their homes ready for winter, they want to hear what project you're passionate about. Learn More


VolunTEEN Nation International Service Project Grants - Dealine: Rolling 

Students (ages 13-22) from the United States going abroad to volunteer or study in a developing country are encouraged to apply for an international service-learning mini-grant from VolunTEEN Nation. Grants are for up to $300 to create a service project in a developing country while you are visiting that country. Learn More
  

Sincerely,

Robin Organ

Founder and Executive Director

Green Schools