Events
Education Summit: How can we build community resilience through education?
How can we build community resilience through education? Join other educators and students at an Education Summit focused on this question. The Education Summit is on April 6, 2016, day three of the Local Solutions: Eastern Regional Climate Preparedness Conference in Baltimore, Maryland, co-hosted by Antioch University New England and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Summit activities will include: keynote address from climate activist Bill McKibben, a panel on community resilience and education, informational sessions, professional development workshops, a collaborative activity, field trips, and a participant forum. Learn more about the Education Summit and register. You may choose to attend only the Education Summit on April 6, two days of the Local Solutions conference, or all three days. Accommodations are available at the Sheraton Inner Harbor Hotel. Hotel reservations made prior to March 11 will be at a discounted rate. You will find more information about lodging here: www.communityresilience-center.org.
Green Schools Conference and Expo
Make plans now to join fellow green schools advocates in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania March 31-April 1, 2016 for the 6th annual conference and expo! Visit the conference website to view session descriptions and get more information on this year’s Student Summit, speed greening sessions, posters, and more. Conference rates are being offered at two hotels, both within walking distance of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. Make your reservation
Resources
EPA’s IAQ Tools for Schools Action Kit
The IAQ Tools for Schools Action Kit shows schools how to carry out a practical plan to improve indoor air quality at little- or no-cost using straightforward activities and in-house staff. The kit provides best practices, industry guidelines, sample policies, and a sample IAQ management plan.
Indoor air quality (IAQ) plays a critical role in the health, attendance, and academic performance of students and staff. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Savings Plus Health: Indoor Air Quality Guidelines for School Building Upgrades (the Guide) is designed to help K-12 stakeholders navigate the construction and energy retrofit process using an integrated approach and with IAQ, occupant health, and safety protections in mind. The Guide includes 23 IAQ priority issues and related assessment protocols, recommended and expanded actions, and resources and tools for project planning and communication. It is accompanied by the customizable, time-saving, and actionable Energy Saving Plus Health Checklist Generator (Microsoft Excel) that enables stakeholders to create IAQ checklists for specific upgrade or construction projects to protect and enhance IAQ. Schools districts can use the Guide to manage, design, and implement school facilities construction plans that maximize energy efficiency and minimize financial losses and negative health effects on students and staff.
EPA’s School IAQ Assessment Mobile App
The EPA’s School IAQ Assessment Mobile App is your “one-stop shop” for implementing IAQ management guidance from the IAQ Tools for Schools Action Kit. With actionable steps and checklists, the app assists schools and school districts in assessing facilities to protect the health of children and school staff.
Sierra Club John Muir Lesson Plans
Learning about John Muir’s life can serve as a launching pad to environmental studies from a variety of perspectives. Botany, geology, history, geography, language arts, visual arts, and more can be inspired by John Muir, as we discover that, as John Muir said, “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.” These lesson plans are aligned with the California Academic Content Standards, but can be adapted to meet other state standards as needed.
Professional Development
CELF Summer Institute: Education for Sustainability
CELF’s Summer Institute (July 18-20, 2016) enables teachers to integrate the concepts of sustainability into their existing curricula. This program equips K-12 teachers with practices and teaching methods to address the core concepts of Education for Sustainability – the intersection of social, economic, and ecological systems. Teachers participate in the CELF Summer Institute in order to:
- Become familiar with teaching strategies that challengestudents to embrace complex problem solving, encourage students to transfer and relate information between disciplines through hands-on and collaborative activities, compel students to connect to their community – at home, in school, and in the world beyond, and inspire them to make a difference.
- Explore effective and engaging methods of communicating the interconnections between a healthy environment, a vibrant economy, and fair and equitable social sector – and how the balance of those three systems is vital to a sustainable future, and relevant to every academic subject area.
Learn more about the elementary school teacher institute (http://www.celfeducation.org/WhatWeDo-summer-elementary-teachers.html) and the middle/high school teacher institute (http://www.celfeducation.org/WhatWeDo-summer-middle-teachers.html).
EPA’s Indoor Air Quality in Schools Master Class Webinar Series
Increase your knowledge of best practices for creating healthy indoor environments and be inspired to take action. EPA’s IAQ Master Class Professional Training Webinar Series consists of ten 1-hour technical, core competency web-based trainings designed to build the capacity of school district staff across the country to start, improve, or sustain an IAQ management program. Continue or start your journey to mastery by accessing these free on-demand webinars to help you learn new skills and refresh old ones.
Climbing Trees
Presenter: Harv Teitelbaum
Monday, February 29 2016 7:30-8:30pm EST
Why climb trees? On a very basic level, we all sense that it feels good to be around trees and forests. But beyond engendering a sense of well-being, there is a growing body of scientific evidence that being in the forest environment has positive psychological effects. Harv Teitelbaum wants you to climb and perhaps someday facilitate your own group climbs. In this webinar, he hopes to encourage you to do so and tell you just how it’s done.
Inspiring Deeper Learning with Music
Presenters: Remy Rodden and Joyce Rouse (Earth Mama)
Thursday, March 31 2016 7:30-8:30pm EST
Why do we teach and learn our ABC’s with a song? Learning techniques that use music, motion, humor, and fun take place in the affective domain of the brain, and tend to be deeper and longer lasting. Join two veteran singer-songwriter-performers for tips and tools for using music to teach and reinforce concepts for long term behavioral changes.
Urban Environmental Education Masters Degree
Applications for 2016-17 are now OPEN!! Come join us…M.A.Ed. in Urban Environmental Education
We believe that education has the power to transform the ways that people live in urban areas by cultivating environmental knowledge, leadership, and collective action. The Urban Environmental Education Program at IslandWood prepares educators to work with urban youth and communities to build thriving, healthy, and sustainable places to live. Environmental Education in urban settings requires educators to embrace the ecological complexity of the city and attend to the forces of equity and justice in relation to environmental issues.
Learn more about joining this groundbreaking program
Contact Cindy Thomashow at cindyt@islandwood.org (603-283-8485) or Sue Byers at sueb@islandwood.org (206.499.8530).
Grants
American Electric Power (AEP) Teacher Vision Grants
AEP is looking to fund projects that have an academic focus and a goal to improve student achievement. Special consideration will be given to projects in these areas: science, math, technology, electrical safety, the balance study of energy and the environment, and energy efficiency. Grant awards range from $100 – $500. Apply online before midnight EST, Friday February 26, 2016.
Captain Planet Foundation Eco-Tech Grants
EcoTech grants are back! Grants in the amount of $2,500 will be awarded to schools or non-profit organizations for the purpose of engaging children in inquiry-based projects in STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) that use innovation, biomimicry / nature-based design, or new uses for technology to address environmental problems in their communities. The EcoTech Grant cycle is open and will close on March 15, 2016.
GetEdFunding is a curated collection of grants and awards created by education professionals for education professionals. Its database was designed to be easy-to-use and reliable, and all grant and funding opportunities are updated daily. Users can search by six criteria, including 43 areas of focus, 8 content areas, and 14 twenty-first century themes and skills, including environmental literacy. Once registered on the site, users can save grants of interest and return to them at any time.
Motorola Solutions Foundation Innovation Generation Grants
The Innovation Generation Grant program is designed to inspire students to learn about science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and increase engagement in STEM careers by providing support to education programs for elementary through university students and teachers in the United States and Canada. The 2016 Innovation Generation Grant cycle is open through Wednesday, March 2, 2016. Interested applicants must apply online.
The NEA Foundation Learning and Leadership Grants
The NEA Foundation Learning and Leadership Grants support public school teachers, public education support professionals, and/or faculty and staff in public institutions of higher education for one of the following two purposes:
- Grants to individuals fund participation in high-quality professional development experiences, such as summer institutes, conferences, or action research.
- Grants to groups fund collegial study, including study groups, action research, lesson plan development, or mentoring experiences for faculty or staff.
Grants awards are $2,000 for individuals and $5,000 for groups engaged in collegial study. Applications may be submitted anytime throughout the year and are reviewed three times a year, every year. Deadlines for applications are February 1, June 1, and October 15.
