Monday, June 29, 2009
When school lets out everyone sighs a collective breath, and as a teacher I can relate to the feeling of relief that arrives when the end-of-year frenzy gives way to slower summer days.
Summer, while a time of rest and relaxation, is also a time of planning for every school community: refreshing the classroom curriculum and budgeting for the fiscal year.
Summer is a great time to think about ways to green your school for the upcoming year, and to prepare a budget—whether for your classroom or school—that allows for sustainable consumer choices, environmental curriculum development, and environmental upgrades.
Below, Greenfox offers a few suggestions to get started this summer for those of you in the education field:
Administrators
o Budget for areas of environmental improvement in any or all of the Greenfox5 areas:
Greenfox5
-Energy
-Waste Disposal
-Food
-Products
-Greenspace
o Create a sustainability pledge based on the Greenfox5 that your school community signs together (this pledge can be voluntary or required)
Teachers
o Add an environmental piece to your curriculum, or develop an existing one. Environmental teaching can be woven into nearly any subject, including science, math, social studies, and language arts.
o Create a classroom “green team” that will be responsible for environmental endeavors in the classroom, such as turning off lights when the class leaves the room, collecting food at meal time for the composter, collecting recyclables at the end of the day, etc.
o When buying classroom supplies, budget for eco-products, such as recycled content lined paper, folders, journals, and pencils.
o Brainstorm an environmental community-service effort with your class such as collecting recyclables to raise money for tree planting, collecting and recycling cartridges to raise money for your school, or working with your neighborhood to pick up litter.
o Work together with other faculty or parents to implement recycling programs, composting systems, and environmental programs.
Parents
o Ask your child’s teacher how you can be of assistance with any green or environmental initiatives in the classroom.
o Work together with faculty and administration to implement recycling programs, composting systems, and environmental programs, or to create a “Green Committee” at your child’s school.
o When buying school supplies for your child, budget for eco-products, such as re-usable lunchboxes and sandwich wrappers, recycled content lined paper, folders, journals, and pencils.
o Set up a clean-air carpool or bike group that will commute to school in the fall.
Students
o Have fun and enjoy nature! The first way to help the environment is to care about it. Have a wonderful summer!
-Kristen von Hoffmann
June 29, 2009 at 5:18 pm |
Hi K, is there a way to use sun or wind energy to power some key object in a classroom ( light fixture or something) to literally bring energy into the class room each day- I always remember the solar radio I used at Van Vlecks to listen to music and how much I missed the music on cloudy days and how it made me aware of the sun’s position throughout the day (weeding 5 acres can be very boring for a 19 year old). See you soon- love the make hay… really well writtten and easy to read.
July 1, 2009 at 6:51 pm |
great blog. very helpful, hope a lot of schools will take on green initiatives over the summer.
July 1, 2009 at 7:30 pm |
I like the idea of planning for a green school year over the summer. Thanks for making sections: admin, teachers, parents, etc. and breaking it down like that.
July 1, 2009 at 7:37 pm |
Great photo!
July 3, 2009 at 3:00 pm |
[...] Make Hay While the Sun Shines « Greenfox Schools Blog [...]
July 7, 2009 at 1:31 am |
Perfect!