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School News You Can Use – June, 2016

This is our last issue until . . .

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE

USDA Grant News – Free Webinar for Teacher Training Credits
Conference Wrap-up – Activities & Winners
CLUB News – BCSWA School Workshops this Fall
In The News – Aviation Furniture
Contests, Scholarships & Fundraisers – PEYA for 2017
EPA & NHDES News – Summer Safety Tips
Activity – NWF Summer Bucket List & Froggy Fruit

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USDA GRANT NEWS

Free Webinar for Recycling Educators!

frpa.org

Through generous USDA funding, NRRA is offering a FREE WEBINAR that highlights our School CLUB Classroom Workshops and Technical Assistance Trainings designed for use in standard classroom settings and can be tailored to fit the developmental needs of any class, grades K-12.

Participants investigate household toxins, connect waste and global climate change, learn how to make composting work, and explore the wide world of solid waste. The Technical Assistance Trainings focus on the school districts’ big picture problems and solutions pertaining to indoor air quality, waste management budgets, and a comprehensive quantitative and qualitative report on individual school’s recycling and waste reduction efforts.

The USDA funding is helping NRRA implement a Train-the-Teacher model that assists economically challenged schools avail themselves of the quality programming NRRA’s School CLUB offers. Once trained, participants will receive the tools to do their own programming and to integrate students and local facility staff into the overall program. In addition, all educators who take part in NRRA’s Train the Teachers webinar program, will receive the corresponding classroom workshop power points and the revised Teaching Toxics and Teacher’s Resource Guide curricula that was just aligned with the Common Core Standards. Ninety-six (96) positive, fun and hands-on lesson plans/classroom activities about environmental protection, pollution prevention, and stewardship!

By addressing the topic of what is being thrown away with household trash, students in the classroom learn about an integral component of increasing the public’s awareness of hazardous, recyclable, and compostable products. The success in teaching these issues lies in presenting the information in a way that empowers students instead of overwhelms them. The lesson plans in NRRA’s curricula and the classroom workshops do this.

If you are interested in viewing the webinars and/or hosting a teacher training for your school or district, please contact Cindy Sterling at [email protected].

Are you a recycling instructor in need of updated curricula?

dunnscornerschurch.org

As part of our USDA grant initiative, NRRA is seeking assistance from teachers and school administrators in the targeted regions of Carroll, Coos, and Grafton counties in NH, and Bennington, Caledonia, Essex, Franklin, and Orleans counties in VT.
NRRA is updating our Recycling Curricula to meet the needs of Common Core. We need your help in providing professional development workshops for in-service teachers, decision makers, and department professionals to present these revisions and get your feedback.
If you or your school is interested in assisting with this project, please contact NRRA’s School CLUB at [email protected].

NRRA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD).

To file a complaint of discrimination write, USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (202) 720-5964 (voice or TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

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CONFERENCE WRAP-UP

Kermit the Frog was a Big Hit!

Conference attendees were surprised and delighted when Kermit the Frog made several live appearances over the 2-day Conference! Pictures and selfies abounded and he even assisted with the School CLUB Awards ceremony.

Check out our 2016 Conference Page where we have posted pictures from the workshops, activities and awards.

Conference Award Winners:

Outstanding Recycling Educator: Charen Fegard, Enosburg, VT
Best Earth Day Event: Allenstown Elementary, Allenstown, NH
Teacher Recycler of the Year: Kimberlie Berrigan, Allenstown, NH
Rookie Recycler of the Year: Erica Miller, White Birch Community Center’s Early Learning Program, Henniker, NH
Outstanding Student Recycler of the Year: Marin Lackmann, Moore School, Candia, NH
Facilities Staff Recycler of the Year: Marc Brown, Burke Town School, West Burke, VT
Recycling Club of the Year: Milford Middle School Recycling Club, Milford, NH
Recycling Club Assistant of the Year: Joseph Gallagher, Milford Middle School, Milford, NH
Best Recycling School of the Year: Milford Middle School, Milford, NH
Special Recognition Award: Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Belle Chasse, Louisiana

For the Press Releases and pictures, go to our Conference Page.

Conference Activities:

Recycled card station

Our wonderful attendees and exhibitors prepared 8 recycled cards for Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth (CHaD) and 13 recycled cards for the military.

You have helped make the day of a sick child or soldier as well as learning what you can do with your extra cards!

We made and distributed just over 50 green bracelets woven on recycled plastic lids.

Special thanks to the Henry W. Moore students who stayed to the end of our Mini Trash On the Lawn Day (TOLD)

Jordan King of Milford Middle School won $100 in the Talk To Ticket activity.

Jawaria Ali of Milford Middle School won the Eco-Gear Backpack for the Scavenger Hunt activity.

Our “Paint the Can” Rain Barrel was given to Milford Middle School. Thanks to all our creative students for the artistic embellishments!

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CLUB NEWS

BCSWA School & Business Outreach

epodunk.com

The Bennington County Solid Waste Alliance serves the communities of: Arlington, Bennington, Dorset, Glastenbury, Manchester, Pownal, Rupert, Sandgate, Searsburg, Shaftsbury, Stamford, Sunderland and Woodford, VT.

BCSWA has contracted NRRA and the School CLUB to provide outreach and training to schools and businesses in the Alliance area regarding Vermont’s Universal Recycling Act 148.

The Alliance website is up and running and full of useful links. Here is the link to the Alliance Webpage. They also have their own School Newsletter!

Free Workshops Available for Alliance Schools – Scheduling Now

Outreach to the Alliance schools continues next Fall. BCSWA schools interested in receiving FREE programming for the next school year should contact: [email protected] to get on the calendar.

Would you like to host a TOLD, Garbage Guerrillas or another Workshop at your school? Let the CLUB Help!

Improves academic performance, especially in science and math
Can lead to financial savings for schools
Decreases the school’s carbon footprint through practical solutions that reduce energy and water consumption
Reduces school waste and conserves natural resources
Encourages student environmental awareness and stewardship
Increases parental involvement
Helps students and teachers develop stronger relationships with their communities

School CLUB set up for TOLD event

Previous EPA EE-funded research at over 200 New England schools completed by the NRRA School Recycling CLUB (the CLUB) found that the single most challenging area for school recycling programs was in providing curriculum integrations that brought recycling and sustainability into classrooms to be used as the subject matter for meeting state and local curriculum standards. The intention of the CLUB programs is to address just that issue in schools across all six New England states. Our goal is to use the CLUB’s workshops and technical assistance programs, all experiential and hands on, as a tool for educating K-12 students about consumption, proper diversion of waste, the resulting impacts on climate change and what they can do to change it. Through these offerings, we are also afforded the opportunity to link these priorities to curriculum standards. In addition, these workshops will model, for educators or community leaders, exemplary ways of teaching in creative, effective, and efficient methods about human health threats from environmental pollution as well as how to minimize human exposure to preserve good health. Click here to learn more or contact us at [email protected] or call 1.603.736.4401 ext. 19

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IN THE NEWS

Here is an update to the story we ran last month:

Photo courtesy of Owens-Illinois

Owens-Illinois Recognizes Houston Third-Grader for Glass Recycling

Houston, Texas (May 24, 2016) – Ohio representatives from Owens-Illinois (NYSE: OI), the world’s largest glass container manufacturer, visited The Regis School of the Sacred Heart today to recognize a third-grader for his commitment to glass recycling.

During a family discussion about the city discontinuing its glass recycling service, Regis student Tristan Berlanga III expressed concern about all the glass that would be thrown away. Deciding to do something to prevent that, Tristan and family friend David Krohn sent simple flyers out on a Sunday afternoon this spring saying they would pick up and recycle glass – for their neighborhood.

No responses came on Sunday, but on Monday, they had hundreds of emails – and Hauling Glass Houston was born. And what started in their neighborhood has grown to include customers in three large zip codes.

On Tuesday morning during a Regis school assembly, Jim Nordmeyer, Vice President of Sustainability at O-I, presented Tristan and David with an award for their service. “We are really impressed with Tristan’s interest in keeping glass containers out of landfills,” said Nordmeyer. “For a boy of his age to recognize the importance of glass recycling was truly amazing. We hope others will follow his lead.”

O-I also presented Regis with a surprise check in the amount of $1,500 in honor of the school’s focus on social awareness and care for the Earth.

Regis leaders said they weren’t surprised that one of their students responded to a community need. “One of our core Regis tenets is to instill social awareness that impels students to action,” said Dennis Phillips, Regis Headmaster. “Tristan has attended Regis since he was 3, and students are involved in social awareness projects every year. For example, last year, Tristan’s teacher encouraged students to bring in shoes to be recycled to help save animals. We are so proud that Tristan has applied his entrepreneurial spirit and his respect for creation to build a business that encourages and helps others become better stewards of Earth’s resources.”

In addition to class discussions and community-awareness projects, Regis models recycling by placing bins throughout the school to encourage students to reduce, reuse and recycle, Phillips said.

Tristan and David currently have more than 220 customers, and the count grows daily. They pick up glass containers every other week in the 77007, 77008 and 77009 zip codes and charge $10 to offset costs for gas and warehousing. A local glass processor recycles the glass. Tristan’s focus this spring has been on completing his classes, but he will be more actively involved in the recycling business this summer. David runs the recycling company in addition to a full-time job.

Created from sand, soda ash, limestone and recycled glass, glass bottles are infinitely recyclable. “We depend heavily on recycled glass in our manufacturing process. It helps reduce energy use, emissions and the need for other raw materials,” said Nordmeyer.

Tristan, son of Tristan and Scheli Berlanga, and David hope to expand their service to other zip codes and hire additional people to help.

“It’s great to see one of our students live out the core values we teach at Regis in such a creative, beneficial way,” said Amy Schendel, Tristan’s second-grade teacher.

From our friends at Waste 360

GE CF6 Reception Desk

Furniture Created From Aviation Parts

May 13, 2016

Jen Deglmann, AviationWeek.com

This reception desk was made from a GE CF6 and is about 235 cm in diameter on the inside, by SkyART. SkyART also supplies aircraft and parts to customers like Turkish Airlines, Pegasus Airlines, and others for cabin mock-up trainings. When I asked Irmak Erol, sales director, if he could disclose who their “notable customers” were, he said he couldn’t but did mention “a few Middle Eastern Kings are amongst them.”

Aviation furniture is becoming mainstream.

To see all of the aviation furniture, click HERE.

cliparts.co

Interested in green cleaning? If you would like to host a workshop in your school, please consider The CLUB’s Healthy Home, Clean Waters Workshop or our Technical Assistance Training for facilities staff on Green Cleaning & Indoor Air Quality Evaluation & Review.

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Contests, Scholarships & Fundraisers

From our friends at EPA

New application period for PEYA program

Applications are now being accepted for the next round of the President’s Environmental Youth Award (http://go.usa.gov/3u7XB). Applications are due March 1, 2017.

The PEYA program promotes awareness of our nation’s natural resources and encourages positive community involvement, through recognizing outstanding environmental projects by K-12 youth. The award celebrates student leadership in protecting the environment and building a livable, sustainable global community. Recent award winning projects included activities such as:

creating a new eco-friendly fertilizer;
fighting deforestation;
educating communities on the need to protect various animal species;
restoring and conserving local habitats;
promoting community gardening;
promoting recycling and other waste reduction methods in schools and communities;
banning polystyrene (Styrofoam);
researching the impact of energy consumption methods;
analyzing the impact of solar panel installation;
inventing a new water pollution mitigation method;
educating communities on water conservation; and
analyzing storm water flow and flood risk.

$$$$$$$$$$ Other School Grant Opportunities $$$$$$$$$$

(Collected from NWF Eco-Schools Newsletter – August, 2015)
http://www.nwf.org/Eco-Schools-USA/Newsletter.aspx?s_email_id=20150819_ECO_ENG_Educators|#schoolyardhabitats

DonorsChoose.org – Can list on site up to 4 months
http://www.donorschoose.org/about
Helps classrooms and students in need

DoSomething.org offers many ways to earn scholarship money.

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EPA & NHDES NEWS

From our friends at EPA-Office of Environmental Education

White House Student Film Festival

Know a student with big ideas for the future and who loves to make films — or wants to give it a shot?

The White House Student Film Festival is back with a new theme: “The World I Want to Live In.” From now through July 15, 2016, students from kindergarten through 12^th grade can submit a short film. It can be fictional, animated, live-action documentary, or anything else a student dreams up. The official selections will be featured across the White House website and social media.

Learn more and read the official submission guidelines.

From our friends at NH-DES

Winners of NH 4^th Grade Water Science Fair Announced

Dover, NH – Over 350 students from Dover, Harrisville, Keene, Manchester, Marlborough, and Surry recently participated in the 24th Annual New Hampshire Drinking Water Festival and the final round of the State 4th Grade Water Science Fair. Events were held in Dover, NH at the Henry Law Park and the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire. The goal of these events is to engage future leaders in protecting one of the world’s most precious resources, water.

Students learned about water conservation, aquatic animals, water pollution and keeping water clean through a series of hands-on activities and exhibits. Activities and exhibits were led by scientists, consultants and environmental educators from public water systems, non-profit organizations, higher education and local, state and federal agencies, who shared their expertise with students.

State 4th Grade Water Science Fair Finalists from all 6 communities presented their research projects to a panel of judges. Congratulations to Jack Cahill who won first place; Jacob Friedman who took second place; Ethan Gray who took third place and Benjamin Greenwald who won fourth place. All four students are from Keene.

A drinking water taste contest matched several municipal drinking water systems against each other to win the title of best tasting water. Concord was chosen by the students and teachers as having the best tasting water.

The events are sponsored by the New Hampshire Drinking Water Coalition to celebrate National Drinking Water Week. The Festival and Science Fair are supported by volunteers and donations from many organizations, including: Amoskeag Fishways, Clearwater Artesian Well Co., Concord Water Department, Epping Well and Pump Company, Everett J. Prescott, Inc., Granite State Rural Water, Keene Water Department, Lake Sunapee Protective Association, Manchester Water Works, Merrimack Village District, N.H. Department of Transportation, N.H. Fish & Game, N.H. Water Well Association, N.H. Water Works Association, NHDES, Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership (PREP), RCAP Solutions, Reliable Equipment, Seacoast Science Center, Strafford County Conservation District, U.S. Forest Service, Underwood Engineers, UNH Marine Docents.

While we’re on the subject of water . . .

Also From our friends at EPA-Office of Environmental Education

New Girl Scout Water Drop Patch

Earlier this spring, a new Girl Scout Water Drop Patch was revealed, aiming to encourage water stewardship, and to inspire Girl Scouts to learn about water quality and to take action to protect and restore local water resources. Patches and activities are designed for different levels of Girl Scouts and ages, from Daisies to Ambassadors.

The patch was developed as a joint project by EPA, NASA, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital. Any Girl Scout in the country can earn a patch.

Learn more about the new patch.

To be fair, the Boy Scouts have a Soil and Water Conservation badge.

For more information, click HERE.

Summer Safety Tips from EPA

GO GREEN
EPA News You Can Use – June 2016

Remove Mosquito Habitats

An important part of mosquito control around your home is making sure that mosquitoes don’t have a place to lay their eggs. Because mosquitoes need water for two stages of their life cycle, it’s important to monitor standing water sources.

Get rid of standing water in rain gutters, old tires, buckets, plastic covers, toys or any other container where mosquitoes can breed.
Empty and change the water in bird baths, fountains, wading pools, rain barrels and potted plant trays at least once a week to eliminate potential mosquito habitats.
Drain temporary pools of water or fill with dirt.
Keep swimming pool water treated and circulating.

Prevent Your Exposure to Mosquitoes

Use the following tips to help protect yourself from exposure to mosquitoes.

Use EPA-registered mosquito repellents when necessary and follow label directions and precautions closely.
Tuck shirts into pants and pants into socks to cover gaps in your clothing where mosquitoes can get to your skin.
Use head nets, long sleeves and long pants if you venture into areas with high mosquito populations, such as salt marshes.
Stay indoors at sunrise, sunset and early in the evening when mosquitoes are most active, especially if there is a mosquito-borne disease warning in effect.
Replace your outdoor lights with yellow “bug” lights, which tend to attract fewer mosquitoes than ordinary lights. The yellow lights are NOT repellents, however.

Use structural barriers

Cover all gaps in walls, doors and windows to prevent mosquitoes from entering.
Make sure window and door screens are “bug tight.”
Completely cover baby carriers and beds with netting.

Action Steps for Sun Safety

Do NOT Burn

Sunburns significantly increase one’s lifetime risk of developing skin cancer, especially for children.

Avoid Sun Tanning and Tanning Beds

UV radiation from tanning beds and the sun causes skin cancer and wrinkling.

Generously Apply Sunscreen

Generously apply about one ounce of sunscreen (broad-spectrum, SPF 30) to cover all exposed skin 15 minutes before going outside. Reapply every 2 hours, even on cloudy days, and after swimming or sweating.

Wear Protective Clothing

Wear protective clothing, such as a long-sleeved shirt, pants, a wide-brimmed hat, and sunglasses, when possible.

Seek Shade

Seek shade when possible, and remember that the sun’s UV rays are strongest between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Use Extra Caution Near Water, Snow and Sand

Water, snow and sand reflect the damaging rays of the sun, which can increase your chance of sunburn.

Check the UV Index

The UV Index provides important information to help you plan your outdoor activities in ways that prevent sun overexposure. The UV Index forecast is issued daily by the National Weather Service and EPA.

Get Vitamin D Safely

Get Vitamin D safely through a diet that includes vitamin supplements and foods fortified with Vitamin D. Don’t seek the sun.

For a downloadable PDF, click HERE.

And finally . . .

EPA End of Year Classroom Cleanup

Prepare for classroom cleanup

If you are gearing up for end-of-the-school-year cleaning, but aren’t sure what products to use around your classroom, consider looking for the Safer Choice label in stores.

Last year, EPA launched a labeling program for cleaning and other household products to help you identify which products are made with ingredients that are safer for people and the environment. Find products like laundry detergent, odor removers, and all purpose cleaning supplies. Look for the Safer Choice label to help you find products made with safer chemical ingredients.

To find Safer Choice product, visit your local store or look on the EPA’s Safer Choice website for a full product list and chemical information.

clipart stock

Speaking of cleanup – If you are receiving unsolicited junk mail at your home or school, you can go to https://www.catalogchoice.org/

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ACTIVITY

From our friends at the National Wildlife Federation:

For your own printable copy, click HERE.

Also from NWF, this Father’s Day idea:

For full instructions, click HERE.

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From all of us at NRRA and the School CLUB, have a safe and happy summer vacation!

clipartpanda.com

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WHAT IS YOUR SCHOOL CLUB UP TO? The NRRA School CLUB always loves to hear what its members and other schools are doing to recycle and help the environment so we can share it through our newsletter. There are so many different things being done, and you are our best source of information about what is working in your school. It can be a new program, a long-term project that’s been proven over time, a field trip, etc. Always feel free to contact me or submit something and you may see it in the next School News You Can Use! – Gwen Erley, [email protected] 1-603-736-4401 Ext. 19