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ACNW Environmental Education News
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April 18, 2018
Dear Charter School Leaders, EE Contacts, Teachers, and Board Members,
Happy Earth Week! The theme for Earth Day 2018 (April 22) is End Plastic Pollution. Check out Earth Day Network’s FREE K-12 resource guide for activities, project ideas, videos, and other resources to address plastic pollution with your students.
A special message for EE Coordinators: Keep an eye on your inboxes this week for EE Surveys, arriving via Epicenter or directly from me. These are due no later than June 30.
Don’t forget – the ACNW EE Teacher Workshop is just a few months away. Join us August 1-3 at the Audubon Center in Sandstone to learn with and from your peers. If you have something EE-related you’d like to share with your fellow teachers, please let me know! I’m looking for teachers willing to share their “Bright Spots” – short (no more than ten minutes) highlights of something you’re proud of or has worked well for your program. It’s a great way to network with your peers and get ideas from those doing similar work! Email me with your ideas if you’re willing to present.
As always, please let us know if you are you doing something cool related to EE at your school. Every month we try to share something great happening with EE in ACNW authorized schools and we’d love to feature your school. Keep in touch!
Sincerely,
The ACNW Charter School Division
43 Main Street SE, Suite 507
Minneapolis, MN 55414
(612) 331-4181
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Organics recycling is catching on at ACNW authorized schools! New Discoveries Montessori Academy (left) in Hutchinson is working with a local farmer to redirect food waste from the lunchroom to the pigpen. Glacial Hills Elementary (right) in Starbuck is participating in Pope / Douglas Solid Waste Management's new organics recycling program. Reach out to the schools to learn more about getting started, or let us know how your school is composting food waste!
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REVIEW DRAFT AVAILABLE: K-12 ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION GUIDELINES FOR EXCELLENCE
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NAAEE needs your help and input! NAAEE is in the process of revising the K-12 EE Guidelines for Excellence, first published in 1999 and updated about every five years since then. The writing team developed a second review draft and is inviting you to review this draft and provide comments that will be used in the revision process. Download the draft and email comments to Bora Simmons by June 1.
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KEEP AMERICA BEAUTIFUL NATIONAL YOUTH ADVISORY COUNCIL
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Keep America Beautiful is accepting applications for the 2018-2019 National Youth Advisory Council through June 8, 2018. This is a unique opportunity for ten high school students (15-18 years old) from diverse backgrounds across the nation to participate in a service-learning and leadership development program. Learn more and apply online.
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MAY 18: ENDANGERED SPECIES DAY
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The 13th annual international Endangered Species Day on May 18, 2018 offers biology, ecology and other teachers an ideal opportunity to educate students about the importance of protecting threatened and endangered plant and animal species. Be sure to check out the resource materials in the Endangered Species Day Toolkit on the website, including event planning tips, stickers, bookmarks, fliers, banner, passport, coloring/activity sheets and more. Find lesson plans and other tools in the Teacher Resource Center.
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Toshiba America Foundation
The Toshiba America Foundation gives grants to teachers in K-12 schools to help them teach math and science in innovative ways. Applications are for project-based learning only and must be completed online. Grant applications for grades 6-12 that are $5,000 or less are accepted on a rolling basis throughout the calendar year, while grants exceeding $5,000 are reviewed twice a year. The next deadline for these grants is June 1, 2018.
PLT GreenWorks! Grants
Project Learning Tree offers GreenWorks! grants up to $1,000 to schools and youth organizations for environmental service-learning projects that link classroom learning to the real world. Students implement an action project they help design to green their school or to improve an aspect of their neighborhood’s environment. The annual deadline to apply is September 30, 2018. Funding will be distributed in December. Learn more and apply online.
Seeds for Education Grant Program
Wild Ones offers assistance for all aspects of schoolyard enhancement projects, such as butterfly gardens, nature trails, and wildflower planting. Cash grants under $500 are available for plants and seeds. Wild Ones can help schools locate experts and information specific to its area. Applicants must submit an electronic application by October 15, 2018. Notification of awards will be made by February 15, 2018. Learn more or download application instructions.
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Science Standards (NGSS) and EE: What's the Connection?
NAAEE is partnering with the National Wildlife Federation and its Affiliate Network to focus on how the environmental education community can help advance the Next Generation Science Standards. For the next installment of NAAEE's monthly webinar series, Director of Science for Achieve, Matt Krehbiel, will provide an update on how states are implementing the Standards and what we can do together to move forward. Learn more about or register for the webinar on Monday, April 30, 2-3 pm CST.
Rivers Institute by Hamline University’s Center for Global Environmental Education
Join Hamline University’s Center for Global Environmental Education for their acclaimed Rivers Institute, a FREE, three-day, field-based professional development opportunity for educators. The institutes are designed to increase teachers' science content knowledge and investigation skills and help area educators translate their professional experiences into meaningful, engaging classroom investigations. The focus for the institutes is on elementary and middle school classroom teachers as well as teams of teachers. All educators are welcome to apply.
Two sessions are scheduled for 2018: the St. Croix River Institute June 25-27 and the Mississippi River Institute from 23-25. Learn more and register.
MN DNR Teacher Professional Development
The Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources offers low or no cost training on a variety of curricula to help connect students with the environment in a variety of settings. Teachers and educators attend workshops to get activity guides and professional development CEUs.
- April 21: Project Learning Tree K-8 Workshop, Ney Nature Center, Henderson (Le Sueur County)
- July 17: Project WILD & Project WILD Aquatic Teacher Workshop, Whitewater State Park, Altura (Winona County)
Outdoor Classroom Workshops: Team Teaching with Mother Nature
The Jeffers Foundation offers workshops focused on using the outdoors as a classroom. Workshops are catered to the school or venue so participants gain valuable insights into using a specific site. Workshops are available for both schools and organizations. Contact the Jeffers Foundation to learn more.
Summer Institute for Climate Change Education
Join Climate Generation for its 12th annual Summer Institute, designed to guide teachers through challenges teaching about climate change, and help teachers gain the confidence and competence to bring this relevant topic to today’s youth. Participants will have the opportunity to hear from leading experts from the University of Minnesota on their climate science research, engage with hands-on activities, and learn about how Climate Generation curriculum supports language arts, social studies, and science standards, including the Next Generation Science Standards. Scholarships are available; apply online. Click here to read more and to sign up.
- Date: June 26-28, 2018
- Who: Classroom teacher or non-formal educator interested in training and resources that support the standards
- Where: St. John’s University, Collegeville, MN
- Cost: $200 participation fee, which covers meals, materials, and curriculum. Additional fees for lodging and additional curricular materials.
- Register online, or contact Climate Generation for more information.
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FREE Living Schoolyard Activity Guide
Together with its companion international Guide, this two-book set contains 235 activities from across the US and the world, designed to help you take students outside, especially in urban environments! The guides are appropriate for ages 3-18 and are full of cross-curricular activities that enhance and promote play, learning, health, outdoor connections, and community. They also contains great background information on the green schoolyards movement, the benefits of taking kids outside, and how we are working to shift the norm of how schoolyards are designed and used.
The Teacher Friendly Guide to Climate Change
This book was written for teachers who could beneft from a “teacher-friendly” resource on climate change. The focus audience is high school Earth science and environmental science teachers, but many educators have found it useful in other grade levels, subjects, and contexts.
New Video Helps Students Learn How to Sort Recycling and Trash at School
Hennepin County has a new video available to help students learn how to sort their waste from lunch at school. The video gives a brief overview of why recycling and organics recycling is important, then instructs students how to sort their waste into recycling, organics recycling, and trash.
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Prairie Seeds Academy, Brooklyn Park
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Aurora Charter School, Minneapolis
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Best Academy, Minneapolis
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