Cool School Challenger
Cool news for cool schools
Winter 2010 Edition
Welcome to the latest edition of the Cool
School Challenger, a quarterly update on the Cool School Challenge
program.
In this issue:
- The Year in Review...1,000,000 pounds of CO2 and more!
- New Carbon Calculator and Toolkit
- Elementary Toolkit...Release Scheduled for EARLY 2010
- Where's Your Hall Pass?
- Upcoming Training Workshops
- Looking for 11th/12th graders-UW Environmental Innovation Challenge
- Our Social Side
- Related News and Events (Grants, Competitions and Resources)
The Year in Review...1,000,000 lbs of CO2 and more!
Wow, what a year! As we launch into 2010, we can't help look back at the 2008-2009 school year and be completely blown away. The following are just a few of the amazing highlights.
- 1,000,000 lbs of CO2 and counting: As our saying goes, "Big changes start with small steps - and taken together, simple individual actions create a world of difference. Hitting the 1,000,000 mark is living proof of the idea. Thanks to all the schools that helped reach this milestone. Note: there are still 500,000 lbs of CO2 pledges out there. If you are still haging on to your final results, please send them using our results form so we can share your success!
- 2008-2009 Cool Schools: How did we get to 1,000,000 lbs of CO2? Check out “Who’s Cool” for a complete list of participating schools, their goals, and results. Did your school participate, but we don't know about it. Let us know with our simple results form!
Click to view Cool School Challenge schools in a larger map
New Carbon Calculator and Toolkit
We are excited to announce the 2.0 release of our classroom carbon calculator and toolkit. New features include tabulated total potential kilowatt savings and $$ savings. We have also added a school tally sheet to help you add up all your class results. We are sure you will also like the addition of some fantastic summary graphs that can be added to culminating reports, etc. Be sure to check them out!
Elementary Toolkit...Release scheduled for EARLY 2010
With an overwhelming number of requests from elementary level teachers wanting to implement the Cool School Challenge at their school, we have been working fast and furious to release an official elementary toolkit! Hopefully, this will make it easier to get things going in the lower grade levels. Thanks to all of you elementary teachers that took our existing toolkit and made it work. We’re incorporating many of your suggestions into this new release. Stay tuned! If you're interested in reviewing the materials, let us know.
Would you like some help launching, documenting, or celebrating your Cool School Challenge endeavors? If you're in the puget sound region, our team would love to schedule a visit to present at an assembly or just walk the halls of your school and see your students transforming their school. If you’re interested in having us swing by, let us know!
To introduce the program to teachers and into schools, the Cool School Challenge team will again offer a series of free training workshops. Our 6-hour workshops cover everything you need to implement the Cool School Challenge and with the extra time we bring in experts to provide information on special content areas, such as renewable energy; the connections between humans, estuaries and climate change; and the state of the North Cascade Glaciers. Previous participants will be more than welcome to attend. We also really enjoy having students attend, so feel free to bring a student or two!
- January 30, 2010 | Everett, Washington
- Download the workshop flyer!
- Click here to RSVP now!
- February 27, 2010 | Seattle, Washington
- Download the workshop flyer!
- Click here to RSVP now!
Stay tuned for additional training opportunities!
Looking for 11th/12th graders - UW Environmental Innovation Challenge
Team Cool School Challenge has been invited to bring a total of 5 highly qualified high school students to help host a Cool School Challenge information table at the University of Washington Environmental Innovation Challenge on April 1st, 2010. If you have a students who would benefit from this opportunity, please have them write and submit a personal statement by Feb 1st, 2010. For more information, download the information flyer.
Would you like access to all our videos, cool tips, latest links we like, and up to date grant information? If so, be sure to connect with our facebook, twitter, and youtube accounts.
Related News and Events (Grants, Competitions and Resources)
Here’s just a small sampling of great opportunities available to integrate climate change, sustainability, and environmental awareness into the classroom. If you know of others, be sure to let us know.
- DOE-ACTS: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) are partnering to offer a three year professional development program designed for middle and high school science teachers. The program, Academies Creating Teacher Scientists, will focus on two important elements of science literacy: the nature of science and sustainability. Participating teachers receive a stipend for their participation, a mini-grant for materials in their classroom and professional development, a housing allowance, and travel expenses. See flyer for more details.
- NEA Green Grants: The NEA (National Education Association) Foundation is sponsoring Green Grants for K-8 and K-12 teachers. Public school educators are eligible to apply for individual grants worth up to $5,000 for the development and implementation of ideas, techniques, and approaches for teaching “green” concepts to students. The Green Grants program targets environmental education as an area of great promise in helping students develop a sense of environmental stewardship.
- EPA P3 Award Program: Another great grant opportunity is upon us through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It's called P3- People, Prosperity and the Planet and may be a perfect way to get a project that you have always wanted, started!
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EPA Our Planet, Our Stuff, Our Choice Video Competition: The theme for this video competition is "Individual Action in your Community." The videos that reflect the theme are based on one or more of the topics that are critical to managing our "stuff:" For more information, visit the video competition website.
- Imagine Tomorrow (21-23 May 2010): Imagine Tomorrow challenges high school students to seek new ways to support the transition to alternate energy sources. Students research complex topics, then innovate technologies, designs, or plans to mobilize behavior. They forge connections in their communities and create positive change. In this competition, as in life, solutions are limited only by imagination. For more information, visit the Imagine Tomorrow website.
- FREE Facing the Future climate change curriculum: Check out Facing the Future's climate change curriculum for a great resource to integrate the topic of climate change into your classroom.
- FREE Alliance for Climate Education (ACE) Assembly Presentations: If you're a Chicago, Bay Area, Houston, Los Angeles, New England, or Sacramento school, be sure to check out and sign up for an ACE assembly presentation.
- Seattle Shared Savings Plan: Starting in September 2005, the Seattle School District has been compiling and analyzing detailed utility data for each facility, in order to share that data with schools. They felt it was important to reward schools directly for all of their hard work in helping them reach their conservation goals. They developed the Shared Savings Program to give a portion of the savings back to the school so they could continue to support resource conservation projects. In addition to fostering environmental stewardship, resource conservation is an important part of being fiscally responsible. This is a great template for other school districts to adopt!
- Snohomish County PUD Energy Education Mini-Grants: All Snohomish County and Camano Island elementary and secondary educators (public, private, homeschool) whose school purchases ELECTRICITY from Snohomish County PUD are invited to apply for an Energy Education Mini-Grant.
About the Cool School Challenge The Cool School Challenge is a web-based climate education program designed to engage students and teachers in practical strategies to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions schoolwide. The program was developed by the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency in partnership with Puget Sound Energy and the Northwest Clean Air Agency.
