Governor Martin O’Malley Announces Nearly $23 Million in Funding for State Park Improvements which will support Outdoor Classrooms to Support MD Envir

This morning, January 13, 2012, Governor O’Malley announced nearly $23 Million in funding for State Park Improvements to direct green projects, capital improvements and the creation of an anticipated 300 new jobs. The proposal to the FY2013 capital budget will support energy efficient upgrades, storm water management improvements, better natural play areas for children and sustainable trails for students and families. The States parks will also serve as outdoor classrooms to support Maryland’s environmental literacy requirements .

Under the leadership of Governor O’Malley, the Maryland Park Service has set a commitment to “green” its 66 state parks as models of sustainability and conservation best practices. To date, strategic actions have focused on energy improvements, new state-of-the-art green building design and construction, sustainable trails and recycling, as well as environmental restoration to reforest and improvements to storm water management improvements to help the Bay. MAEOE is excited about this announcement to enhance green infrastructure, recreation and outdoor learning spaces, which will make parks more accessible for families and students.

Full details from the event are at: http://www.governor.maryland.gov/blog/?p=3465

Proposed FY ’13 Park Improvement Projects(in millions)
Green Park Projects (Enhancements)
Project Title Cost
Assateague State Park – Green Bathhouse Renovations $2.10
North Point State Park – Pier Replacement and Shore Erosion
Control $1.91
Sandy Point State Park – Green Infrastructure Improvements $1.70
State Parks – New Natural Playgrounds $1.40
Point Lookout State Park – Parking Lot Improvements $0.95
State Parks – Green Cabin Renovations $0.90
Total (in millions) $8.96

Additional Park Improvement Projects (Enhancements)
Project Title Cost
Sandy Point State Park – Boat Ramp Area Improvements $2.50
Rocky Gap State Park – Office Renovations $0.77
State Parks – Removal of Impermeable Surface $0.54
Point Lookout State Park – Lighthouse Complex Renovations $0.40
Wellington Wildlife Management Area – Office Renovations $0.34
Elk Neck State Park Improvements $0.24
Garrett County State Parks – Trail Construction $0.15
Western Maryland Recreational Access and Trail Restoration $0.15
Total (in millions) $5.09

Planned Park Improvement Projects

Project Title Cost
Critical Maintenance Projects $4.08
Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State Park $2.68
Western Maryland Rail Trail Project $1.90
Total (in millions) $8.66

Webinar Jan 18th: Going Green Through the Curriculum

This past October, the National Environmental Education Foundation (www.neefusa.org) in partnership with the National Education Association Foundation (www.neafoundation.org) and Green Schools National Conference (www.greenschoolsnationalconference.org) launched the first of a series of three webinars to help educators around the country learn from experts and peers how to green their schools and curriculum. Webinar participants will interact live with national experts and teachers who are transforming their schools for the 21st Century.

Registration is free! All educators are invited.

Going Green through the Curriculum– Wednesday, January 18 at 7:00 p.m. EST.

David Sobel, Gerald Lieberman, and Jennifer Seydel have teamed up to provide you with some ideas and practical strategies to use the local community and environmental issues to teach science and socials studies content AND improve reading, writing, and math skills!

Learn more and register at www.classroomearth.org/gswebinars.

If you are working at a green school or interested in school greening, take a moment to learn about another opportunity from NEEF – the Sustainable Energy Award. The $10,000 Sustainable Energy Award will be presented to each of the top three high schools that can demonstrate how they have engaged students and teachers in school-wide energy savings through the creative and innovative use of technology. Applications are due February 10, 2012.

Please contact Bobby Cato with any questions at bcato@neefusa.org.

Maryland Releases Online Application for National Green Ribbon Schools Award Program

Inspiring schools to achieve 21st Century excellence, the Green Ribbon Schools award will recognize schools that have achieved, or are making demonstrable progress toward:

1) having a net-zero environmental impact;

2) improving the health and performance of students and staff;

3) ensuring the environmental and sustainability literacy of all the students

These three "Pillars" of the Green Ribbon Schools Award will serve as guideposts to make schools more productive, enriching, and efficient.

Maryland Green Ribbon Schools Application

In collaboration with the U.S. Department of Education (USDE), the Maryland application is available through the link below.

http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/765124/Green-Ribbon-Schools-Maryland-Application-2012

In order to complete this application, each school will need to collect extensive data about the school's facility, health and safety policies, food service, and environmental and sustainability curriculum. Links to resources are provided throughout the application, each opening in a new browser window. The application will be completed and submitted electronically, but a PDF (see attached), for planning purposes may be distributed to any staff member assisting in compiling the information requested in the application. (Note that the resource links in the PDF are not active.) As information is added to the survey, it may be saved and continued at a later time.

Timeline

The completed application is due on, or before, February 27, 2012. MSDE will review the applications and nominate up to four schools to the USDE, one of which must be a non-public school. After reviewing the state nominees, the USDE will notify winners in April, 2012, and announce the details of the awards ceremonies to be held in Washington, DC.

Additional Information

http://www2.ed.gov/programs/green-ribbon-schools/index.html

http://www2.ed.gov/programs/green-ribbon-schools/resources.html

Early Bird Registration Extended!!

To January 9, 2012

Register today!

Make your hotel reservations for February 9-12, 2012
Clarion Fountainebleau Resort

Mention MAEOE Conference to get discounted rates (through January 9th)

Standard Registration = Conference Registration: Conference Opening 10 February 2012 Friday evening with Keynote Speakers Charles Saylan and Dan Blumstein authors of The Failure of Environmental Education (and how we can fix it) believe that change is possible and within our collective reach. But all of us will need to look at the problems differently and embrace our collective and individual responsibilities as stewards of the earth; there is no better place to begin this process than within the framework of education.

Exhibitors register Standard Registration too.

Saturday sessions grid is online now.

Non-Standard Registration = Thursday, February 9 PDI

Friday, February 10 Workshops and Center Symposium

Field Experiences

Guests (Friday and Saturday lunches)

Register for the Thursday Professional Development Institute – Hosted by University of Maryland Extension – Led by University Faculty – University of Maryland Eastern Shore and the Friday workshops through the non-standard registration platform.

Do you have items for the Silent Auction? Email conference@maeoe.org

Questions: email conference@maeoe.org or call the hotline (443) 824-1953 (see MAEOE website for hours)

www.maeoe.org to register for the MAEOE conference!

Seasonal Shipboard Jobs

Position Announcement

Resumes are now being accepted for positions in:
SHIPBOARD EDUCATION/CREW

The Living Classrooms Foundation is a non-profit educational organization in Baltimore, MD that provides hands-on, interdisciplinary learning programs in challenging environments for students of all ages and backgrounds.

We are currently seeking enthusiastic individuals for the positions of:
MATES, ON-BOARD EDUCATIONAL COORDINATORS, SCIENCE EDUCATOR & COOK.
These individuals must be interested in joining a team of dedicated professionals to work with youth aboard one of our historic Chesapeake Bay workboats – the pungy schooner LADY MARYLAND, and skipjack SIGSBEE. Programs range in length from one-day trips to ten-day extended land/sea expeditions in the waters of Baltimore, the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries as well as off the New England coast.

Qualified applicants must possess a strong commitment to the education of all students, be motivated self-starters, function successfully as part of a team, and maintain a desire to work outdoors in a challenging but fun environment. Education/biology background is preferred, but we will train the right people. Drivers license and clean driving record required. This is a physically demanding job that necessitates a certain amount of physical fitness. Lady Maryland mate position requires a 100-ton license.

Positions are seasonal: available March through mid-November 2012

Please send resume and cover letter to:
Lisa Jones
Director, Shipboard Education
or
Peter Bolster
Director, Shipboard Operations
Living Classrooms Foundation
802 S. Caroline St.
Baltimore, Md. 21231
410-783-1884 – fax
lisaj@livingclassrooms.org
pete@livingclassrooms.org
www.livingclassrooms.org

Sorry Kermit, it is easy being Green - Blog from USDE on MAEOE Green Schools Tour

Wonderful article from Andrea Falken, Director of USDE Green Ribbon Schools on the MAEOE Green Schools Tour on December 12, 2011.

Article posted December 20, 2011 to

http://www.ed.gov/blog/2011/12/sorry-kermit-it-can-be-easy-being-green/

Sorry, Kermit — It Can Be Easy Being Green

As Director of the new Green Ribbon Schools program, I have visited a lot of Green Schools. I have been thrilled by geothermal heating and cooling systems; intrigued by water retention ponds and cisterns; and delighted by practical yet attractive recycled building materials. But I’ve also been impressed by schools that have “gone green” through sheer ingenuity. My visits to schools that look like any other reinforce our understanding that any school, no matter its resources or location, can take relatively simple steps toward the goals of the Green Ribbon Schools recognition award.

Every school can become a green school by making progress in the areas of: 1) environmental impact and energy efficiency; 2) health and wellness; and 3) environmental literacy. So what does a green school look like? Don’t be fooled by ordinary appearances. What sets apart a green school requires a look inside, where enterprising school administrators, teachers and community members lead enthusiastic students toward change.

In a green school, the community might help with the construction of a simple outdoor amphitheater that serves as an open air classroom. A green school can start a recycling program that encourages communities without district waste management programs to bring their recyclables to school for collection. Or recognize quarterly the class with the highest number of students commuting by a means other than their parents’ cars. Administrators can engage community volunteers to help students plan and maintain school gardens. They can adopt a no cupcake policy and offer students healthy birthday reward alternatives, such as additional recess. They might ask students to “trash the trash” with reusable lunchware. A good-humored principal might don his Mr. Banana costume – and check his self-esteem at the door – all in the name of teaching young scholars good nutrition.

At the high school level, a motivated environmental science teacher could have a huge impact, using an aquaponic garden to teach the nitrogen cycle in biology, horticulture and other environmental science classes. Students might develop not only science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills through their projects, but also develop civic skills. Students could use the profits from the plants they grow and sell to improve the schools’ environmental impact and cost savings. The teacher might organize an annual clean-up in nearby woodlands, highways or trails and garner local organizations’ sponsorship and collaboration. The green high school’s environmental club can help the school transition to compact fluorescent bulbs and task lighting, reducing the energy consumption of classrooms, and to implement a recycling program.
These are all real-life examples from visits not far from the U.S. Department of Education’s Washington, D.C. headquarters, but efforts such as these are being implemented all across the country. Every school that takes these simple steps can save energy, reduce costs, increase health and wellness, and offer effective environmental education. These schools are proving that it’s easier than you think being green.

Read more about the Green Ribbon Program at http://www2.ed.gov/programs/green-ribbon-schools/index.html

MAEOE Green School Tour

On Monday, December 12, 2011 MAEOE was pleased to host Andrea Falken from USDE Green Ribbon Schools and Kim Martinez from National Wildlife Federation on a MAEOE Green Schools Tour! The tour consisted of Bond Mill ES, Friends Community School and Northwood High School. The tour was a great snapshot of the MAEOE Green School Certification and the wonderful actions in place. Read some of the snapshot projects going on at each of the three schools toured:

Bond Mill Elementary School
· School hosts a Beautification Day each Spring where each child brings a plant or tree to be planted on the school grounds. The PTO provides mulch, extra plants and assistance on the planting day.
· Green Shoe Program – each day, teachers take attendance and track how many students got to school NOT by means of a car or bus and the classroom with the highest non-motorized attendance wins the ‘golden shoe’ to keep in the class for the quarter. There are 2 shoes, one for K, 1, 2 and a second for 3, 4, 5 grades
· Alliance for a healthier generation – the school nurse took the BMIs for all students and found that 39% of students were nationally ranked as obese – as a result, the school has banned cupcakes and offers alternative options for birthday celebrations such as extra recess for children whose Birthday falls in that month.
· Partnership with a local diner – every family receives a card and when they order off the healthy menu at the diner, 20% of profits go to the school - $900 so far this year!
· Partnership with Kohl’s Department Store – each month, a team of Kohl’s employees volunteer at the school to help with an environmentally based project and $500 is donated to the school.

Friends Community School
· LEED Silver Building with straw bale insulation and a green roof on 17 acres
o Solar tubes which mirror natural light from the roof
o Green Roof
o Carpet tiles made with all green materials and no need to replace the whole carpet, just worn tiles
o 96% efficient boilers and radiant heaters
o All lights are on motion sensors
· The school celebrates Earth Week, not just one day and place the week’s worth of trash on the front steps. This direct, in your face approach resulted in an immediate increase in recycling.
· Runoff control in a bio-retention pond
· Each classroom has a garden as well as a butterfly garden and salad garden
· Integrated Pest Management Plan to control a tick problem on the school’s campus
o Deer feeders treated with all natural tick repellant
o Garlic sprinkling along wetland borders on the school’s campus

Northwood High School
· Rain Gardens and Pervious Pavers around the School Stadium and at the front entrance
· Native Tree Plantings and Spring plantings of fruits and vegetables on the school grounds
· Aquaponic plants in the school greenhouse which grow herbs and raise goldfish
· Forest cleanup and trail building on 15 acres of the school
o Run by students and community volunteers
o Potomac Appalachian Club designed the trail
o Removed more than 10,000lbs of trash