4^TH Annual Redwood High Sustainability Festival, May 24-28 2010

Brought to you by the RHS Environmental Action Club, Next Generation,

and Safe Routes to Schools

Participate in these exciting events during the week:
• Stay on campus for all of lunch ALL WEEK.
• Bike to school ALL WEEK. Enter the rider contest to win GREAT PRIZES! FRIDAY ride your bike to lunch for a FREE BURRITO!
• Wear green on TUESDAY.
• Teachers can sign up for presenters/ workshops on TUESDAY.
• WEDNESDAY is stay on campus for lunch day.
• Attend the school-wide assembly on THURSDAY.
• Visit the Sustainability Fair on THURSDAY. Win PRIZES!
• Participate in Habitat Restoration on SATURDAY May 22nd, sponsored by the G. G. National Parks Conservancy. More info at http://www.parksconservancy.org/help/volunteer/habitat-restoration-monitoring/marin-stewardship.html and Events.

Presenters/ Workshops:
All presenters/ workshops will come to your classroom during the noted time slots, unless otherwise noted. Presentations will last 30-50 minutes. Teachers are encouraged to use the class time not led by the presenter for continued discussion and/or activities related to the topic.

 

To request a presenter/ workshop, contact Joe Stewart, stewart@redwood.org, in advance. Please note your classroom number (where the presenter will go) and the period(s) you are requesting.

Redwood High Sustainability Festival 2010 Workshops
Tuesday, May 25, 2010

1st Period:

Alliance for Climate Education - John Bernhardt - Students who attend this training will learn how every person impacts the climate through their actions and how each person has the power to reduce their impact by making informed decisions. These students will then learn the skills to create a school-wide campaign with the goal of getting every single Redwood student take one action to reduce their environmental footprint. For more information, check out www.acespace.org/dot.

Environmental Travelling Companions - Cheyenne Berry - Watershed Wellness: Where does our water come from?  How is it used?  How can we best manage it to maintain healthy ecosystems and communities?  Let’s explore our watersheds and identify choices we can make to put the care of our most precious resource into our own hands.

Marin Trolleys - Allan Nichol / Michael Rex - Marin County is faced with more people, cars, traffic, pollution, and a heavy carbon footprint. It doesn’t have to be this way. We need to return to the way we got around in the past with electric trains and trolleys. Clean, eco-friendly, electric streetcars connect towns from Novato to Sausalito with frequent service and connections. It is about a mobility that is independent from the automobile.

2nd Period:

Alliance for Climate Education - John Bernhardt - Students who attend this training will learn how every person impacts the climate through their actions and how each person has the power to reduce their impact by making informed decisions. These students will then learn the skills to create a school-wide campaign with the goal of getting every single Redwood student take one action to reduce their environmental footprint. For more information, check out www.acespace.org/dot.

Environmental Travelling Companions - Cheyenne Berry - Watershed Wellness: Where does our water come from?  How is it used?  How can we best manage it to maintain healthy ecosystems and communities?  Let’s explore our watersheds and identify choices we can make to put the care of our most precious resource into our own hands.

Marin Trolleys - Allan Nichol / Michael Rex - Marin County is faced with more people, cars, traffic, pollution, and a heavy carbon footprint. It doesn’t have to be this way. We need to return to the way we got around in the past with electric trains and trolleys. Clean, eco-friendly, electric streetcars connect towns from Novato to Sausalito with frequent service and connections. It is about a mobility that is independent from the automobile.

Marin Energy Authority - Cleaner power - Same reliable service - And lower rates. That's what Marin Clean Energy offers residents of Mill Valley, Belvedere, Tiburon, San Rafael, San Anselmo, Fairfax, Sausalito and other areas in Marin County. It's really that simple. Marin Clean Energy is providing 25 percent clean, renewable energy from sources like solar, wind, geothermal, hydro and biomass. That's almost double the renewable energy that PG&E, whose power comes mostly from burning natural gas, can deliver. What's important about cleaner power? It reduces greenhouse gas emissions and helps fight global warming. It also reduces our dependence on foreign energy sources and dirty fossil fuels. For residents who really want to help make a dent in fighting global warming gasses, Marin Clean Energy also offers an option for 100 percent renewable energy, called Deep Green. Want to know how you can reduce your carbon footprint? Please let us know and we'll fill you in.

3rd Period:

Next Generation - Lily Oglesby - Nature awareness walk around campus.  We’ll track plant life (trees and plants and wild edibles, etc), animal life and bird life for a 45 minute sensory awakening lesson.

Strategic Energy Innovations - Annie Sexton - There are many simple but very effective measures that everyone can partake in in their homes and schools to help reduce energy use and save money. Two specific measures include 1) checking for light levels and turning off or removing any unnecessary lights and 2) eliminating hidden energy usage from electrical devices. Through hands-on, interactive activities, students will use energy audit tools to conduct as assessment and calculate energy and cost savings from employing these two measures within their homes and schools.

Green Sangha - Stuart Moody - Advertising and the Environment: Many of the things we buy are not really necessary.  And many of them hurt the environment.  How do companies get us to do this?  This workshop will show you five principles of advertising, and teach students how to see through ads.

Teens Turning Green - Lisa Wertheim -This workshop will help shed light around the toxic chemical concerns inherent in personal care and cosmetic products and the daily toxic exposures we come into contact in our homes, schools and communities. Learn about greener alternatives and actions that teens are taking across the country, plus how YOU have the power to influence change.

4th period

Next Generation - Lily Oglesby - Nature awareness walk around campus.  We’ll track plant life (trees and plants and wild edibles, etc), animal life and bird life for a 45 minute sensory awakening lesson.

Strategic Energy Innovations - Annie Sexton - There are many simple but very effective measures that everyone can partake in in their homes and schools to help reduce energy use and save money. Two specific measures include 1) checking for light levels and turning off or removing any unnecessary lights and 2) eliminating hidden energy usage from electrical devices. Through hands-on, interactive activities, students will use energy audit tools to conduct as assessment and calculate energy and cost savings from employing these two measures within their homes and schools.

Green Sangha- Stuart Moody - Rethinking Plastics, Rethinking Our Lives: Explores the history of plastics, the impact of an industry that produces 56 million tons of non-biodegradable synthetics in the US every year, and the kinds of solutions that we can apply individually and institutionally.

Teens Turning Green - Lisa Wertheim -This workshop will help shed light around the toxic chemical concerns inherent in personal care and cosmetic products and the daily toxic exposures we come into contact in our homes, schools and communities. Learn about greener alternatives and actions that teens are taking across the country, plus how YOU have the power to influence change.

5th Period

Marin Sanitary - Devi Peri - Where is “AWAY” anyway? The USA has 5% of the world’s population, yet consumes over a third of its resources, and makes 35% of its waste! Come take an interactive “virtual” tour of Marin Recycling and learn how YOU can be part of the solution by helping Marin County reach its goal of Zero Waste by 2025, when we no longer will have a landfill in Marin County to dump our garbage!

Bicycle Works - Jelani Bertoni - Please encourage students to ride their bike and bring it to the workshop!  How often do you ride your bike to school? If you do everyday than your already ahead of the curve. If you rode your bike to school today, bring it to this workshop for a hands-on lesson in bike tune ups. For those of you who don't ride much or at all yet, this is a great opportunity to find out more about how easy it is to get around by bike, how easy it is to fix your own bike, and how riding your bike can help save the planet!

Marin Agricultural Institute - Leah Smith & Matt Toy - Why are local farmers so important to the environment and to our health?  Have you ever thought about what it takes to grow food sustainably and bring it to the community at a farmers market?  Agricultural Institute of Marin, which runs the Marin Farmers Markets, will put on a workshop all about local food systems – the who, what, when, where and why of the farmers market world.  Students will be engaged to actively participate in designing their vision of a sustainable local food system.

6th Period

Marin Sanitary - Devi Peri - Where is “AWAY” anyway? The USA has 5% of the world’s population, yet consumes over a third of its resources, and makes 35% of its waste! Come take an interactive “virtual” tour of Marin Recycling and learn how YOU can be part of the solution by helping Marin County reach its goal of Zero Waste by 2025, when we no longer will have a landfill in Marin County to dump our garbage!

Bicycle Works - Jelani Bertoni - Please encourage students to ride their bike and bring it to the workshop!  How often do you ride your bike to school? If you do everyday than your already ahead of the curve. If you rode your bike to school today, bring it to this workshop for a hands-on lesson in bike tune ups. For those of you who don't ride much or at all yet, this is a great opportunity to find out more about how easy it is to get around by bike, how easy it is to fix your own bike, and how riding your bike can help save the planet!

Marin Agricultural Institute - Leah Smith & Matt Toy - Why are local farmers so important to the environment and to our health?  Have you ever thought about what it takes to grow food sustainably and bring it to the community at a farmers market?  Agricultural Institute of Marin, which runs the Marin Farmers Markets, will put on a workshop all about local food systems – the who, what, when, where and why of the farmers market world.  Students will be engaged to actively participate in designing their vision of a sustainable local food system.

Next Generation - Ellen Donald - Youth in Activism:  This workshop will focus on issues that our world is facing today and ways that students can affect positive change. Students will work individually and in pairs or small groups to identify their vision of a better world and what gives them hope to achieve that world.  Student will also identify what challenges they (may) face and find ways to overcome these challenges.

Teen Environmental Media Network - Catriona MacGregor - Environmental Journalism: Discover the exciting field of environmental journalism and communications. Learn about some of the most pressing environmental issues of the day, understand how today’s media covers these issues, and why it’s so important to bring new voices to journalism. In addition, students will get a brief overview of key tactics and communication strategies that journalists use and create a news headline, one of the most important firsts in creating a successful media story.

Safe Routes to Schools / Teens Go Green - Aviva Joseph & Heather Crawford - Please encourage students to ride their bike and bring it to the workshop!  Saving the planet doesn't have to be dangerous!  Learn how to stay safe getting around by bike with an interactive "biking rules of the road" presentation and by practicing maneuvers on bicycles.  Bring your own bike if possible.

7th Period

Next Generation - Ellen Donald - Youth in Activism:  This workshop will focus on issues that our world is facing today and ways that students can affect positive change. Students will work individually and in pairs or small groups to identify their vision of a better world and what gives them hope to achieve that world.  Student will also identify what challenges they (may) face and find ways to overcome these challenges.

Teen Environmental Media Network - Catriona MacGregor - Environmental Journalism: Discover the exciting field of environmental journalism and communications. Learn about some of the most pressing environmental issues of the day, understand how today’s media covers these issues, and why it’s so important to bring new voices to journalism. In addition, students will get a brief overview of key tactics and communication strategies that journalists use and create a news headline, one of the most important firsts in creating a successful media story.

Safe Routes to Schools / Teens Go Green - Aviva Joseph & Heather Crawford - Please encourage students to ride their bike and bring it to the workshop!  Saving the planet doesn't have to be dangerous!  Learn how to stay safe getting around by bike with an interactive "biking rules of the road" presentation and by practicing maneuvers on bicycles.  Bring your own bike if possible.

 

 

Assembly: 9:30-10:30 Alliance for Climate Education. Redwood Gymnasium. All classes.

ACE is a national nonprofit dedicated to educating America's high school students about the science behind climate change and inspiring them to do something about it—while having fun along the way. Extensively trained ACE educators visit high schools around the country to give students the scientific skinny on climate change through our fun & festive multimedia presentation.

Lunch: 12:10 – 12:45pm Join us for the Lunchtime Sustainability Fair! Amphitheater, no sign-ups required.
Enjoy exhibits by local non-profits and green businesses, bicycle-powered music and smoothies, veggie oil car, and more!