What kids are doing about global warming
August 10th, 2007 by janeI was reading a terrific book yesterday called Ecological Literacy: Educating Our Children for a Sustainable World. There was a chapter on a wonderful school, Mary E. Silveira School, in California.
This school teaches elementary school students to care for the earth and it does so in a hands on, empowering fashion.
One inspiring example is a group of students called the energy team conduct energy audits and write notes to teachers, reminding them to turn off their lights and/or computers when a class goes out for recess or lunch.
But it doesn’t stop there. The schools energy team joined the Affordable Communities Energy Education program and spent 2003-2004 working with local senior citizens in a housing facility. School Principal Jeanne Casella said of the program ‘The kids put up energy-reminder signs and doorknob bookmarks in English and Spanish, and helped the residents to replace traditional lightbulbs with energy-efficient compact fluorescent lightbulbs and to take other simple actions. They saved the seniors about 5 percent on their energy bills’.
Not only did the seniors benefit from the experience, but so did the children. Fifth grade student and member of the energy team, Sara Lee, said ‘We go around to the apartments checking that the lights are off and on, so that we can save them money on their energy bill. The money they save goes to the fun stuff they do’. The kids were able to learn all about energy efficiency and feel great by helping the community as well.
Posted in global warming, kids, schools. Permalink for this post: permalink.
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