Hello all. I'm pleased to announce that the Sierra Club has joined forces with the Cool Schools Challenge, a joint project of the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency and Puget Sound Electricity. We're now better equipped than ever to help schools in the region reduce their carbon footprint. For more info on the program, visit http://www.coolschoolchallenge.org/ If you're interested in joining or would like help convincing a teacher or school to join up, please contact me, JP, at jp.kemmick@sierraclub.org The challenge is open to all ages, K-12.

Cheers,
JP

Hi everyone, we would appreciate you sending this along to any interested candidates.
Thanks a bunch, & cheers to youth gardening!
Best, Kenya Fredie

Promote Healthy Eating and Active Living to Youth and Families in Seattle:
Five Americorps Positions with Apple Corps

Americorps Job Announcement for the Apple Corps - Seattle P-Patch Program

1 - P-Patch Program Development and Outreach Americorps
Term of Service: October 1, 2008 to August 2009

Two years ago we started composting, and it has set off a mini green revolution at West Woodland! Our school wide focus this year is called "Project Green Feet" and some of the things that have happened this year include:

-an ongoing battery recycling collection bin, which is always available in the office

-a short-term "Re-use-a-Shoe" project, in which we gathered old sneakers for a month and dropped them off at Nike, who grinds up the rubber parts and uses them to build sports courts. Lots of the material is currently being used to rebuild courts in New Orleans.

It's been great to see all of the activity on the blog front the past few weeks, and I hope that can continue to be a source of inspiration for people who visit this website. I just wanted to take a minute to remind everyone we also have a forum section which can be put to great use.

Seattle is so blessed to be receiving a visit this week from His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Students, teachers, and many other people are thronging to a multitude of events to be in the presence of this great man. Schools around the region have set up classroom televisions so that the their students can hear the Dalai Lama’s words, even if they cannot be in his presence. Our hearts are opening to the message that we must learn to love and care for one another and be compassionate to all living beings.

Laurelhurst entered into the green community with our lunchroom composting program over a year and a half ago, and it has been a smash success. We've reduced our school's trash by approximately 60%. This is due primarily to the fact that we had been serving all our school lunches on paper trays that had been placed in the trash, but now they can be composted. This year, we have begun a "locally grown food"/nutrition curriculum which is being trailblazed by a fifth grade classroom and their kindergarten buddies.

The Green Team at Concord has been very busy this year continuing our lunchroom composting and encourageing schoolwide recycling, and learning about our impact on our school community and the environment at large. Working with Camp IslandWood and The Eat Better, Feel Better program the 5th graders are 'Planting Our feet in Stewardship'. This is a year long study of our environment and what we can do to take care of ourselves and our community by learning about plants, working and planting at our niegborhood farm, Mara Farm and eventually making and planting planter boxes to take home.

Olympic Hills does not have a formally organized group or team that works on environmental awareness or projects throughout the school. However, there are a lot of interested and engaged teachers and students. One of the great projects that has started this year is a battery recycling program. A group of 4th and 5th grade students wondered what happened to batteries when they got thrown away and why they could not be recycled. They learned that while mercury levels have decreased, there are still dangerous chemicals that can leach out into landfills and contaminate water.

Hi Everyone,
Peter, we all owe you and NWEEC a big thanks for putting this website together.

And now, for the news:

Shared Savings Award Ceremony

Stevens has starting taking a more active role in becoming environmentally responsible. I have been to the organizational meetings of the Seattle Green Schools, including the sensational day last September when Wangari Maathai came to town. The results of talking to other teachers, parents, business reps, government leaders, and others at these meetings has helped me bring ideas to work with back to school.