On November 11th the Learn Green Schools Conference and Expo and Lessons Learned Workshop took place at the Dreyfoos School of The Arts, and this year the event included people from all over the state of Florida. Well over 900 people attended the event! In attendance were 90 presenters, 88 exhibitors in addition to administrators, teachers, vendors, architects, engineers and others within the construction industry. The Presenting Sponsor for the event was the Solid Waste Authority, and food was provided by the Whole Foods Market of Wellington. Susan Toth, the Director of Education for the Pine Jog Environmental Education Center and Joseph Sanches, the Chief of the Division of Support Operations for the School District of Palm Beach County also spoke at the opening ceremonies and did a wonderful job of coordinating the entire event along with a host of volunteers.
One of the highlights of the day was the keynote speech presented by Rachel Gutter, the Director of the Center for Green Schools at the USGBC (US Green Building Council), who delivered a motivational and inspirational speech with the goal of putting every student into a green school within our generation. Rachel would like to see a “Blueprint to a billion”, and she feels we need a "nuclear" reaction in order to green every school in this generation. Rachel feels there is something in the green schools movement that will appeal to everyone, and she feels green schools are directly related to the, “Triple Bottom Line”; People, Planet and Prosperity. Green schools save people, save the planet and help make us prosper in a variety of different ways.
Rachel announced some exciting developments regarding green schools initiatives in 2012:
· The U.S. Department of Education will initiate the Green Ribbon Schools Program, a contest that will recognize schools that save energy, reduce costs, and feature environmentally sustainable learning spaces, as well as protect health, foster wellness, and impact effective environmental education. The Green Ribbon award will acknowledge high levels of achievement in three areas: 1) environmental impact and energy efficiency; 2) healthy environment; and 3) environmental literacy. Florida has officially signed on as a state education system to be a part of this program. **For a direct link to find more information please see the "Links" tab.
There will be a Green Classroom Professional Certification Program, made available by the USGBC in conjunction with the GBCI (Green Building Construction Institute) in 2012. In accordance with each mission statements, the program encourages sustainable practices in classrooms.
Green classroom professionals advocate for healthier environments in which to work and teach. With the Green Classroom Professional Certificate, the classroom will turn into a living laboratory, creating foundational awareness of greener lifestyles, energy savings, and environmental health in students.
The program is designed to provide pre-K-12 teachers, paraprofessionals, and administrators with the knowledge and skills to:
· Identify features that support or impede environmentally healthy and sustainable learning spaces
· Recognize, adopt, and implement practices that promote health among students and school occupants
In Rachel’s speech she mentioned some fascinating statistics;
· There are over 133,000 K-12 Schools in the United States, and over 4,300 colleges and universities.
· Over 15,000 of those educational facilities have unbreathable air
· Asthma is the leading cause absenteeism in the United Sates schools, and green schools have been proven to reduce the incidence of asthma
· Millions of dollars are saved when schools are built to green /LEED standards due to energy cost savings through energy management
Presentations made throughout the day featured informative sessions regarding all areas of school sustainability including; Community Partnerships, Curriculum Integration, Design and Construction, Innovative Programs and Practices, School Grounds Enhancement, and School Sustainability. The day was topped off by a fun filled evening tour of Citiplace.
