Educational Resources
Washington Sustainable School Awards
Programs
Puget Sound Energy offers free environmental education programs to middle school classrooms. The Powerful Choices for the Environment Program helps students understand how our energy, water, waste reduction and transportation choices affect ecosystems through a series of hands-on, inquiry-based activities brought right to your classroom. A Program Overview DVD is available to borrow - call 596-8566 to make your request today. Find out more by visiting the website.
Looking to incorporate more energy education into the classroom and explore energy use at your school? National environmental education program Project Learning Tree now offers Energy & Society workshops and education kits. K-8 Educators can receive training and materials at no cost. Local workshops are currently under development in cooperation with the Washington Forest Protection Association. If you are interested in attending a workshop or would like to borrow materials to view, please email or call Bonnie Meyer at 596-8566.
The Thurston County Environmental Education Guide is a great resource for teachers, providing information about educational offerings on the topics of Air Quality, Water Quality, Hazardous Waste and Waste Reduction. Many local organizations offer school presentations and provide materials for educational activities.
Websites
Classroom Earth is a comprehensive website dedicated to simplifying the search for environmental education ideas, curriculum and resources. It's easy to use, pleasant to look at, and provides convenient links to all of the best environmental education programs rated by teachers and other educators.
Become an offical Energy Hog Buster. Learn how to uncover potential energy hogs in your home and school and find out what to do about it. At www.energyhog.org, inspect the virtual floorplan while you identify areas of high energy use and play the games that will help you reach bonafide Energy Hog Buster status. Teachers and parents are included. Explore ways to incorporate energy education into to the classroom and home with this interactive guide.
Find out how to locally recycle nearly everything at Earth911. This handy guide includes topics on composting, electronics disposal, energy conservation and more! There's also a Kids and Teachers page for other educational resources.
Washington Sustainable School Awards
Each year the Washington State Department of Ecology presents the Sustainable Schools Awards Program. Selected applicants receive a cash award from Ecology for waste reduction, recycling, resource conservation and sustainability activities.
The Terry Husseman Sustainable School Awards program recognizes Washington State Public schools (K-12) for their success in managing materials in a sustainable fashion. Schools can win in three categories: Sustainable School Program, Seed Award and Creative Environmental Curriculum. Ecology distributed $36,000 to 47 winners in 2008. Applications are due in January.
For details, see Ecology's A Guide to Achieving Sustainability in Your School. For information on the awards program, criteria or ideas to foster sustainability in your school, contact the Awards Coordinator at (360) 407-6129.