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March 2005
Thank you for your interest and participation in the Brick
Township Green Schools Program and welcome to this second issue!
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Updates from the Mid-Year Meeting |
| On Feb. 11th, Green Schools Team members from the
participating seven schools met at Lake Riviera Middle School for the
Mid-Year Meeting. The purpose of the day was to report on progress to date,
identify challenges that need to be addressed, and plan for the balance of
the school year. This issue of the newsletter focuses on the exciting
developments to date, from preschool to high school. |
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Brick Primary Learning Center
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| Kindergarten students ages 5-6 years old, made
posters of how their families save energy. The posters are being hung
around the school with signs added like "Waste not, watt not." Pre-schoolers
ages 3-5, are focusing on recycling, which was illustrated by
collages of garbage vs. recycling containers. Aluman the Can, a puppet
video, and a variety of books are utilized to discuss recycling. All
students have learned to |
| interpret the numbers on the bottom of plastic containers.
In April, the town's recycling truck and staff will visit the school.
Students will separate the different recyclables and watch the truck dump
them into its compartments. Teaching staff have enlisted the help of various
students to be a part of the Big |
 |
Blue Recycling Crew. Kindergarten students
rotate taking turns to empty the recycling bins located in classrooms and
other places throughout the school.
In accordance with State requirements, a number of
refrigerators and microwaves in the school have been removed. Green
School Team members have initiated turning off lights in vending
machines. Lights in the teacher's room, hallways, gym, and nightlights in
classrooms are turned off when not in use. Thermostats for the heat and air
conditioner have been adjusted to conserve energy. Outside lights are on
timers and the number of signs illuminated is being explored as another
avenue for reduction of electrical use. |
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Herbertsville Elementary School
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| The Green Schools Team has removed a number of fans,
microwaves and coffee/tea pots, in accordance with State requirements, and
turn off lights in the faculty room. Custodial staff adjust heat by
computer. A notice to turn off the laminator when it’s not in use has been
posted. The school recycles paper, plastic, cardboard and copy paper. |
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The GSP has been presented to the school via an assembly
and the participating 4th grade class distributes Energy Stars
reminders to turn off lights, open and close outside doors quickly, and shut
computers and monitors off at the end of the day. The Green Schools
lessons have been helpful. Students made draft meters and
reported drafts to maintenance who installed weather stripping. Students
like the experiment in which they wrapped thermometers in different color
construction paper to learn about colors and heat absorption and have made
posters about energy use at home.
The Team has also tied the GSP directly into their
character education program: |
- Caring – caring kids save energy and turn out the lights when
no one is in the room...
- Respect – respectful kids keep our school clean and they don’t
waste…
- Responsible – responsible kids only use energy when they need
it…
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| Having studied about the benefits of deciduous trees and shading, they
will plant this year’s Arbor Day new tree in front of the principal’s
sunny window instead of in the rear of the school. Students have made a
slide show and will revisit classrooms to show it. Since the air
conditioners’ are drafty, the Team may use money saved by the program to
provide covers. |
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Veterans Memorial Elementary School
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| The Green Schools Team’s action plan includes a
student-voted-on mascot, which adorns the front bulletin
board; voluntary participation in the program, which has involved
about half the teachers through science and technology; the completion of a
pre-assessment (with comparative data); and the creation of energy
patrols at 1st—3rd grade levels. The program was kicked off in Nov. with
an assembly, and teachers are using the GS lessons. The
heating system is a problem that requires capital expenditures to solve. The
Team is looking into grant opportunities for alternative energy/solar
roofing, repair of heating |
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system, preparation of air conditioners and science and
technology research. In addition to the GS lessons, they used The Magic
School Bus: Get Energized and an energy song. Second graders have
created colorful light switch plate reminders, while third graders
created conservation posters (energy squirrel vs. energy pig). The
art teacher is having |
students make costumes and scenery for an April
production of the Energy Talks Play, the music teacher is doing an
Earth Day musical production, and the Team’s tying the program into
character education.
What has worked best: making the program optional for
teachers to integrate into what they’re already doing, having a
building-wide theme, and linking it with character education, the wider
community and environmental responsibility. |
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Lake Riviera Middle School
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| Green Schools Team members have used several of the GS
lessons with their own classes on all three grade levels, which is where
the fall’s activities have been focused. The Team plans to roll out the
program to the wider school and community in the second half of the year.
The Team has gotten recycling containers back, including by the
copier, which has been moved to a cooler room. Heat distribution among rooms
is also a problem. They’ve done a school Energy Map. The students who
created the 3 best posters re. incandescent—CFL comparisons won CFLs.
Students have calculated the cost of energy upgrades for the school. They’ve
tied lessons into greenhouse gases. The home appliance survey
showed that students have 1,200 appliances at home, while their parents had
only 700 when they were youths. Students have created board games re.
waste management, including specific information re. Brick. Each class will
have a campaign and appointed monitors to turn out lights and
computers, close windows, and promote paper recycling. They’ve had a
mascot and a slogan contest, and students are apparently “taking it
home,” based on positive parental feedback. For science and persuasive
writing, students have developed and aired conservation commercials, “Be
cool, save energy in school.” Information from the GS lessons has been
used to help an 8th grade special ed. class review for state tests. Since
this class helps clean up the Lake area, they will compare inside
conservation efforts with their impact on the out-of-doors. They have also
researched solar energy incentives and observed houses in the
neighborhood with PV systems. |
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Veterans Memorial Middle School
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| The whole school is responding nicely to the
program. Green Schools teachers are talking one-on-one with fellow teachers
in their houses. The Green Schools Team collaborates 2 times/month. The
school has the same problem with not being able to regulate heat very well.
They’ve moved the copier from its original space in the faculty room because
it was too small, became too hot, and the copier kept breaking down. After
seeing one of the teachers (Senala Radoncic) on the Mayor’s cable TV show
being interviewed about the Green Schools Program, students from other
grades approached her to discuss the program. |
| The team has selected a winning Energy Mascot drawing
and is in the process of naming it. 6th graders are working on light
switch plate reminders to turn off the lights. The light meter, the
“best” instrument in the tool kit, made students realize one can measure
light. Energy Tips of the Week are broadcast as a |
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slide show on the school’s TV show. Team
teachers are modeling turning off the lights in their pods. Students
performed and videotaped the Energy Play, which may get broadcast on
the Brick cable station. They’re getting ready to launch “K.O.P.s” – Kids
on Patrol, and are looking forward to extending activities into the
wider community. Students are taking energy conservation lessons home.
An idea for improving what’s been done thus far:
perhaps a school-wide competition for the Energy Mascot, getting each
homeroom to select 1 finalist for the final competition, would have involved
more people. |
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Brick Township High School
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The Green Schools Team is working with a small but
enthusiastic core of 8 students in a data collecting strategy. This
core and one class have counted: 311 computers, 2,082 40W light bulbs, 77
300W light bulbs, 3 drinking machines, 2 food vending machines, 16
microwaves and 18 refrigerators. Students used the watt meters with some of
these items as well. They have roughly calculated that the lights cost
$70/day x 180 days = $12,000/year, and have discovered computers use 100+
watts and vending machines and refrigerators are very expensive to operate.
They will develop a report and a plan of action based on their research.
Another class has made a large energy map of the
school and is color coding energy problem areas. Excessive heat in
classrooms (98 – 100°) is a problem compounded by no thermostats, so people
open windows to moderate the temperature. Rooms can become 55° when windows
are left open. |
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Brick Memorial High School
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| The plan to work with a new environmental science club
has been slow to start because they have just recently located a person to
be the club’s founder. A small core of students in science classes have
indicated an interest in the club. Teachers have started data collection and
enlisted some students to conduct an after school survey of 20 rooms,
which found: 80% left BMHS TV channel on; the channel’s white primary
background color draws more energy than darker colors; 90% of monitors were
left on. A major challenge in getting teachers to turn computers off
overnight involves the fact that the computers are old, take time to “warm
up” and teachers log-on in the AM on these computers. Another challenge will
be the practice of turning on classroom air conditioners to cool overheated
rooms. The two high school teams made plans to collaborate more with each
other in the upcoming months. |
For next issue: How have you used the
Green Schools Tool Kit? Please let us know!
Saving Energy Bucks > |
