Most would agree that the volume of information available to us these days can be overwhelming. Environmentalists, in particular, can be at risk for disseminating information overload, especially to busy students, who are inundated by a variety of sources.
For environmental educators, it is not enough to only provide good information, but also actions that students can take. While some may...
Grantee: Audubon Colorado
Partner Organization: FrontRange Earth Force
Boulder, Colorado
Grant Amount: $25000
Year: 2009
TogetherGreen Schools
Helping Kids Green Their Schools and Communities
For three years, Audubon Colorado and FrontRange Earth Force have been developing a stellar program that helps schoolchildren power down – literally. Thanks to TogetherGreen Innovation Grant funding, hundreds of kids in Denver and beyond have now taken part in hands-on, real-life education that has a measurable impact on greenhouse gas emissions.
Together, Audubon Colorado and FrontRange Earth Force have created a comprehensive toolkit for teachers to use in their classrooms to encourage energy awareness, demonstrate energy-saving activities, and provide students with the chance to conduct their own energy audits of lighting, appliances, energy bills, and temperature inventories. It’s a great way to use math, science, and critical thinking to learn about a real issue that affects everyone—and teachers are excited about it.
During the 2010-11 school year, TogetherGreen Schools really took off, giving out over 300 of their toolkits to educators all over the state through 11 teacher training workshops. The project partners reached an additional 200 teachers when they presented at the “Thinking Outside the Box” conference hosted by the Colorado Alliance for Environmental, and 500 students at two energy-focused events they co-hosted in Denver. Over the summer they partnered with IBM, who used the TogetherGreen Schools tools at their “Camp Innovation,” a technology-based summer camp with about 200 students in attendance.
The project partners are delighted with their success. As Audubon Colorado project manager put it, “We now have a full blown program operating in schools all over CO and we owe it all to TogetherGreen. Toyota funds started this program and now we have other funders that will keep it running! Thank you!”
Featured Current Grant
Featured Past Grant
Fargo, North Dakota
You may have heard about the 2009 floods of the Red River of the North, which runs through Fargo, North Dakota. Millions of dollars have been spent fighting flooding along the Red River, which is surrounded by extremely flat land vulnerable to water inundation. Many of these long-term flood “solutions,” such as setback levees, dikes, and channelization, are structural, and can provide...
Grant Amount:
$5,000
Year:
2010