PART IV OBJECTIVE 1: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Workshop with Amy Reese
Fifteen members of the FRES Green Team participated in a workshop with Amy Reese, the coordinator of elementary science education, in the fall of 2012. Green Team members were given instruction in the school's computer lab about how to use Weebly to create a Green School application website.
SignUpGenius introduced to staff
Alexis Cramer, K Teacher and Green Team member, led an inservice for the staff in the fall of 2012. This inservice gave us a new tool in our quest to be green! SignUpGenius is a website that is used to help organize contributions to a class-volunteers, class parties, chaperones, supplies- all of these needs can be organized on this site. We are sending less paper home each year.
Teachers learn about the Bay
Four of Forest Ridge's teachers participated in the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's summer program in the summer of 2011. We learned how we impact the health of the Bay and learned ways to improve the health of the Bay. We used this information to spur on the creation of the rain garden and our stenciling project.
Green Team members learn from another Green School
In the fall of 2012 Alexis Cramer and Judy Major attended a meeting at Atholton Elementary to learn what AES was doing in their Green School efforts. They learned about how AES used 5th grade students to help disseminate information to the entire school. They also learned what they did to improve recycling efforts and some innovative strategies for involving all of the students and staff members in environmental education and projects. It was an inspiring presentation!
Recycling Presentation - October 25, 2012
All students and staff participated in the Recycling presentation by Alicia Moore
from the Howard County Recycling Division.
Maryland Association of School Librarians
Fall Conference October 19, 2012
Judy Major, media paraeducator, attended a session entitled Read and Recycle! given by Hannah Pickworth from Roland Park Country School. Quick, inexpensive puppets of favorite storybook characters, made from paperbags, panty hose, old hangers, paper towels, and toilet paper rolls, were displayed. These puppets could be used in storytelling or made by the students.
Robinson Nature Center Visit
Ashley Scruggs and Cathy Chrzanowski, first-grade teachers, visited the Robinson Nature Center in Howard County in October 2012 to learn about ecosystems in Howard County. A student field trip is planned for the spring of 2013.