COVID-19 has changed our world in many ways. How we shop, work, govern, and attend school have all been altered due to this global pandemic. Education has been hit particularly hard. Closing out the 2019 – 2020 school year was a chaotic and disjointed effort for most...
Our world is in crisis: a global pandemic, economic inequality, racial disparities, and…climate change. Although climate change may not move as fast as COVID-19 or have immediate consequences, it too threatens human lives and the global economy in real and dramatic...
Green Schools National Network (GSNN) are holding a webinar designed for PreK-12 educators. This interactive, 60-minute webinar highlights “best of the best” resources and curriculum that GSNN and its collaborators have curated for virtual and at-home learning.April...
Across diverse contexts, I regularly meet students who are taking action to build a more sustainable future. Whether it’s first-graders designing a rain garden for their playground, middle schoolers educating adults about composting, or high school students advocating...
As 2016 comes to an end, it is important to stay connected to the people and places we care about most. In my world, the schools and communities with whom I work keep me connected to the real mission and vision of the Green Schools National Network (GSNN): to...
COVID-19 has directly impacted students through widespread school closures, loss of learning, and widening disparities. It has also had consequential indirect impacts on students. A troubling rise in child neglect (Thomas et al., 2020), stress related to food...
Recently, I had the privilege of visiting two schools of our customers in West Virginia. We have worked closely with both schools, MUEE (Marshall University Early Education) Stem School and Explorer Academy, to create learning environments that connect to their...
Over the years, the sustainable procurement movement has helped us reduce our use of virgin material, shrink our carbon impact, and procure more goods and services from local organizations. One thing the movement hasn’t done enough of is remind us to focus on the end...
Public procurement is a complicated process. Adding an increased focus on environmentally friendly products only increases the complexity. This is something I know firsthand as Director of Custodial Services for Davis School District, located in Farmington, Utah....
As the green schools movement develops and gains notice, defining what is considered the third pillar of a green school (U.S. DOE, 2017), environmental and sustainability literacy, has gained steam in conversations at school board meetings, state departments of...
Envision a sustainable future marked by ecological integrity, shared prosperity, and social equity where individual and group choices are rooted in environmental and social responsibility (NAAEE, n.d.-a). Imagine a future where current environmental challenges –...
“Environmental and sustainability literacy is needed to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to create the future we want – one with economic opportunity for all, a fair and just society, thriving ecosystems, and healthy human and more than human...
‘What Does It Mean To Be A Citizen In The 21st Century? – Fostering Civic Engagement Among Youth in K-12 Schools’. “[T]he young are idealistic, have an underdeveloped sense of their own mortality, and are afflicted with an exaggerated thirst...
With many resources available offering recommendations and options for a safe return to school and how to implement physical distancing, it seems a great time to have a conversation about what ‘A Return To Learning’ could look like. One with a greater focus on the...
It happened in the blink of an eye. One day, schools were packed with kids shuffling down hallways between classes, teachers chasing down homework assignments, and administrators fielding parent requests and student events. Then everything changed. The halls were...
If student achievement and staff performance are major aims, indoor environmental quality is an elephant in the room. Consider this. We have invested in intense planning. Our learning goals have been aligned with the growing needs of society in a fast-changing world....
We spend ninety percent of our lives indoors in environments where we live, learn, and work. In some countries, that number is even higher due to extreme climate and outdoor pollution. If we spend ninety percent of our time indoors, that means that by the time our...
Alongside connecting with passionate folks within the green schools movement a couple of weeks ago at the Green Schools Conference, we were also introduced to the Green Schools National Network’s (GSNN) brand new look and extended mission. Both intended to drive...
This is the second of two stories from GreenNotes part of the ‘Green Schools National Network’ – looking at some of the ways that educators are using literacy to deepen students’ understanding of sustainability and engage them in meaningful...
To build a more sustainable planet we need new perspectives. We need to reframe the global challenges of climate change, consumption, and waste, and develop ideas that can change the way the world functions. Design thinking is an incredible tool that anyone can use to...
