Agreement with Bowling Green Independent School District
During the 2011-2012 school year, the Center’s Program Coordinator, Robin Hume, will
be working with Bowling Green Independent School District to provide their elementary
teachers with resources for Science instruction. She will be working with the district
two days per week to provide instructional support for Science teachers. She will
also be available to lead Science lab experiences for teachers upon request. This
partnership will hopefully help teachers plan instruction for Science more easily
and will also allow more opportunities for the children to learn Science concepts
through environmental education.
WKU to offer new Master of Arts in Social Responsibility & Sustainable Communities
Western Kentucky University will be offering a new Master of Arts in Social Responsibility
& Sustainable Communities beginning in Fall, 2011. The new graduate program will be
offered through the Institute for Citizenship & Social Responsibility, within the
University College. “Faculty from various departments crafted the interdisciplinary
program that is already attracting students,” said Dr. Jane Olmsted, director of the
Women’s Studies Program and coordinator of the new master’s degree.
Olmsted said that the new degree program will provide graduate students from diverse backgrounds with the tools to lead communities toward social justice and sustainability. Students within the cohort program will take six core courses and additional electives, with or without a thesis option, for a total of 33 hours. All students will have the opportunity to conduct an action research project to understand relevant community issues and to identify possible solutions. In their final semester, students will share their research in a symposium at a sustainability conference.
For more information visit www.wku.edu/cohort/srsc or contact Jane Olmsted at 270-745-5787.
Habitat for Humanity Green Infrastructure Statewide Demonstration
The CEES has been awarded a 3-year $655,000 grant 319(h) nonpoint source (NPS) pollution
grant from the Kentucky Division of Water. This is a partnership project between WKU,
Habitat for Humanity and other regional partners. It represents the first phase of
a larger plan to develop a mixed income mixed use affordable housing community that
will eventually comprise up to 50 green housing units, a community center, outdoor
amphitheater, walking trails, community gardens, rain gardens, edible landscaping,
native species plantings and increased tree cover on the site. “This is a wonderful
opportunity to work with WKU and a broad collaboration of community partners to create
a community that will model for us a better way to live,” said Rodney Goodman, Executive
Director for the BG-WC Habitat office.
The Center has become part of the national network of urban-based City Partners for
Flying WILD. A new program of the Council for Environmental Education, that introduces middle
school students to bird conservation through standards-based classroom activities
and environment stewardship projects. Flying WILD encourages schools to work closely
with conservation organizations, community groups, and businesses involved with birds
to implement school bird festivals--events in which students take a leading role in
teaching their classmates and community about migratory birds. The Center provides
a certified facilitator, Robin Hume, to provide training in the use of Flying WILD
materials and to distribute Flying WILD Materials in the Green River region of KY.
The KUPEE Energy Initiative
Western Kentucky University ’s Center for Environmental Education and Sustainability
was funding in late 2009 to lead a three-year, $1.57 million project to integrate
service learning into environmental education programs in Kentucky. The project will
engage about 360 college students and 4,000 elementary and secondary school students
in high-quality service-learning projects that meet local needs...Read More
Alec Loorz - Youth speak out about climate change
While some adults dismiss global warming, to 15-year old Alex Loorz, a keynote speaker
at the Green California Summit, the future is clear: Climate change is about to have
serious consequences on the planet-and it will be up to his generation to deal with
it. Just returned from representing youth at the United Nations Climate Change Conference
in Copenhagen, he offers his impressions of the conference and explains why the voices
of youth should not be ignored. Click here to read the story.
Fighting 'Nature Deficit Disorder': Preschools in Forests Take Root in the US
by Manuel Valdes
Published on Monday, May 24, 2010 by the Associated Press http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/05/24-5
VASHON ISLAND, Wash. - When they're outside, the children in Erin Kenny's class don't
head for cover if it rains or snows. They stay right where they are - in a private
five-acre forest. It's their classroom.
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