Arlington Public Schools’ Superintendent Dr. Pat Murphy Creates
Advisory Committee on Sustainability
Please apply if you are interested.

APS recognizes the importance of being active stewards in protecting the environment, and is committed to energy and environmental conservation by incorporating sustainability goals into school operations and the instructional program.

To that end, Superintendent Dr. Pat Murphy has created the Superintendent’s Advisory Committee on Sustainability.

APS defines sustainability as meeting the current needs of students and staff while preserving resources for future generations. This entails integrating energy and environmental conservation into daily operations and within the district’s dynamic learning environment while meeting safety and comfort standards in a fiscally responsible manner.

The group will meet monthly to provide recommendations to the Superintendent for achieving sustainability objectives, focusing on four key areas:

Policies and Procedures with respect to environmental sustainability

Energy and Environment Curriculum

Management and Conservation Programs, and

Community Outreach

So far more then 22 people have applied.

I attended the Reflections special program last night. The theme of the contest was ‘Together we can.”   I applaud every child who participated for their success.  I was touched by the art work.  Most pictures were taken outdoors in nature.  I had to wonder did one child win first prize for the photo they took or for the fresh red pepper in their hand.  Outdoor hands-on learning, nature and science was what some these bright minds were thinking about. Themes like unity, cooperation and sustainability.  Our schools are something we need to work together on as a county.  We in Arlington are blessed in many ways with opportunities and connections that are created from living here. Why not engage our children in what jazzes them. We have enough to educate every child in Arlington to be a future lead innovator and negotiator for peace and tranquility. My message is this let’s work together, every parent, teacher and child. Together we can …

Congratulations to my daughter for her poem. Enjoy.

The world was green, but now look at it, trash on the ground everywhere. Some people care, but look, people just walk past trash in the trees, in the grass, but do they care, no. Animals are suffering and we are suffering to save those animals (such as jaguars, frogs and other animals). The ocean, oh the  sweet sweet ocean. What happened where are all the fish leaping out of the water and when they do they jump they jump into polluted air and trash to get to the sweet sweet blue.

Together we can save all the creatures left on the sweet sweet earth.

Tell them everything you know, use the proper terms and answer all of their questions.  They will love it and you will have completed in 15 minutes a quarter unit somewhere in their science learning experience.  Get outside on your terrace or if possible visit Potomac Overlook Park right here in Arlington.

http://www.nvrpa.org/park/potomac_overlook

To me sustainability is knowing my  surroundings in Arlington and teaching my children to value them. Rather we are talking about Earth or the universe, the message to our kids is simple,  explore, dream, invent and advance.  We are fortunate on this drizzly and slushy morning to find ourselves so blessed as to live in Arlington, Virginia. Why not take advantage of the opportunity to love science together and we won’t have to worry about the world falling apart.

SATURDAY, MARCH 19, 2011 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Washington Lee High School 1301 N. Stafford Street, Arlington, VA Map it

We invite you to join us for our second annual Green Living Expo featuring green suppliers, products from local and national businesses, exhibits and seminars from government agencies and nonprofits, and more! Help us educate residents about practical ways they can green their lifestyles, focusing on energy conservation, solid waste reduction, eco-friendly transportation, green home remodeling, sustainable landscaping, and healthy homes.

The Expo will also include seminars, a raffle, activities for children, and a special focus on greening our schools. It will provide an important venue to showcase new technology and products available that can help soften our carbon footprints in Arlington.

Together we met our latest deadline to save the planetarium set by the school superintendent: $242,000 by December 31^st.  Thank you for your support!  Our next deadline is March 30^th—we’ll keep you updated.

1. Current Planetarium Show Is Great for 4- to 6-year-old Children

In My Backyard, produced by the Calgary Science Centre, is now showing on weekends at the Planetarium. The show provides a wonderful learning experience for younger children about nature, the seasons, constellations and more! Bring your kids and enjoy!

Weekend hours for the public: Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., and Sundays at 1:30 and 3:00 p.m.  Adults: $3.00, Children and Seniors: $2.00—the greatest bargain in town!

2. Portabellos Restaurant Joins Effort to Save the Planetarium!

Portabellos Restaurant will donate $5 per check to the Friends of the Planetarium between now and June 30.  You just need to mention the Planetarium to your server upon arrival.  Dine out with your family and friends, enjoy the delicious food, and help the planetarium.  Location: 2109 North Pollard Street in Arlington, just a few blocks from the Planetarium.

AND, everyone who makes at least a $5 donation to the Save the Planetarium effort between now and June 30th will be entered into a drawing for a dinner for two at Portabellos – Arlington’s American Café!

THANK YOU PORTABELLOS!..

3. Seat Dedications:  Only 16 Still Available

Thirty-nine seat dedications have been sold for the renovated planetarium.  If you want to dedicate a seat, send in your application and your check ASAP to Friends of the Planetarium, P.O. Box 7029, Arlington, VA 22207.  Checks are preferred; paying online through PayPal is an option, but PayPal charges a fee for their service.

Here’s the application link:

http://www.saveplanetarium.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/seat_beneath_the_stars_form.pdf

4. Become a Friend of the Planetarium!

Attached is a membership application, for your convenience.  There are three levels of membership—details are provided on our website athttp://www.saveplanetarium.org/2010/12/18/become-a-friend-of-the-planetarium/.

5. Local Boy Scout Creates Save Planetarium Video

Check out this impressive video that a Troop 149 scout produced recently for a merit badge:

http://www.saveplanetarium.org/2011/01/06/local-boy-scout-creates-save-the-planetarium-video/

6. First Annual Meeting of the Friends of the Planetarium

Thirty supporters attended the first annual meeting last weekend.  The following board members and officers were elected:  John Bartlett, Dan Carroll, James Gartner (Vice President), Ryan Hanna (Treasurer), Kate Hughes (Secretary), Pam Juhl (Corresponding Secretary), Jill Kern, Carolyn Lange, Susan Lavrakas, Alice Monet (President), Brig Pari, Ralph Perrino, Raphael Perrino (Vice President, On-line Technology),Theresa Schweser, Candice Wilson.  Events of the past year were reviewed and future plans discussed.

7. StarryTelling at the Montgomery College Planetarium: January 22nd

Check out this link for information about free planetarium viewings of “I’m a Starry Teller” at the Montgomery College Planetarium on January 22 at 2 and 4 p.m.  Elizabeth Wallace discussed this inspiring project that gets kids involved in telling their stories. Their products are then presented in the planetarium.

http://starrytelling.ticketleap.com/im-a-starryteller-planetarium-show-1/

Your support is greatly appreciated!

Pam Juhl

Corresponding Secretary

Friends of Arlington’s David M. Brown Planetarium

P.O. Box 7029

Arlington, VA 22207

Website: www.saveplanetarium.org

Facebook: http://bit.ly/facebook-planetarium

Email: save.the.planetarium@gmail.com

Return to Calendar

Single-stream recycling uses a series of screens to separate recyclable items.

The answer? Yes, Virginia. There really is a single-stream recycling facility that separates cardboard boxes from newspapers and aluminum cans. It’s located just across the Potomac River in Maryland at a Capital Heights facility owned by Prince George’s County and operated by Texas-based Waste Management. This is where items from Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax City and Vienna wind up after being compacted and stuffed into tractor trailers at a facility in Merrifield.

“A lot of people are surprised by how many different items we can recycle here,” said Kourtney Jones-Dugger, operations specialist at the Maryland facility. “People are skeptical about it until they come here and see it happen.”

During a tour of the facility, Waste Management officials show off the technology that allows for what they call “single-stream recycling” which they started using in 2007. The first step involves three humans — yanking out the stuff that won’t make it through the machines. This includes plastic bags, shredded paper and hard plastic items — all of which will be recycled, although it won’t be processed into neatly bound packages.

The next step involved a series of “screens” — essentially a series of tightly packed cogs that spin around and prevent certain items from falling through the screen. Pieces of cardboard bounce up and down on the cardboard screen while paper and aluminum fall through to the next level. Then newspapers and junk mail float across the paper screen while plastic and glass fall though. Before the process is through, the material at the Capital Heights facility will go through six screens before the stuff is bundled and sold. That’s if all goes as planned.

“Garden hoses are the bane of our existence,” said Mike Caplan, plant manager. “A garden hose can wrap itself around anything and hold up our operations for hours.”

NOTE TO RECYCYLERS — don’t try to recycle garden hoses. Other non-recyclable items that gum up the works include the following: Styrofoam, frying pans, medical waste, bowling balls, car batteries, wood pallets, parking curbs and mattresses. That last one is particularly problematic. The folks at Waste Management say they are often trying to pull out entire mattresses that get stuck in the loader. But that doesn’t mean they want to dissuade people from erring on the side of inclusion.

“If there’s any question about whether or not it can be recycled, put it in the recycling bin,” said Lisa Kardell, spokeswoman for Waste Management. “We want to make this as easy as possible.”

More items are added all the time, creating a wide array of recyclable materials that are sold on the commodities market. The value of commodities is reflected in rebates to local jurisdictions, reducing the cost of the contract to taxpayers. When the market is good, rebates are higher. When the global economy crashed, the rebates all but vanished. Much of the cost-benefit analysis is based on how much it costs to use recycled material.

“Aluminum is the most valuable commodity,” said Kardell. “But glass is one of the hardest commodities to find a vendor for.”

EACH OF THE COMMODITIES leaves the Prince George’s County facility headed for a different destination. The glass heads to a Maryland landfill, where it is used as an “alternative daily cover” to control fires, odors and scavenging. The paper products head to Baltimore harbor, where they are shipped to a vendor in China. The aluminum is packaged and sent to an Anheuser-Busch facility in Kentucky.

“They’re melted down and made into more cans,” said Jones-Dugger. “It takes about 95 percent less energy to make a can from recycled material than raw material.”

ANNOUNCING THE FIRST ANNUAL MEETING

OF THE FRIENDS OF ARLINGTON’S DAVID M. BROWN PLANETARIUM

We welcome all registered members of the Friends of the Planetarium to attend the Friends’ annual meeting (see paragraph below for details on how to become a member if you haven’t done so already).

PLEASE RSVP BY JANUARY 9^TH IF YOU PLAN TO ATTEND THE ANNUAL MEETING.

Date and time: Saturday, January 15, 1 p.m.  Lunch served prior to meeting, at 12:30 p.m. (tentatively in the Education Bldg next to the planetarium).

Meeting Location: In the planetarium if attendees number 50 or fewer; otherwise, location will be announced prior to the meeting.

Major items of business:

«       Election of members of Board of Directors

«       Election of members of Advisory Council

«       Adoption of operating budget

«       Report on fundraising progress to date and future strategy

Members of the Friends may contact President Alice Monet (save.the.planetarium@gmail.com) by January 9th to suggest additional topics or business for the annual meeting.

Nominations: Nominations are now open for candidates for Board of Directors and for Advisory Council.  At its last meeting, the board members present agreed on a list of possible nominees, and the Friends’ President agreed to contact these individuals to ask if they were willing to serve. She has done so, and answers are being received. Members of the present board, and other members of the Friends, may nominate candidates for the board by sending their name to the Friends’ President by January 9th.  Prior to nomination, each potential candidate must be asked if he/she is willing to be a candidate, and, if elected, is willing to sign the Statement of Responsibility for Board Members (attached).

All current board members and all other members of the Friends shall be eligible to vote.

Membership:  Anyone who wishes to become a member of the Friends of the Planetarium may find the categories of membership, the benefits, and the application form attached to this email and on-line at http://www.saveplanetarium.org/2010/12/18/become-a-friend-of-the-planetarium/.  Return the completed form to the Friends’ President (Alice Monet) or Recording Secretary (Pam Juhl) by January 9th. Anyone who has already made a donation to the Friends will have their first year of membership for free (starting January 1, 2011) by notifying the Friends of his/her interest in becoming a member (at save.the.planetarium@gmail.com or P.O. Box 7029, Arlington, VA 22207). 

Thank you for your ongoing support.  We hope to see many of you at the meeting on January 15^th.

Cheers!

Alice

January 1, 2011

www.saveplanetarium.org

save.the.planetarium@gmail.com

26th Annual MAEOE Conference

February 10-13, 2011

UMUC Marriott Inn and Conference Center

College Park, Maryland

The annual conference hosted by the Maryland Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education is the largest state environmental education conference in the nation and the only one of its kind in the state of Maryland. The 2011 conference is poised to set new attendance records. MAEOE is estimating that over 700 educators from over 500 agencies, schools, and organizations will be participating. MAEOE conferences are attended by a cross-section of the environmental education professional spectrum – including Non-Formal Educators, Classroom Teachers, School/Organization Administration, Government, School Facility Staff, and the Private Sector. There is no other event in Maryland that allows you to connect with such a broad cross-section of the environmental education profession.

MAEOE’s annual conference functions as this central hub for capacity building and networking. There is something for everyone, and a la carte registration options make the MAEOE conference accessible to everyone – even in these trying economic times.

- Thursday Professional Development Institute – Sponsored by University of Maryland Extension

* Oysters, past, present, and future? An in-depth and up close look at our keystone bivalve
* Insect 101 – How insects make the world go around.
* Green Roofs
* GIS and Water

- Thursday Environmental Film Festival – DOLPHINS Invite your friends and family to attend. Encourage your students and colleagues to come along as well. All are welcome whether they are attending the conference or not. Come see one of this year’s Key Note Speaker’s wildlife films on the big screen. FREE!

- Wilderness First Aid Certification

- Friday Outdoor & Environmental Center Symposium A follow-up to the successful symposium hosted as part of the 2010 MAEOE Conference, management and administrative staff are invited to gather and share information specific to centers, including program challenges and solutions, and impacts of legislation. This year discussions will focus on what role centers will play in mandated state environmental literacy goals.

- Friday Workshops – Nearly 30 to choose from
Optional Friday workshops include terrific choices like these:

* Awakening the Dreamer – back by popular demand
* Digging into Soil
* Using Adventure to Augment STEM
* Building a Rain Garden from Start to Finish

- Keynote Speaker Christopher Palmer, Director of the Center for Environmental Filmmaking at American University has produced hundreds of hours of films for television and the global network of IMAX theaters. He and his colleagues have won numerous awards, including two Emmys, an Oscar nomination and, most recently, the Environmental Film Educator of the Decade Award at the Green Globe Film Awards. Mr. Palmer will be signing and selling copies of his most recent book, Shooting in the Wild, published this summer by Sierra Club Books – at the Exhibitor Social following the Opening Ceremony

- Saturday Sessions Choose from an expanded selection of more than 60 exciting workshops.

- Saturday Lunch Speaker Dr. Maxwell, Superintendent Anne Arundel County Public Schools

- Saturday Plenary Session Michelle Roberts, Campaign & Policy Coordinator, has provided technical assistance and advocacy support to communities regarding the impacts of toxins on human health and the environment.

- Saturday Evening Closing Ceremony Bruce James has been a professor of soil chemistry at the University of Maryland, College Park, since 1986; and has been director of the Environmental Science and Policy Program since 1997.

- Sunday Field Experiences

• Goose Fence Construction • A Day on the Farm

• Bird Walk to Islands in an Urban Sea • Billy Goat Trail

- Exhibits More than 40 organizations, agencies, companies and vendors offering a wide range of information and resources as well as products for purchase.

CONFERENCE QUICK LINKS:

Conference Website

Download Registration Brochure

Online Registration

Wilderness First Aid Flyer (please forward)

Environmental Movie Night Flyer (please forward)

 Below is a letter I received from a parent who attended the “Science Friday” program I held at my daughter’s school every Friday last spring.  Though I very much appreciate this parent’s kind words, I think this testimonial demonstrates that inspiring children to love science does not require you be a scientist.  To get children excited about science really just takes will.  Over 60 children enrolled in the program and the reasons are simple: it was free, it was fun and they had the opportunity to experience science hands-on. 

Dear Miriam,

Thank you so much for giving my daughter, Olivia,  and many other Claremont students the opportunity to learn about science in a very unique and special forum. Olivia, then a very shy and uncertain kindergartner, was very reluctant to try any afterschool activities. With a gentle nudge and an apple in her backpack I sent her on her way to “Science Friday.” It all started with a trip to the butterfly garden and a frolic through the woods, to the outdoor classroom, Olivia quickly became engaged in what would become her most anticipated activity. Science Friday gave Olivia the opportunity to learn and discover in ways that I was not offering at home and she was not able to get in the classroom. The speakers that presented in Science Friday, were not only educational and interesting to adults, but informative and incredibly captivating for the children. I started to attend Science Friday because I wanted to know why my daughter came home from school on Thursday afternoon, eagerly anticipating Friday morning and her afterschool activity, Science Friday.  I believe one of the greatest benefits of Science Friday, and there were many, was that my kindergartner had the ability to learn, explore and discover with children of all grades. I witnessed over and over again, the education and insight of the older students, sparking dialogue and topics the younger students may not have been exposed to, but would benefit greatly from. For example, I hadn’t discussed the oil spill in great deal to Olivia until she learned about it in Science Friday. The older students obviously knew a lot about the oil spill, what  caused it, what were the effects on our environment, what was being done to stop the oil and what was being done to clean it. Olivia had a burning desire to know what they were talking about and absorbed detail after detail. She talked about it A LOT at home and asked question after question. Within days, Olivia had taught her four year old sister, Morgan, to be extra cautious and make sure they turned off every light, closed every door, turned every faucet extra tight, recycled every bottle and can… They wanted to do their part to use less energy, consume less oil, create less demand. Amazing, my four and six year old learned an invaluable lesson from Science Friday. Olivia learned  to pick up all trash and litter, not just her own. She learned what the city of NY looks like from the Hubble telescope. She learned some physics and some chemistry. She learned to, “Be as good to the earth as we are to each other and as good to each other as we are to the earth.”

 Thank you for giving my daughter the opportunity to learn about science in a way that my family will never forget. It was an amazing experience, and I am thrilled Olivia had the opportunity to learn from you!!

 Jennifer Kamber

There many children starving for hands on learning experiences.  The fact is, in many cases we do not need much more then a shovel, a magnifying glass or a discerning eye to get started.  Actually, I take that back, we do need one more thing, the will.  I believe one day hands on science, math and exploration will become common practice in Arlington Public Schools.  Sadly, it may not come in time for this generation of students unless parents and citizens get involved and insist upon it.  We are a community filled with doctors, engineers, architects, scientists and policy people, how hard could it be.  Read Newsweek Magazine’s article entitled “Creativity Crisis.”

http://www.newsweek.com/2010/07/10/the-creativity-crisis.html

The big picture is clear; we are failing to teach our children beyond SOL’s.  If we do not address this obvious truth, we will have much more then lagging achievement, we will have a lagging society.