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BLOG ABOUT IT
Post discussions on our blog!
It is a great way to diversify and contribute to our knowledge, a commons that we all benefit so much from!
CONNECT
GET FEATURED
For those of you who are organizing events in your communities, we would love to feature your work in our “Voices of Change” section.
To submit your materials or be interviewed, please contact our Lead Sustainability Educator, Aleidria Lichau.
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2011 Celebration of Teaching &
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February 8, 2011
Our bi-monthly New Jersey Learns Newsletter is the perfect place to continue to enrich your involvement with Education for Sustainability. This newsletter is a place to share ideas, take action, and hear stories of change from our leaders.
IN THIS ISSUE...
THOUGHT
FOR THE SEASON
This concept ties back to our last newsletter questions about recognizing and developing leadership within ourselves so that we can achieve sustainable practices that support the intricate webs of life around us.
A Note from the new Director of New Jersey Learns, Moira N. Wilkinson
Moira
Calling All NJ Learns Participants from 2008-2011!
We have just finished our third full year of NJ Learns and we want to know how we're doing! To do that, The Cloud Institute has launched an external evaluation of the program. We’re eager to know about your experience with NJ Learns and how you're applying what you learned about sustainability and EfS. By now, you all should have received a few emails about the evaluation with a direct link to our survey. Many of you have already contributed your thoughts. THANK YOU!
Applications for 2011-2012 New Jersey Learns Program Available!
Reminder to NJ Learns Formal Educators - Earthwatch Fellowship Application is Due on February 28th, 2011
Through our partnerships with Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Sustainable Jersey and Earthwatch Institute, we are pleased to offer NJ Learns formal educators the opportunity to participate in scientific field research and an innovative sustainability program linking these organizations. This fellowship will enable New Jersey educators to deepen their understanding of sustainability and offers them another way to take action in their communities by addressing local issues.
Earthwatch has set aside five places in their summer expedition to the Tetons for NJ Learns participants who are formal educators. These applicants will receive priority consideration for the fellowship. The fellowship covers all costs associated with the research, food and accommodations. And, upon completing all fellowship requirements, fellows will be awarded a travel reimbursement of $400.00 for travel to and from the site. The application can be found on the Earthwatch website. The application is due February 28th 2011.
Contact Earthwatch at
fellowshipawards@earthwatch.org with any questions or for more details. We hope you’ll apply and take advantage of this great partner perk! VOICES
OF CHANGE
Education for Sustainability: Bridges and Solutions from an Intern’s Perspective By Lauren Bille
Read more of Lauren's story here...
Getting the word out! Creating Awareness for A Sustainable
Future!
After attending NJ Learns Training at the Cloud Institute last year, I was ecstatic to return to Cranford and begin inspiring students, staff and community members to educate for sustainability. My number one goal was to use what I had learned and share my experiences; I didn’t want to pass up this great opportunity for change. Luckily I was fortunate enough to be able to incorporate all three groups - students, staff and community members - into the NJ Learns practicum I needed to complete for my certification, which helped me to achieve my goal.
Cranford School District Education for Sustainability Resolution
Mary Sudiak, the fellow trainee and Cranford School Board member mentioned above in Lisa Hayeck’s story, serves as an important example of the power of linking community members with teachers. During Mary’s training for NJ Learns, Jaimie Cloud planted a seed in her head about the possibility of a district resolution to Educate for Sustainability. This district-wide resolution parallels the mayoral resolutions that are signed when municipalities join Sustainable Jersey. During the year, Mary not only participated in Lisa’s efforts to stimulate sustainable thinking and actions with her students and faculty, but like Lisa, Mary identified the most upstream place she could intervene in the system. As a member of her community’s board of education, she became determined to present a resolution to Educate for Sustainability so that all schools in Cranford could place emphasis on EfS. Needless to say, she introduced the resolution and it passed! As a result, all teachers in the Cranford School District have district support to incorporate EfS into their classrooms and schools. Mary was a catalyst in strengthening the relationship between Cranford Public Schools and community members. Cranford Public Schools will go on record as the first district in the state of New Jersey to pass the Resolution to Educate for Sustainability.
Cranford Public School District has been working on environmental issues for quite a number of years and is pleased to let others know that its Board of Education passed an “Educate for Sustainability” resolution. The resolution was based on a proposed resolution drafted by the Cloud Institute and Sustainable New Jersey. Passing the resolution was just another example of Cranford’s ongoing efforts to support environmental awareness and incorporate environmental issues into the schools.
Hands Are for Helping, Not
Hurting
I believe, as a teacher, it is my responsibility to prepare my students to become active citizens in our world. They have the power to create both social and environmental change. This project and our school garden help build awareness, responsibility, and action about our school’s cleanliness and its relationship with the environment.
If you are interested in working on "greening" your municipality, including public education, community education and any other aspects, the Regional Urban Partnerships for Sustainability committee of Sustainable Cherry Hill is sponsoring a Tri-County Sustainable Communities Forum on
Thursday May 3, from 7-9 pm, at Camden County College, main campus, Blackwood NJ. EfS Workshop Annalise Silivanch and Jennifer Dowd will be holding an EfS Workshop on Friday March 4th from 7-9:30 PM, and Saturday March 5th from 9:30 to noon. The workshop will be held at The Marriot Hotel in West Orange, New Jersey. Their audience will be approximately 30 Human Relations and Educational leaders and PTA presidents. If you are interested in helping lead another workshop with them or to contribute toward the success of the March 4th and 5th workshop, please contact them directly:
Request for EfS Website Information and Feedback
The Voorhees Environmental Commission is developing a new website. I am currently working on the sustainability section and am looking to learn from the experience of anyone who has a green team or community website for sustainability and the EfS principals. The menu pages already in progress are: Recycling Information, Recreation and Open Space, Bicycle Paths, Going Greener Tips, Home, About Us, FAQ's and Links, Join the Green Team and Contact Us. We would like to also incorporate a concise modified version of the EfS principles and practicum. If you have advice, feedback, ideas, or have already done something similar, please contact Debby Schwartz at DebbyBSchwartz@gmail.com
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307 Seventh Avenue Suite 1201, New York, NY 10001 ph. 212.645.9930 fax 212.645.3391 www.cloudinstitute.org |
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We are asking current New Jersey Learns members to help us recruit enthusiastic educators and community members for the 2011 program, which we are now calling the Keystone Year. This program is considered the foundation of
Education for Sustainability for all participants and, after completing the Keystone Year certification process, NJ Learns
participants can take advantage of any other opportunities offered through NJ Learns. As you all are active in your own communities, we thought who better
than YOU to recruit new participants from New Jersey! 
As a new intern to Cloud, I knew very little about the New Jersey Learns Program. Words like practicum and indicator were foreign to me. The week prior to the recent NJ Learns meeting, I helped to organize participant practicum information to prepare for their certification. I stared at the mysterious names and read email exchanges describing how these people were incorporating sustainability education into their lives. It was inspiring and I was happy to help Cloud, but I felt removed from what was actually happening with the program.