Green Strides Webinars: August Series

July 31st, 2012 by Andrea Suarez Falken

The Green Strides Webinar Series is designed to connect school communities and state and local education officials to existing federal resources that support the three pillars identified in the U.S. Department of Education (US ED) Green Ribbon Schools recognition award program:  (1) Reduced Environmental Impact and Costs, (2) Improved Health and Wellness, and (3) Effective Environmental and Sustainability Education.  The series is hosted by the U.S. Department of Education, in conjunction with numerous other federal agencies.  This August, the Green Strides Webinar Series will be conducted on:

Improving Air Quality with Transportation Changes
style= August 1, 2012 from 2:00 – 3:00 p.m.

This webinar will review simple techniques that a school can employ to reduce children’s exposure to air toxics. Many of these solutions also save schools and parents money.

Register Here!

Image: via Flickr user John Picken.
Environmental Education for Everyone: EPA’s ‘K through Grey’ Resources
style= August 8, 2012 from 2:00 – 3:00 p.m.

EPA’s Office of Environmental Education (OEE), has a wealth of resources that educators can use in classrooms and informal educational settings, or in their development of broader curricula.  “K through Grey” will walk you through programs for students of all ages.

Register Here!

Image: via EPA OEE.
Filed under: Training
Tags: , , , , ,
Andrea Suarez Falken is Special Assistant and Acting Program Manager of the U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools.

Green Strides Webinar: Reducing Radon in Schools

July 16th, 2012 by Andrea Suarez Falken

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency experts will provide information about Reducing Radon in School during the next Green Strides webinar.

Effective radon control is a critical component of any comprehensive indoor air quality (IAQ) management program. Attend the Technical Webinar – Reducing Radon in Schools on Wednesday, July 18, 2012, from 2 – 3:30 p.m. EDT, to learn how to manage this pollutant.

This webinar will provide an overview of the issue of radon in schools with specific technical guidance about effective radon testing and control strategies, including how to operate and install a radon mitigation depressurization system in a school. Radon experts Josh Miller and Josh Kerber from the Minnesota Department of Health, both specialists in radon control in school environments, will be featured in this webinar.

States, districts and schools may attend this webinar to:

  • Learn about the risk of radon in schools and why it’s necessary to test every school for radon.
  • Discover effective and practical strategies for radon testing and control, including continuous radon monitoring (CRM).
  • Apply mitigation techniques, such as sub-slab depressurization and HVAC modification.
  • Get answers to your technical radon questions from leading radon experts.
  • Increase your understanding of how radon management fits into an integrated school environmental health program with the Framework for Effective School IAQ Management and how it helps meet the Department of Education’s Green Ribbon Schools requirements for Pillar Two – healthy school environments.

Register today!

This webinar is offered at no cost to participants. Don’t miss your chance to have your questions answered by experts. Send your questions to IAQTfSConnector@cadmusgroup.com by July 11, 2012.

Please note: This webinar will last approximately 90 minutes. You will need a high-speed Internet connection and a telephone line to interact with speakers and other participants. Call-in information will be provided upon registration.

Filed under: Training
Tags: , , , , ,
Andrea Suarez Falken is Special Assistant and Acting Program Manager of the U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools.

Green Strides Webinar: Learn About the Role Indoor Air Quality Plays in Creating a Healthy Learning Environment!

June 18th, 2012 by Andrea Suarez Falken

The Framework for Effective School IAQ Management: Six Key Drivers

Robust Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) management plans and healthy learning environments are essential components of green, healthy schools. Recognizing this importance, the first webinar in the Green Strides series will detail the role indoor air quality plays in creating a healthy school.  This webinar is co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and the EPA Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools Program.

EPA’s IAQ Tools for Schools guidance provides schools with the tools and resources they need to create healthy indoor learning environments. Learn more about this guidance by registering for the ED’s first Green Strides Webinar on Thursday, June 21, 2012, from 1 – 2 p.m. EDT.

This free webinar will describe how the IAQ Tools for Schools guidance can help applicant schools meet the criteria for Pillar Two — healthy school environments.  Hear from ED Green Ribbon Schools and IAQ Tools for Schools about why IAQ is an essential component of green and healthy schools, and how IAQ Tools for Schools guidance helped them create a robust IAQ management plan.

States, districts and schools may attend this webinar to:

  • Discover why IAQ is an essential component of green and healthy schools.
  • Learn how robust IAQ management plans promote academic achievement.
  • Gain in-depth knowledge on how the IAQ Tools for Schools guidance provides simple, low-and no-cost resources, such as the IAQ Tools for Schools Action Kit, to create healthy learning environments.
  • Hear examples of how 2012 ED-Green Ribbon Schools met the criteria for Pillar Two.
  • Gather ideas for how your state agency can be better equipped to evaluate applicants with respect to Pillar Two.

Register today!

This webinar is offered at no cost to participants. Don’t miss your chance to have your questions answered. Send your questions to IAQTfSConnector@cadmusgroup.com by June 14, 2012.

Please note: This webinar will last approximately 60 minutes. You will need a high-speed Internet connection and a telephone line to interact with speakers and other participants. Call-in information will be provided upon registration.

Filed under: News
Tags: , , , ,
Andrea Suarez Falken is Special Assistant and Acting Program Manager of the U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools.

Why Learn About School Air Quality

April 30th, 2012 by Sarah

Holes in the ceiling and exposed wires in a classroom at Southern Middle School in Reading, Pennsylvania. Photo: Cindy Long

Air; it’s all around us but we rarely think about how air quality impacts our lives.  Early this year in a Toxic Schools edition of CNN’s Toxic America program, Dr. Sanjay Gupta reported that an estimated one third of public schools in the United States currently have indoor air quality problems.  He also noted that the number of schools with air quality issues is likely to get worse due to budgetary restrictions in this difficult economic climate.

In addition to the variety of respiratory problems that have been linked to poor air quality, recent studies have also shown that indoor air quality can directly impact student health and academic performance. Children are especially vulnerable to environmental conditions, such as indoor air quality, because their bodies are still developing.

Why Should YOU Learn More About Air Quality

There is no better time than the present to learn about air quality, but if you need an extra reason to do so – tomorrow kicks-off Asthma Awareness Month! Poor air quality, indoors and outdoors, can cause and exacerbate asthma.  In May 2012, the Environmental Protection Agency’s Communities in Action Asthma Initiative will support local programs working to help people in their communities bring asthma under control.

Though there are currently no mandatory air quality standards specific to classrooms or schools in the United States, in March, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its new, draft State K-12 School Environmental Health Program Guidelines for public comment. The voluntary adoption of this program by K-12 schools would be a great step towards improving air quality in our schools.

How Can YOU Learn More About Air Quality

There are a number of resources that can help school systems, administrators, teachers, and families create a healthy school environment and improve air quality. Some of these resources are linked below:

Filed under: News
Tags: ,
Sarah Brzezinski works for the Chesapeake Research Consortium as the Chesapeake Bay Program's Fostering Stewardship and Education Workgroup Team Staffer. She also serves as the content manager of Bay Backpack.