Introducing Our New Green Classroom Certification Program

In September, RE Sources welcomed our very first AmeriCorps member, Alex Wentz!  Alex helps out our Sustainable Schools Manager, Riley Grant, and is developing and implementing the Green Classroom Certification Program. Alex has a professional background in secondary education, and is looking forward to this opportunity to teach younger students, connect students to the world around them, and help them to see the role they play in it.

The Green Classroom Certification process, the program Alex is currently developing, involves teachers and their students focusing on a sustainability topic, hosting a classroom workshop about that topic, completing a school or community focused action project, and sharing their experience with us. One of the biggest perks of the program is that we are here to provide lots of hands-on support for teachers along the way, whether that’s conducting a school-wide waste audit or just being a sound board for ideas. The three possible topics teachers can choose from are:

• Waste Prevention
• Energy Efficiency and Climate Change
• Water Conservation

Alex is really enjoying the work so far, focusing primarily on developing and structuring the program from the ground up. “The goal is to make a program that will be fun and engaging to students while at the same time addressing some curriculum requirements for the teachers,” Alex said. “While we’re still doing some fine-tuning, I’m really happy with what we’ve created and I think students and teachers alike will find this to be a very rewarding educational experience.”

 

The Green Classroom Certification is a pilot program for RE Sources. We are starting by focusing on Bellingham’s Public elementary schools – up to fifth grade -- and we’re launching the program in January!  If you are an elementary teacher, working for Bellingham Public Schools or any Whatcom County school district, and this sounds interesting to you, please check out the Sustainable Schools page on the RE Sources website or contact us for more information. Alex would love to hear from you!

Schools@re-sources.org

360-733-8307

Thank you to the following partners for making this program possible: Washington Service Corps, Alcoa Foundation, Whatcom County Solid Waste Division and City of Bellingham Public Works.