Environmental Education Summit
Teach Your Children Well
January 2010
The 3rd Annual Environmental Education Summit met at University of Houston Downtown campus so I rode the Metro rail, which was quiet on a Saturday morning. Teachers from 13 School districts came together to look at ways to increase our children’s awareness of nature. The exhibit area was filled with many friends of Houston Green Scene.
Dr Michele Pola, Chief of Staff in HISD, kicked the day off with an inspiring reinforcement of the power of one. One teacher with a picture of a pond twenty years ago has lead to an outdoor learning community on campuses all across Houston. HISD has committed to building LEED certified new schools. She challenged campuses to take a day without man-made materials. That would get teachers out in nature at the very least practicing math in the dirt with a stick.
Dr. Robin Moore, professor of Landscape Architecture, North Carolina State was the keynote speaker. He as promoted the idea of using the school grounds as a teaching tool by integrating environmental design and child development. His designs are creating environments for healthy human development and a healthy biosphere for generations to come. We learn through nature, learn about nature, learn naturally. His web site is www.naturallearning.com and he has authored a number of books reminding us of the importance of play.
Kevin Coyle, vice president at National Wildlife Federation, picked up on the theme by throwing out the numbers 53 (the number of hours per week an average child spends on electronic devices) and 4-7 (the number of minutes per day our children spend in informal play). This is leading to problems with attention span, eyesight, obesity, and rickets (from vitamin D deficiency). This trailblazer in the environmental movement, looking dapper in his bow tie, was introducing NWF’s latest initiative Eco Schools USA.
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Green buildings, green grounds, green curriculum. He reminded us we are animals cellularly connected to nature but fear is keeping our children out of nature. Many of us walked to and from school back in the old days but we are afraid CPS would be called if our children were out walking alone. He proposed a “green hour”, an hour a day messing with nature, just being out there. Check out the initiative at www.ecoschoolsusa.org.
There were a number of break-out sessions focusing on different aspects of improving our children’s eco educations. In the exhibit hall was a large contingent from Emerging Green Builders including Carol Vick, Lisa Lin, Ruthann Haut. Erin Ericson from Urban Harvest, Shaun McFarland from Citizens Environmental Co, Sharon Siehl from Recipe4Success, Eddie Garcia from KPFT. New friends to Houston Green Scene included Tiffani Pust with Mothers 4 Clean Air and Karen North from Keep Houston Beautiful.