Care for Our Earth Grants for Teachers
( Applications Deadline was November 16, 2012)
Schools Save Energy, Cut Traffic and Pollution
Santa Barbara County 4th-12th grade teachers are
encouraged to apply for 2012-2013 Care for our Earth Grants, through a
program that is a collaboration of the District, the Santa Barbara
County Education Office, the Southern California Gas Company, and
Pacific Gas & Electric Company.
Deadline for applications for the 2012-2013 Program was November 16, 2012.
Application is through the County
Education Office, for more information, see
this page, and download the flyer and application form
as a Word doc, or
as a PDF file. The program offers $200 grants to teachers to do
environmental service projects with students to save energy or cut
traffic and pollution at the schools sites. See below for links and
resources, and contact
Mary Byrd
at 805-961-8833 for more info. For information on a previous year's
grants, see
this issue of the District
newsletter.
Reducing energy use
Examples: Students could measure energy used by
particular appliances, and/or identify times when lights are left on
or equipment is left plugged in and turned on. Students could review
school energy bills, identify potential savings, and make
presentations to principals. Students could develop and institute an
energy-saving program. Grant funds could be used to purchase
measuring equipment, compact fluorescent lights, plug strips, or
supplies for charts and presentations, or for field trips or
speakers.
Resources:
Cutting traffic and pollution at schools
 Examples: Students could draw map of school and
neighborhoods and place pins on the map for development of "walking
school buses" or multi-family carpools. Students could do a
transportation survey and make recommendations to parent groups or
administrators. Students could plan a celebration of "Walk to School
Day" or "Bike to School Day."
Resources:
Teachers Awarded Grants in 2012
Last year, twenty-eight teachers from eight school
districts countywide were recognized by the Santa Barbara
County Education Office with Care for our Earth grants for classroom
projects at the 2012 Teachers Network Grant Recognition Dinner Feb. 23,
sponsored by the Southern California Gas Company at the Santa Ynez
Valley Marriott in Buellton. The Care for Our Earth Grants were
developed through a partnership with the Santa Barbara County Air
Pollution Control District, the Southern California Gas Company, and the
Santa Barbara County Education Office’s Teachers Network. This year the
program received additional support from the Pacific Gas and Electric
Company, Tina McEnroe-Rancho La Purisima, and the Bill Denneen
Environmental Awards. The Care for Our Earth program offers grants to
fourth to 12th grade teachers who implement an environmental service
project with their students to save energy or reduce traffic and
pollution at the school. Santa Barbara County Second District Supervisor
Janet Wolf, a member of the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control
District Board of Directors, and Dave Van Mullem, director of the Santa
Barbara County Air Pollution Control District, presented the awards. See
Grant
Descriptions and additional information posted on the
Santa Barbara County Education Office website.
Pictured (left to right): Dave Van Mullem, APCD
director; Lisa McNeil, Adam School; 2nd District Supervisor Janet Wolf,
member of the APCD Board; John Livingston, Santa Ynez Valley Charter
School; Joy Snyder, Adam School, Santa Maria; Chris Scott, Santa Ynez
Elementary School; Crystal Dominguez, Santa Maria High School Special
Education; Mona Gros, Santa Maria High School Special Education; Lisa
Savaso, Joe Nightingale School, Orcutt; Bettina Knox, Dos Pueblos High
School; Mary Burch, Lompoc High School; Riccardo Magni, Pioneer Valley
High School, Santa Maria; Emma Rodriguez, Delta High School in Santa
Maria; Lori Lee Collins, Carpinteria Family School; Donna Ehret, Adam
School; Catherine Ulrich, Santa Maria Jt. Union High School District
Home School Program; Tammie Castillo Shiffer, Pioneer Valley High
School; Kelly VanAllen, Pine Grove Elementary School, Orcutt; Laura
Branch, Righetti High School; Juliana Zellers, Santa Maria Jt. Union
High School District Home School Program; Deanne Rosing, Santa Maria Jt.
Union High School District Home School Program.
Teachers Awarded
Grants in 2011
Twenty-two county teachers in nine school districts were
awarded
"Care for Our Earth" grants in February of 2011. To view descriptions of the grant projects, see
this issue of the District
newsletter. The teachers are conducting projects with their students
to save energy or cut traffic and pollution at school sites.
Several of the teachers earning 2011 Care for our
Earth grants were honored at a Santa Barbara County Education Office
event in February. Back row from left: Riccardo Magni, Pioneer Valley High
School, Santa Maria Jt. Union High District ;
Lori Collins, Carpinteria Family School, Carpinteria Unified School
District; Michael Muscio, Santa Maria-Bonita School District; Kelly
VanAllen, Pine Grove School, Orcutt Union School District; Lise Pawley,
Alice Shaw School, Orcutt Union School District; Kevin Reed, Rincon High
School, Carpinteria Unified School District; Christopher Scott, Santa
Ynez School, College School District; and Laura Branch, Righetti High
School, Santa Maria Jt. Union High School District. And front row from
left: Valerie Trenev, Alice Shaw School, Orcutt Union School District;
Emma Rodriguez, Delta High School, Santa Maria Jt. Union High School
District; Lisa Savaso, Alice Shaw School, Orcutt Union School District;
Santa Barbara County 3rd District Supervisor Doreen Farr, a District
Board Member who represented the District at the event; Lee Ann Knodel,
Santa Barbara High School, Santa Barbara Secondary School District; and
Mary Byrd, District Public Information Officer.
Wheel of Change
The District offers countywide classroom presentations for K-12th grades
and college classes with lessons on our atmosphere, air pollution, global climate change,
and what we can do to make a difference.
Presentations can be tailored to the particular focus and level of
the class, and can include a game using the Wheel of Change (pictured
below with District Public Outreach Intern Karly Kaufman).
To schedule a presentation, contact Mary Byrd
at the APCD at 961-8833. See more resources on
this page.
The District also makes presentations for clubs and afterschool programs, and attends
science nights and other school events.
Safe Routes to School discusses efforts to encourage kids to bike or walk to school (or carpool or take
the bus).
Air Pollutants
& Your Health describes the pollutants of greatest concern in Santa
Barbara County, and their health effects.
Daily Air Quality Index
provides the AQI for
air throughout Santa Barbara County.
Ozone data shows levels of
ground-level ozone measured
at county monitoring stations, updated hourly on this website.
Toolkit to Reduce Diesel Emissions at
Schools provides resources for schools to hear about effects of diesel
exhaust pollution, and reduce emissions.
Air Quality and Air Pollution
Videos are available free in English and
Spanish from the California Air Resources Board, click on the title to go to
the order page on the state's website:
"A Breath of Air: What Pollution is Doing to Our Children," and
"With Every Breath: Health Effects of Smog".
Lessons and activities for K-12 from Project A.I.R.E. (Air
Information Resources for Educators) are available for download (free) from the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency website.
Air
Pollution: What's the Solution?
activities from the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency curricula help students learn about
ground-level ozone.
The National Science Teachers Association
includes lesson plans and activities to teach air quality concepts - search
at NSTA Science Store under the
term of interest.
The California Air Resources Board website's
Know Zone
page includes information on air pollution, lesson plans, and resources for
students: www.arb.ca.gov/knowzone/knowzone.htm.
Alternative transportation
Safe Routes to School
Lesson Plans for
the Classroom , developed by Marin County teachers, includes
plans for
multiple grade levels. (For more on the Safe Routes to School program locally, see
this page.)
For more information on local programs encouraging alternative
transportation, see Traffic Solutions' webpage here:
www.trafficsolutions.info.
Additional alternative transportation resources and links are on
this page:
www.italladdsup.gov/resources/
Community events such as Earth Day offer an opportunity to
showcase environmental education projects.
Shop teacher Mike Shallenberger (right) was honored with an air
pollution education grant from the APCD and the Santa Barbara County
Education Office. He and his students
at La Cumbre Junior High School in Santa Barbara converted a diesel Mercedes to run on
100% waste vegetable oil from a local restaurant. The students added a
second fuel system to the car, with a tank in the trunk for the
vegetable oil, a filtering system, and a hot-water circulation system. Said one student: “Before
this project, I never knew that a car could run on vegetable oil.
I learned a lot about how cars work, too.” The project was showcased at
the South Coast Earth Day Festival. For information on countywide Earth
Day events, see this page.
The CREEC Network (California Regional Environmental
Education Community Network) has information about environmental education
resources for teachers, including a Resource Directory for Region 8 (Santa
Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Ventura, and Kern Counties). See www.creec.org/region8.
 US EPA's Office of
Environmental Education - Kids' page, teachers' page, regional programs,
students' page.
School Health page from California Air Resources Board - environmental
health conditions at schools and resources to reduce pollution.
How
Your Lungs Work (American Lung Association)
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