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K-12 Schools Workshop Attendees Agree
It’s Good to be Green

Emmiliese von Clemm (left) and Justin Kahn (right) of the Gunn High School “Green Team” at the workshop.

The Green Team at Gunn High School in Palo Alto began its climate program in school-year 2003/2004 and is certified as a Green Business by Santa Clara County. The program focuses on alternative commuting, cutting energy usage and waste reduction. Charging students for parking permits brings in approximately $45,000 annually that is used to support the “green” program. Funds are used in part to subsidize monthly passes to the public transit system, Valley Transportation Authority. Passes are purchased for $45, then resold to students for $15. In addition, Pedaling for Prizes provides incentive for students to ride their bikes to school and win prizes. The team is researching the possibility of installing  solar panels and seeking to isolate the amount of energy consumed by televisions, computers, monitors and the like in an effort to reduce energy usage. Single-source recycling bins have been placed in each classroom and make it easy to empty the bin

“We need civic engagement along with legislation,” said Carlene Cullen, co-founder and executive director of Cool the Earth, whose mission is to inspire children in grades K-8 and their families to take simple actions at home to lessen the threat of global warming. Founded in 2007 at a Marin County school, the program has expanded to 150 schools and youth groups in the Bay Area and Cullen expects to reach 250 schools over the 2009-2010 school year.

The Climate Project, an international nonprofit founded by Al Gore, former vice president, sends presenters trained by Gore himself to schools and other community venues to provide education about global warming, said Paul Valva, Northern California district manager. Presentations are tailored to various school levels, businesses and community organizations and include portions of “An Inconvenient Truth,” the Academy Award-winning film. “The question-and-answer period is the real power of the presentation,” Valva said. “People ask ‘What can we do?’” The Climate Project recently partnered with Cool the Earth in an educational outreach venture.

Two dozen organizations converged on the MetroCenter in Oakland on May 29 to discuss how to spread the climate protection message in K – 12 schools. 

Abuzz with excitement and energy, participants in the “Bay Area K-12 Schools Climate Change Workshop” exchanged lessons learned on how best to turn schools “green,” share resources and reach out to teachers, students and their families. Goals of the workshop were to identify ways to help promote climate change programs in schools and how to overcome barriers to K-12 climate efforts.

About two dozen organizations and schools participated in the workshop on May 29, 2009 in Oakland, which was hosted by the Joint Policy Committee (comprised of the Association of Bay Area Governments, Bay Area Air Quality Management District, Bay Conservation and Development Commission and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission). Each organization shared information on how their program works, their funding sources, target audience, number of schools served and upcoming plans.

Other successful strategies in use in existing schools include reducing energy use in lighting, heating and cooling, cutting down on waste, training student ambassadors to be climate champions, and planting school gardens with organic produce that is eventually composted back into the earth.

“We were very pleased to see the wide range of innovative strategies that are being implemented by schools, non-profits, student organizations, parent groups and others,” said Bruce Riordan, Joint Policy Committee climate consultant, who acted as facilitator during the workshop. “We received a lot of good suggestions about how to overcome existing barriers in schools around climate protection which will speed up everyone’s efforts in the coming years. Our four agencies applaud the great work that is spreading through K-12 schools in the Bay Area.”

Participating Organizations

(Hosted by the Joint Policy Committee, with representatives from the Association of Bay Area Governments, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, the Bay Conservation and Development Commission and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.)

  • Alliance for Climate Education
  • Center for Cities & Schools, UC Berkeley
  • Chabot Space & Science Center
  • Climate Change Education.org
  • Climate Project, The
  • Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHIPS)
  • Cool Schools (Sonoma)
  • Cool the Earth
  • Crocker Highlands Elementary School, Oakland
  • Gunn High School, Palo Alto
  • Go Green Schools Program, City of San Jose
  • Green Business Program (ABAG)
  • Green Schools Initiative
  • Green the Next Gen.com, San Francisco Unified School District
  • Helios Project, Kyoto USA/Berkeley
  • “I Pool to School,” City of Pleasanton
  • NEED Project, Pacific Gas & Electric Company
  • NoteNiks
  • Office of Education & the Environment, CA Integrated Waste Management Board
  • Safe Routes to Schools (Counties of Alameda, Marin and Solano)