October 2015
Dream in Green Supporter

Energy Care Technologies  provides products and services  to reduce energy waste and promote clean energy technologies.

Learn about  energy conservation programs for schools that teach and help  lower their energy spending and carbon footprint.


October Monthly Challenge
Energy Efficiency & Conservation
Activities
Take a look at the activities within this section of the guidebook:
  • Green Schools Challenge participants: select 1 out of the first 4 activities
  • WE-LAB participants: refer to activity #5
  • Green City Challenge participants: refer to activity #6
Get points!
Download the submission form, fill out all the sections and submit it to your program manager by Oct. 30.

Green Schools Challenge program manager:  Natalia
Green City Challenge program manager: Angela
WE-LAB program manager: Karla
4 Core Pillars - Submissions
Has your school completed The Academy's four core pillars? Remember to submit the following items to your program manager to obtain points!

1) Create a Green Team - send a picture of the team members

Cypress K-8 CenterCypress Green Machine


2)  Take a 'Green Pledge' - send pictures of how the Green Team took the pledge

Caribbean K-8 Center - Caribbean Parrots


3)  Energy and water survey - once completed, scan or take a picture of the checklist provided in pages 24 to 27 of the guidebook and submit it

4) Take actiononce completed, scan or take a picture of the action plan provided in page 30 of the guidebook and submit it

The Academy's Programs Launch

Dream in Green kicked off its 10th year on September 23, 2015 with a Professional Development Training Workshop to which over 80 teachers attended. The workshop, hosted at Westland Hialeah Senior High School, provided teachers information and tools to implement the programs. Participants also had the opportunity to learn from sustainability leaders on core program topics including water conservation, waste reduction and recycling, and energy efficiency.

Guidebooks were distributed and teachers planned their year ahead by completing their action plan worksheets.

A special thank you to Miami-Dade County Public Schools for helping us host the workshop.

Update: Recycling Services
To address the concerns that were brought up during the Professional Development Training, we followed up with Miami-Dade County Public Schools regarding the recycling services.

Every Miami-Dade County public school receives recycling services either through the district's recycling vendor (Only Recycling) or through the city's municipal services that provide the solid waste service for the school. 

In the past, some schools from Homestead, North Miami Beach and Miami Shores have requested to be included in the district's recycling program and have been accommodated. If a school would like to be included in the district's program, the principal can contact Alfredo Sardinas or call (305) 995-1550 to make the request.



MDCPS schools do not pay for any utility service. All services including solid waste and recycling are paid through the district's utility accounts.

Green Leadership Mini-Grants
Dream in Green offers mini-grants of $300 each to help 5th - 12th grade Green Teams members implement the monthly challenges.
 
Schools can apply for a grant to be used for the monthly activities chosen from the guidebook or to create an original 'green' project designed by the Green Team.
  
  
Deadlines for proposal submissions:
  • Energy Efficiency & Conservation: October 16th
  • Waste Reduction & Recycling: October 26th
  • Water Conservation: November 16th
  • Alternative Transportation: December 14th
  • Green Buildings: January 25th
  • Green Careers: February 22nd

Social Media Engagement

In page 12 of the guidebook, you can read information about the guidelines for social media mentions and hashtags. Send the links of your school's ***Facebook, Twitter or Instagram accounts to your program manager, as well as screenshots of any messages you post. If taking screenshots is not too easy, yo u can send the program manager a message to alert us about the post and we will look for it.  


***Note: schools are not required to have a profile on all three platforms. One is good enough.

Grants for Special Projects
Gardens
Whole Kids Foundation provides grants of $2,000 to K-12 schools in the U.S. and Canada for new or existing garden projects at any stage of development that help children engage with fresh fruits and vegetables. Deadline: Oct. 31. Visit  www.wholekidsfoundation.org  for details. 

The Nature Works Everywhere program is accepting applications from public schools across the U.S. to help build, amend, or revitalize school gardens while promoting environmental education Grants amount: $1,000 - $2,000. Deadline: Oct. 28. Visit the  garden grants page  for more details.  Contact  Angela Brisson  with questions.


XQ The Super School Project
Laurene Powell, Steve Jobs wife, unveiled  XQ: The Super School Project , a $50 million campaign to conceive and create the next American high school -- or a "Super School." The project launches with an open call for submissions closing on November 15.