Environment and Eco-School Committee

TEAM NAME: Environment and Eco-School
Committee Mandate:  The committee will work to actualize the school’s commitment to environmental and social justice locally and globally. In particular this committee will strive to create a justice culture that works toward social and environmental sustainability. This committee’s activities will be focused on activate understandings that link non human and human natures as interdependent. This linking reflects the  committee’s support of the 2010/11 school theme of the ‘interdependence of all living things.‘ Committee members and subcommittees will support and enrich school initiatives as indicated below in the list of actions/activities.

This committee has been split into two separate committes to better serves each goal. More information is upcoming on each of the new committees
CHAIR, ENVIRONMENT:  Maggie Dodge
CHAIR, SOCIAL JUSTICE:  Vacant  (want to volunteer?)

Approximate Meeting Schedule for the year:

• Date and time of First Meeting of the year:  TBD
• Approximate time of the following meetings: 

How do we communicate with the HPAS parent body?  Email and web postings

High Level Objectives for the year (1 to 3):

1. To animate/actualize the interlock of environmental and social justice
2. To engage the HPAS community to realize our commitment to community and environmentally oriented programming

Key Actions for the year:

1. Support of ‘everyday’ greening of school via lunchroom and class waste management
2. Support to Hunger Banquet; Heritage Dinner & Black History Month
3. Support to  ‘Town’ to animate environmental and social justice issues
4. Enhance partnership with The Stop and Foodshare to realize deeper connections to local environmental and social justice issues
5. Support to Earth Day  activities through ecomentors/ecokids
6. Environmental and social justice family film night: January with potential inclusion of Annette
7. Support to maintaining and enriching eco-school status (jointly with Annette)
8. Support of student environmental club & Support of Youth Action Committee and potential extension of committee activities/objectives to grades 4 -6
9. Support of ‘Glocal’ action to benefit Oxfam and The Stop
10. Support of Community Services week for grades 7 and 8 and extension of community agency partnerships and experiential learning to whole school
11. Support of animal rights and gay ‘empowerment’ initiatives including film festival
12. Support and Maintenance of our Gardens and related clubs: Bird Habitat (parking lot) that students spent a year researching, applying for grants and planting(1993); 2 Peace Gardens + butterfly habitats (schoolyard + flagpole) researched and planted by both schools + Junction (2001); Food Garden is both schools and is managed by the Garden Club; Annual garden clean up every year around the first Sat. in May;
13. Enhancement of student learning associated with such initiatives as the OSU Ghana book sale
14. Connecting and learning regarding global justice re Amnesty International
15. Connecting and learning regarding local justice re Evangeline and Romero House
16. Support to connecting environmental and social justice through the issue of water rights (local and global)

This is an inventory of actions that will be ultimately determined by subcommittee interests. Not all these actions may be realized.