Back to School: Greener Fundraising Ideas

Here's another compilation of resources for fellow parents hoping to get actively involved in their kids' schools from an environmental angle: eco-friendly (or at least eco-friendlier?) fundraising.

I got an email recently from one of my favorite people, a woman who lives in Boulder with her family. K was disenchanted with her school's giftwrap fundraising program, particularly since her children's elementary school is solar-powered and has local, sustainable, organic meals prepared by none other than Chef Ann Cooper. Be still my beating heart. Anyhoo, K is actively seeking fundraising alternatives.

I've enclosed her letter to a local green group below to help the rest of us in our efforts, and I promised K I'd pass along all of the green school fundraising resources I've come across in my blogging travels. If you've used any of these programs (I have no direct knowledge of any of them, sadly) please comment and let us know how you liked 'em.

K herself scouted out Greenraising's Earth Friendly Fundraising and Green Students but hasn't tried them out.

Think Recycle and Northwest Specialty Coffee were recommended by a friend who shifted the fundraising at Capital City Charter School.

Let's Go Green comes via Green Mom Finds.

I contacted a group called Fair Trade Towns and they responded with the following:

We have many Fair Trade companies who are also very green and have school fundraising programs, including some of those WFTD sponsor companies.

Here are a few organizations that have programs in place - links provided :
Global Goods Partners
Equal Exchange
Lutheran World Relief (with Divine Chocolate)
Global Exchange Online Store
A Greater Gift (SERVV Int'l)

You might also be interested in knowing that we have Fair Trade curriculum out there now, for all ages, and it works well to incorporate with the fundraising efforts (so the kids understand the importance of what they are selling and who made these products). Curriculum is provided by: TransFair USA, Equal Exchange, and Global Exchange. For a full list and links you can go to Fair Trade Resource Network (FTRN).

Below is an email that K sent to a GenGreen, a website started by a Ft. Collins woman to connect people who are interested in green products, jobs, programs, services, etc...

"Hi GenGreen!
Thanks for creating a great website! In September 2007, I listened to Ryan Warner's interview with Charisse McAuliffe on Colorado Matters, KCFR. I am writing you today because I seek some advice on locally-made green products. I am an active parent at Mesa Elementary in Boulder, CO. Mesa is doing a lot of good things for the environment -- Mesa has solar panels, a compost & recycling program with Eco-Cycle, a Garden to the Table program. But we also have an annual gift wrap fundraiser. This fundraiser doesn't appeal to me as I am trying hard at home to reduce, reuse and recycle. (None of the 2007 Sally Foster gift wrap was made from recyclable paper. And because gift wrap is high in contaminates, Eco-Cycle only recycles it during 1 week of the year.) I understand that we need fundraisers to help support our schools. So I was thinking that our kids could sell green products that are are actually needed. I found another green fundraising program that sells: CF'L's, Klean Kanteens, Bento-style lunch boxes (to replace plastic baggies). I think these are great ideas. Perhaps we could even find some locally-made green products. That's why I'm writing to you--GenGreen seems to have its finger on the pulse of local green products. Can you recommend some useful green products that are made right here in Colorado? I found a Denver company called "Baggyshirts" that makes reusable bags from clothing. I appreciate any advise or help you can offer. Thanks very much! ~K"

Here is the recent response from GenGreen:

Begin forwarded message:

Hello K,

I recently received a contact form from you via our new site GenGreenLife.com regarding locally produced, eco-friendly products that might be a greener fundraising alternative for your school, Mesa Elementary. We are thrilled that you reached out to us in this capacity and hope to be able to help! Below I have listed some local retailers that might be worth looking into. Some might require a little investigation, but for the most part I tried to include businesses and orgs producing their own products locally. (More info about these businesses can be found on our site).

Africa Bags
Loveland, CO
Website: http://africabags.org
Email: support@africabags.org

Boulder's Best Organics
2525 Arapahoe Ave. Suite E4-555
Boulder, CO 80302
Phone: (303) 499-6742
Website: http://www.bouldersbestorganics.com
E-mail: info@bouldersbestorganics.com

Ecologic Designs Inc.
2500 N. 47th St. #12
Boulder, CO 80308
Phone: (303) 250-5734
Website: http://www.ecologicdesigns.com
E-mail: n/a

English Retreads
4949 N. Broadway #147
Boulder, CO 80304
Phone: (303) 258-1625
Website: http://www.englishretreads.com
E-mail: info@englishretreads.com

Onno Textiles
1633 Pine Street
Boulder, CO 80302
Phone: (303) 928-7170
Website: http://www.onnotextiles.com
E-mail: alicia@onnotextiles.com

Cool Planet Jewelry
Telluride, CO 81435
Phone: (970) 544-9808
Website: http://www.coolplanetjewelry.com

There are also a couple of online resources that you might want to check out:
http://oneplanetfundraising.com (I suspect you may have already found this one!)
http://www.fundraising-ideas.org/listings/recycle.html
http://www.fundraiserhelp.com/earth-friendly-fundraisers.htm
http://www.easy-fundraising-ideas.com/products/gogreen-unique-fundraising/

*Keep in mind that I'm not endorsing the credibility of these sites, they just looked like they might have some useful info.

As you may know, it is the mission of GenGreen to be the most diverse and comprehensive resource available for people looking to live a locally-focused, environmentally conscious lifestyle. Currently, we are in the process of launching our new GenGreen Ambassador Program. GenGreen Ambassadors are highly motivated, eco-minded individuals (like you!) across the country that promote awareness of the GenGreenLife.com resource and the GenGreen mission. If you would like more info about how to become a GenGreen Ambassador and how to encourage sustainable activities in your area, please let me know…we would love to have someone like you on the Colorado Team.

Please let me know if I can be of any more help with your fundraising efforts and let me know how it goes!

Best,

Beth Buczynski
Ambassador Program and Content Coordinator

GenGreen LLC
Find the Green in Everything
415 Mason Ct. #1
Fort Collins, CO 80524
Local 970-488-3636
Toll Free 866-922-2952
www.gengreenlife.com

That's a lot of linkety goodness and even lots of info about local Colorado resources. Maybe K's example will inspire the rest of us, as we filter through eco friendly fundraising ideas, to remember to look close to home. Divine Chocolate, here I come! And K? You rock. Good luck and thanks for your inspiration.

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Why So Much Testing and So Little Love of Learning?

All of my friends want to know if the DC Public Schools are right for their kids. I used to be a DCPS teacher, and they know I have seen the belly of the beast.

I live in the city myself, and I’m looking around with my eyes wide open, wondering if the urban public schools my child adores today will meet her needs tomorrow. Increasingly, the question for me (a die-hard public school supporter, Berkeley Masters Degree of Education in hand) is not whether suburban schools can do it better than urban schools, but whether or not any public schools at all can match up to the academic freedom I see flying around the (mostly-test-free) halls of the area’s elite private institutions.

It’s like an educational parallel to the Whole Foods paradox. Peasants in the bad old days used to eat brown bread and vegetables and at the very least (despite nasty, brutish and short lives) were the healthiest eaters in the land. Now people with lower incomes are stuck eating fast food crap. Well, people with little money used to be able to turn to the public school system to find the freedom to learn. Now, the privilege of having unfettered access to the healthiest of educations –an innate love of learning, fostered by creative approaches to curriculum—seems like it may be reserved for the elites who can pay the price for test-free schools. As a teacher from Oakland High put it, incessant testing in public schools is “like weighing a calf twice a day, but never feeding it."

I can tell you from first-hand experience that the kind of test prep that happens in schools in the months leading up to test days is exactly the kind of thing that used to make my skull split right down the middle in elementary school my very ownself. The teacher, droning on in a patient voice, leading children through instructions they can very well read to themselves. Pattering on about how to pencil correctly in those tiny ovals. And all of this information actually necessary, because schools’ budgets and very leadership depends on this make-or-break test. Oh, the agony.

Back when I was teaching in DCPS, the test did not even align with the curriculum. They’ve (theoretically) solved that basic, horrifying paradigm of apples and oranges equaling a fascinating, high-stakes game of gotcha. But I wonder still if we cannot, as a society, ever trust that teachers are attempting to teach kids the best they can with impossibly limited resources. Sure, there were some dud teachers where I taught. Very few, though, and my excellent principal was more than up to the task of sidelining entire departments for a year or two in order to render a retirement package more alluring. A goodly number of the teachers I worked with were top-notch, dedicated, highly experienced, and downright fantastic at their jobs.

I’m speaking as a parent looking for what’s right for my kids. I’m speaking as a former public school teacher. I am all for ensuring high standards in teaching, in fact, I would love for there to be individualized education for every student in every class. But I do not think that the current (over)emphasis on standardized testing warrants the bloody beating of the dead horse of teacher and student motivation that exists in public schools today. IMHO, it’s a Republican plot to drive the public schools out of existence. It’s finger-pointing rather than problem-solving.

What can we do to help excellent teachers and the kids they continue to reach? Make ongoing teacher training helpful and interesting, instead of making the aptly-titled “seat hours” merely a shuffling of bodies. Reward teachers for completing their National Board Certification (which has teachers compile portfolios instead of just tracking their test scores;). Track grades, heck, even compile meaningful results. Ask teachers to do something like give a sample lesson in their interviews instead of just looking at their paper test scores. Give teachers meaningful standards to inform their teaching, and access to successful lesson plans (and don’t require mindless repetition of vague educational principles from either teachers or students). Devise citywide curriculum and spiral concepts through the grades so kids can build on concepts from year to year. And remember that there is a bigger picture to flesh out when judging schools than the numbers.

How healthy is the parent community? How involved are teachers in the extracurriculars and life of the school? What obstacles are the students and school community struggling to surmount even before butting heads with the three Rs? How, as a city, can we ensure the health of the whole child attending each school? Do our smallest citizens love to go to school and engage in meaningful dialogue with each other as they grapple with important ideas and constructs? Is every kid growing up with an open mind and heart?

This isn’t what I see fostered in public schools today. So, what do I tell my friends? Same thing I tell myself. Every child is different. You have to see what works for your child, one teacher and one grade at a time. Look at your kid’s report card, yes, but make your decisions based on the overall picture you see at a school. Public or private. The numbers only tell a fraction of the story. Open minds and hearts? Or rote bubbling of ovals? Hopefully, it won't come down to that divide.

Original DC Metro Moms post for Wednesday's Education Topic Day....

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