GREEN RIBBON SCHOOLS

Steve Amos, Executive Director

Healthy World Healthy Child and Green Ribbon SchoolsHouston

October 8, 2012

 Increasingly, children's books are where the wild things aren't

… natural environment and wild animals have all but disappeared

… suggests this sobering trend is consistent with a growing isolation from the natural world.

…

Source: Children at Risk

CATALYST FOR G

REEN RIBBO

N SCH

OO

LSNature Deficit DisorderBOUT

WH

Y GREEN

RIBBON

SCHO

OLS?

Before the What…Let’s talk about WHY Green Ribbon Schools

Reduce obesity...... stewards of resources...

... improve test scores... ... trim budgets!

What is GRS?

GRS - PERM

ISSION

BASED – PU

RPOSEFU

L IN

TERACTION

SGreen Ribbon Schools – Children in Nature Coalition

www.greenribbonschools.org

GREAT PU

BLISHED

ACTIVITIESGreat Published Activities

JOY O

F DISCO

VERY Student Voice

http://greenribbonschools.org/activity-detail.php?id=488

4th Grade Fishing TripZelma Hutsell Elementary - Katy, TX

HEALTH

IER, HAPPIER, SM

ARTERIt’s About the Kids – Wellness - Future

0

Steve Amos

Steve@4cw3.org

512-970-7443

www.greenribbonschools.org

Healthier, Happier, Smarter

PARTNER TO

IMPACT CH

ANG

EExtend the Walls

“As our case is new,

so we must think anew,

and

act anew.”

President Abraham Lincoln

“Kids don’t think about their health”

“Not cool … not discussed …”

District Teacher of the Year and a Culinary Arts Teacher

Extend Healthivores Within Fabric of the SchoolEstablish a Culture of Wellness

Where it is Cool to Think and Act‘Cause YOU are Worth It

KN

OW

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NO

UG

H

TO

A

CT

"Engaging children in nature exploration and play 

helps prevent obesity and related diseases, nurtures physical fitness,

enhances overall development and well being, and

adds fundamental dimensions to learning science concepts

not available in the confines of classrooms.”

Dr. Joe Frost, the Parker Centennial Professor Emeritus in The University of Texas at Austin College of Education's Department of Curriculum and Instruction and Texas Children in Nature Coalition member

 "Children ...may spend their childhoods with little or no opportunity to play in clean dirt, swim in clear, running streams, hear and see animals in their natural habitats, feel the sensations of walking through meadows and woodlands on dewy mornings, climb trees, and explore wild places.  

These are the experiences that bond children to the natural world, sharpen their senses, inspire a sense of beauty, build emerging concepts of biology, geology, physics, and language.

And they are critical brain building experiences for complementing the physical , social, and cognitive skills developed in recess, free playground play, and compact nature areas in backyards, schoolyards, and neighborhood parks."   

Dr. Joe Frost, the Parker Centennial Professor Emeritus in The University of Texas at Austin College of Education's Department of Curriculum and Instruction and Texas Children in Nature Coalition member

HEALTH

IER, HAPPIER, SM

ARTER, KIDS

Next Steps- Using the GRS website

• Sign up on GRS site – no charge

• Start a project relating to YOUR project

• Include your organization name in the “key words, tags” when the teacher sets up a project

• Students publish photos and videos

• Tip: Have teacher include you as moderator to help review work and approve publishing

• Publish project results and show progress over time

• Tip: check out the intro videos on home page and help

• Have fun www.greenribbonschools.org