Earth Day Network Blog Updates

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week (05/06 – 05/10). Take the time this week to reach out to a teacher who has impacted you or your child to say “thank you.” Teachers play a vital role in ensuring that students receive the quality education they need to become the leaders of the future.  Let the teachers in your community know that you appreciate the creativity, patience, dedication, and positivity they bring to their job.

Today, we celebrate the 11th National Healthy Schools Day in order to bring attention to the correlation between healthy indoor school environments and student health and academic success. Nearly 55 million children and 7 million adults in the United States (20% of the population and 98% of all children) spend their days inside school buildings. Children have no control of their environment but are suffering the consequences of attending unhealthy schools. Read More

On April 16, the Next Generation Science Standards were released, revealing a significant change in the direction of science education. For the first time, the topic of climate change has been included in both the middle and high school science standards.

On Earth Day, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced the sixty-four 2013 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools and 14 District Sustainability Awardees during a visit to Mundo Verde Bilingual Public Charter School in Washington, D.C.

As Earth Day approaches, excitement builds at the thought of the world uniting around a day of environmental service and awareness. But one day a year is not sufficient to combat the environmental challenges we are faced with. One of the primary ways our country has sought to make Earth Day, every day is through funding national environmental education programs for young and old alike.

Today, Earth Day Network is proud to announce the winners of the first-annual Healthy and Sustainable School Food Journalism Awards! 

Campuses around the world have been stepping up to participate in The Face of Climate Change. We’ve received some great student #faceofclimate photos from places as far-flung as Taiwan, Iran, Costa Rica, and the USA. Check out these awesome photos, and send us yours! We want at least 200 campuses represented on The Face of Climate Change wall by Earth Day – April 22nd!

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) recently proposed a new rule for the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. The new rule offers updated nutrition standards for snacks and beverages sold in schools through vending machines, a la carte, and school stores. The “Smart Snacks in Schools” rule hopes to limit the amount of nutritionally-poor foods and beverages that are still widely available in schools, such as sugary drinks and sodas.

Last week in Saratoga Springs, NY, the New York State Parent Teacher Association passed a resolution calling for the phase out of PVC in schools statewide. This follows similar resolutions recently passed by New York State United Teachers, the American Public Health Association, and United University Professions.

Polyvinyl chloride is the third most widely produced plastic in the world. You can find it in pipes, clothing and signs, to name a few of its applications.

This past week, representatives from Earth Day Network were in San Antonio, Texas, at the JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention to promote the first annual Healthy and Sustainable School Food Journalism Awards.