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Read more about the budding
projects that AEA is putting on this semester. We are in great need of
volunteer support to turn these ideas into reality!
For any questions, comments, or suggestions for new projects, contact
Lauren Blair at lblair@vt.edu or
aea@vt.edu or YMCA
Student Programs at ymcasp@vt.edu.
On-going AEA projects Spring 2005 semester:
EARTH DAY ACTIVITIES are right around the corner...
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We're busy contacting elementary schools about participating in the Earth Day T-shirt Contest. The plan as of now is to have the children submit artwork in celebration of Earth Day. The t-shirt will be one solid color and the artwork and text will be in white. On the front will be the winning drawing and the back will have an assortment of quotes from the children about what they love about nature or another theme concerning environmental awareness. We're looking for volunteers to help contact schools, find the best prices for t-shirts, be judges for the winning artwork, and help with the final design of the t-shirt. If you’re interested in any aspects of this project, let us know!
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The Earth Week Art Show is another big project that we will need lots of help with! Last year's exhibit was a huge hit with a wide variety of artworks coming in from local artists and Virginia Tech students. This year we have even bigger aspirations. It is going to be a week-long event starting April 17-23 in the Williamsburg and Jamestown rooms of Squires Student Center. We are looking for volunteers to hold exhibit hours, contact sponsors and a catering service, and for posting flyers around campus for submitting artwork.
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We're also looking to bring in a Guest Speaker. The Environmental Coalition is hosting Bill McKibben and asked if we'd like to help sponsor him. Here's a few websites about him: http://www.annonline.com/interviews/981217/biography.html and http://www.billmckibben.com/. Also, the Mountain Justice group is bringing in speakers to highlight biomass energy in opposition to VT's plans for a second coal power plant on campus (since the campus and subsequent energy needs will be doubling in size over the coming decades). Give me your input on how we can allocate our speaker funds.
BURRUSS HALL RECYCLING
Last semester, we met once a week for about one and a half hours to
collect and sort office paper, newspapers, magazines, and cardboard from
the administrative offices. There are a lot of people in Burruss
enthusiastic about recycling and we'd like to match that with more
volunteers! Burruss is very large (as you know) so we need as many
volunteers as we can to help. It's fun, it's good exercise, and it saves
resources!
Why is this important? Virginia Tech ended its paper recycling program
in the summer of 2002 due to state budget cuts. Since then, students
from various service groups and environmental organizations have taken
over this project in a growing number of buildings. These efforts to
recycle save Tech hundreds of dollars that would otherwise be spent on
dumping these materials into the local landfill.
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION FOR AFTER-SCHOOL KIDS
Applied Environmental Awareness is looking for enthusiastic grads &
undergrads to help us create an environmentally-focused curriculum for
conducting weekly activities with the Y-Zone after-school program at
Gilbert Linkous Elementary School. Project ACORN is an opportunity that
allows volunteers to take leadership roles to benefit the community and
make lasting impressions on young and eager minds. Come share and help
nurture the enthusiasm that these 30-40 students have for learning about
the natural world!
Project ACORN's mission is to engage students in a fun, educational, and
meaningful learning experience that cultivates a lifelong respect for
the relationships with our natural environment.
Although sample lesson plans are provided, volunteers from a variety of
disciplines are encouraged to be creative and to develop their own
lessons and activities. Our volunteers are instrumental in bringing in
fresh ideas and spearheading environmental education by being involved
in all aspects of the program.
AEA and Project ACORN are still fairly new; we are hoping to extend this
project to other after-school programs so new volunteers are always
welcome! To learn more, come to any AEA meetings this semester or
contact Lauren Blair at lblair@vt.edu.
Some potential projects for spring semester at Project Acorn:
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Field trip to a local organic farm to learn about plant processes, compost, characteristics of an organic farm and its benefits, hands-on learning how to plant
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Work on a small Compost Program at Gilbert Linkous to use as a potential fundraiser for the school or to use in the Community Garden project
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Help planting the Community Garden with senior adults
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Host bird enthusiasts to teach children about bird anatomy and their adaptations, natural habitats, etc.
COMPOST PROJECT
We are in the planning stages of creating a compost project in Gilbert
Linkous Elementary School to teach the kids about its benefits and the
natural processes that result in compost. If you would like to get
involved in the presentation of this project to the principal and the
students, as well as obtaining the necessary materials to construct the
holding container, contact Lauren Blair at
lblair@vt.edu. AEA is also working
with other groups
**IN SEARCH OF PROJECT CHAIRPERSONS AND CO-PROGRAM LEADERS FOR AEA**
YMCA is a great
organization to work with and the leadership and other skills you learn
from working with a non-profit provides invaluable professional
development. We're in the formative stages of a new AEA program and I’d
love to have someone to collaborate and brainstorm with! Also, I am
looking for someone to take over the AEA program when I leave for a Fall
2005 study abroad semester in Ecuador. This is a wonderful opportunity
to benefit the community that has given us so much and actively initiate
environmental awareness. Please let me know of your interest or of any
questions that you may have:
lblair@vt.edu I look forward to hearing from you!
Questions or comments about the website? Email Jim Young