Teacher Resource Guide 2016 www.keepphiladelphiabeautiful.org
Teacher Resources 2016
Keep the Conversation Going! Cleanups
Work with your students to plan a cleanup, and encourage their colleagues in other classes to join. Depending on the age range of your students, let them take on the majority of the planning – and encourage them to find ways to make the work fun (perhaps with a scavenger hunt or other type of contest). Remember to sort the recyclables you find during the cleanup, and discuss as a group what is and isn’t recyclable!
Promote Recycling Student leadership will help you establish a Green Team that takes on projects such as: peer-to-peer education, recycling incentive programs, contests, and more. Consider gathering a group of students to help collect recyclables from classrooms and assist maintenance staff in transporting those recyclables to outside dumpsters. Train students (or other volunteers) to stand by waste stations in the cafeteria and educate their peers about how to properly recycle.
Trash to Art
Trash-to-art projects are a great way to underscore that items can have a second life, all while unleashing creativity and encouraging teamwork. Have your students save plastic bottles, potato chip bags, and other items for a joint, community art project to display prominently in your school!
Bring in Speakers
Bring in additional speakers and experts to keep interest alive, and to spark new ideas for projects. KPB can help connect you to great local professionals who would love to speak to your students on a variety of topics!
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Teacher Resources 2016
Leave School!
Take your students to neighborhood service events, or on field trips to relevant exhibits or museums. Philadelphia is home to many wonderful city-wide beautification events, such as the Philly Spring Cleanup and Love Your Park week. Keep Philadelphia Beautiful is happy to help you and your students plug in to those efforts!
Integrate Lessons on Sustainability
Integrating lessons about sustainability and proper waste disposal in to the rest of your curriculum will help reinforce the message of Keep Philadelphia Beautiful teachers. Waste in Place, www.wasteinplace.org, a Keep America Beautiful education resource guide complete with games, activities, and more, will help you do that.
Compost!
Start a Garden
Philadelphia is home to many experts on composting. Reach out to them for additional presentations and ideas, as well as possible internship opportunities for students. Keep Philadelphia Beautiful can help connect you to organizations such as Bennett Compost.
Start a garden at your school, and compost there! Funding opportunities exist to support these efforts, including Recyclebank’s annual Green Schools Program (www.recyclebank.com/a bout-us/green-schools).
Get to Know Your Community Research whether there are nearby community gardens that already compost, or community based organizations that collect compostables (such as New Kensington CDC and University City District). Then you can start to collect food waste at your school to donate right in your own backyard! www.keepphiladelphiabeautiful.org
Teacher Resources 2016
Create a Green Team!
How do you recruit a Green Team? What qualities are you looking for in your Green Team? And how do you keep your Green Team engaged? Here are a few tips for building a successful Green Team.
Recruiting for your Green Team Leadership can take different forms, but take some time to brainstorm the most important characteristics you are looking for in individuals who join your Green Team. We suggest prioritizing these qualities: Responsible and reliable Able to follow through and follow up Collaborative / works well with others Proactive Creative Cares about sustainability Has the capacity to take on this role
Brainstorm and Recruit Individuals Who Fulfill Those Characteristics. Gather three or four others on your team who have their pulse on the school community, and brainstorm individuals who fit the qualities you are seeking. And remember, consider individuals who could grow in to the role, too – not just those who have already demonstrated leadership abilities. How Do You Keep Them Engaged?
Engaging your Green Team Hold regular, organized meetings with agendas and other relevant information sent out beforehand. This will help your team members feel they are part of an organized effort that is worth their volunteer time and labor. Create realistic, concrete goals that your whole team agrees to; set your team up for success! Even modest achievements will build morale, and demonstrate to your team that their hard work makes an impact. Defined roles establish accountability, keep everyone actively involved in the actual work of your team, and ensure that decisions do not end up being made by those who assume responsibility over tasks or projects without full group discussion and agreement. Recognize and celebrate successes. Take the time to celebrate your accomplishments! This will keep your team motivated and focused on what they can do next. Think about succession. People move, switch jobs, and graduate. Keep your eye on the next set of leaders who may be a good fit for your Green Team.
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Teacher Resources 2016
Create PSA Campaign! Key questions to answer when planning your PSA:
What are the goals you want to achieve with your PSA campaign? How will you know / measure if you’ve achieved those goals?
Who is your target audience?
Are you looking to reach the whole school, or maybe just one grade? How do you best reach your target audience? (I.E. How does your target audience receive its information? How many times does your target audience have to receive the same message for it to be effective?) What messages are most likely to capture your target audience’s attention, and call them to action? Are there phrases or references that will be particularly relevant to your audience? (Do you need to do a survey or test messages to confidently determine this information?)
What resources do you need to implement your PSA campaign? Do you need physical supplies? If so, how are you going to pay for them? Who do you need as part of your team (human resources)? How do you engage them, and then how do you keep them excited? Who can you partner with to help you secure resources, and help you spread the word about / implement your campaign? Who in your school community needs to know about this campaign? Who outside of your school community needs to know about this campaign? How does your campaign dovetail with existing efforts within your school, including curriculum? How will this campaign be student driven, and cultivate their leadership and academic skills? www.keepphiladelphiabeautiful.org
Teacher Resources 2016
Create PSA Campaign!
After you've answered those questions . . . get even more specific!
What communications tools are you using? (Posters, social media, announcements over the loudspeaker, visits to classrooms, an assembly? Will your campaign include a contest or incentives for taking a particular action?)
Who from your team is responsible for performing what tasks? When will those tasks be due (include that on your calendar!), and how will that team member be held accountable?
Put together a calendar! (Sometimes it helps to work backwards!) How long is your campaign going to last? What communications (posters, social media posts, etc) will be utilized when?
After your PSA campaign is complete, assess your success with your team using the goals and metrics you’ve already agreed upon. After assessing your campaign, what next steps, if any, would you like to take to make future efforts even more successful?
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