April 3rd: Jane Goodall Day

Jane Goodall has been a powerful influence on my environmental development since April 4th, 2008. It was a day after her 74th birthday, and she was visiting my new-to-me school: Gibson Island Country School. It was a Roots & Shoots Fair where she was the keynote speaker at this little school on the Chesapeake Bay, and I wasn't sure how I'd won this lottery. 

I was in awe of her level of serene powerhouse, especially when she made her iconic chimpanzee hoot for all to hear. 

Needless to say, I was quite saddened when she passed away last year on October 1, 2025. She's legendary, heroic, a woman ahead of her time, and was a non-stop agent of conservation and environmental stewardship.

To commemorate her lifetime of planetary achievements the Jane Goodall Institute has marked April 3rd as Jane Goodall Day as a global day of action. This year, she would have turned 92 on her birthday. Going forward, April 3rd will be an annual environmental day of celebration worldwide for this humanitarian and UN Messenger of Peace. A holder of hope, we need Jane Goodall's vision, enthusiasm, grit, and perseverance ... now more than ever!

In honor of Jane Goodall Day, you have two tasks today:

1. Learn more about Jane Goodall Day and Jane's legacy here at the Jane Goodall Institute. 

2. Go forth that day with a "Because of Jane, I will..." attitude of action. What can you do that would be "100% Jane Approved" for your neighborhood, community, world around you? Need some inspirational ideas, try one or more of these, and certainly come up with some of your own:

• Plant a tree, a pollinator plant, or some other local flora to support native wildlife.
• Go on a litter-pick up expedition somewhere in your community.
• Spend time outside taking in nature, sharpening your observation skills. 
• Reduce your plastic consumption by planning ahead with reusables.
• Write a letter/email to your local leaders/politicians to work for environmental protections.
• Learn about endangered species and spread the word.
• Donate to a wildlife conservation organization.
• Share the importance of Jane Goodall Day and her vision with friends and family to inspire others to take big or small actions.
• Spread kindness and patience so that ripple of empathy can move forward to others. We certainly need more of that!

Be inspired by Jane Goodall's spirit of hope and action. Because of Jane, what can you do to continue her legacy? What is one small, specific way you can live differently for this shared planet on April 3rd?

Image from https://www.greenteamgazette.com/2025/10/saying-goodbye-to-dr-jane-goodall.html with my photos taken from Jane Goodall's April 4th, 2008 visit to my school: Gibson Island Country School, which later became named Eagle Cove School; video from https://youtube.com/shorts/RguwGQGLyNY?si=Y0hTEAxdDpvHhUdh, quote image from https://blog.sleepingangel.com/jane-goodall-quote/

Our Oyster Graduates

A friend of mine posted this video on Facebook recently. It is a video montage of an early fall day ten years ago at one of my favorite places: my former school where I was the 3rd grade teacher. I've often said it was perhaps the greenest school in America!

Oyster Day became an annual tradition at Eagle Cove School. Typically our eldest, the 5th graders, won the right and privilege to put on the hip-waders and be the ones to get in the water to put the oyster spat cages and bags in the water. In this video of a decade ago, though, the 4th & 5th graders were both on their annual team building outdoor trip, based on the way the calendar dates fell. So this special year, our 3rd graders, as the oldest on campus that day, earned this surprising privilege. As their 3rd grade teacher, I can guarantee, I had a lot of ecstatic kids in my class that day who got to do the really cool, big kid, important stuff.

I think it's fitting this year (AND at this time of the year) because my 2010 third graders are heading to college this fall. They are the ones that experienced their senior year spring in the middle of a pandemic and remote learning. They are the ones who had a topsy turvy, unique, & unexpected graduation. Our seniors at my current school had a socially-distanced graduation on the school campus lawn, with paper-faced faculty posters stuck to chairs so the students could have an audience there supporting them. Our seniors received their diplomas in a special, almost militarily-scheduled, individualized Diploma Ceremony, crossing the stage... all the while being video-taped, and this footage was sewn together to create a Zoom-style graduation that no one ever expected. The school did it right, and the faculty, staff, and parents were proud. As I watched our 2020 graduation (where many of my former 3rd graders were graduating), I was touched, and often thought of those environmentally-active third graders of a decade ago.

Now, as we have hit this point at the end of summer, these once-third graders are heading to college. Some heading to campus while others are readying for a semester online at their own homes. For that reason, this video seemed more than just memories to me, but a tribute to all of those former students of mine as they head off into their next adventure. Masks in hand, ready to put on when they get to campus... maybe getting a Covid test along with all their text books... and ready to dive into this next chapter. May we wish them well as they pack the car, deck out their dorms, and find new passions and pals. They will rock it! Of this I know!

Video created by Carl Treff, from https://youtu.be/XQtRmi3VjME, Image from https://theamericanonews.com/2020/03/24/college-bound-in-the-time-of-coronavirus-heres-what-class-2020-can-do-to-succeed/ and https://www.okaloosaschools.com/programs/hs/college-bound

60 Seconds with Jane Goodall

I started thinking about numbers, especially in relation to time:

60 seconds make a minute.
60 minutes make an hour.
24 hours make a day.
7 days make a week.
52 weeks make a year.
1 person makes a difference.
1000 people make infinite differences.

I think my numerical inspiration came from the episode of 60 Second Science Podcast with Scientific American's Steve Mirsky where he talks with Jane Goodall. Jane Goodall always seems to be my touchstone of environmentalism. In part, because she was a visitor to my long ago when I was teaching at Maryland Green School Gibson Island Country School/Eagle Cove... and partly because she exudes such grace, hope, optimism, and patience. She's been working on behalf of the environment and conservation for a long time... yet she never gives up the good fight.

In the podcast episode "Jane Goodall: We Can Learn from This Pandemic," her calm voice of wisdom continues to be the same direct and patient voice is always is. I was contemplating her thoughts on how she hopes we might change as a result of the pandemic. Her words about how we need to rethink and reconsider materialism and consumerism versus minimalism and living lighter on the land certainly struck a chord with me.  Imagine that world where true balance was achieved--economically, environmentally, inspirationally, spiritually, medically, politically, and more. Sounds rather healthy to me.

After weeks have now turned to months of sheltering in place and living more simply in order to maintain our health--all due to a virus that has run out of control and tackled our planet, maybe, just maybe, it is indeed time to reconsider, recalibrate, and readjust for the health and well-being of us all.


Quote Image from https://www.ecowatch.com/jane-goodall-quotes-2361011467.html

The Inverse Antidote

I think a lot (and write a lot) about how innovation & technology are going to solve our environmental problems.

But I was struck yesterday that the reverse is indeed also true: that the cure to all our over-techified time is indeed getting out into the environment. Nature.

It's interesting, because although I think and write about that a lot too, I was struck by an epiphany that tilted my view enough to see that this was indeed the inverse of my original thought. Technology and nature are the foil to each others.

It hit me while listening to one of my new favorite podcasts: Robert Plotkin's "Technology for Mindfulness." I was listening to episode #44 "Beauty, Nature & Capturing Moments" with John de Graaf. He brought together the marriage of environment and innovation, nature and technology beautifully.

In examining this tilted epiphany and my latest "ah ha" moment, it perfectly illustrates both the creation and the evolution of "Green Team Gazette." It certainly explains my love-hate relationship with technology. It paints my path as to how I'm now employed as a Lower School Technology Specialist... after previously teaching at perhaps the greenest school in America. It has led me to be on the sustainability committee at my current school and why we now are a Maryland Green School. It drives the stack of #eco and #edtech and #unplugging books that I can't seem to stop buying and reading.

Nature/the environment and technology/innovation need each other.

More importantly, we need them to solve each other... and to cure us AND our planet!

The Inverse antidote image created on Canva.com; woods & innovation pictures from https://pixabay.com/

Oyster Shaking for the Bay

When you have a high schooler who needs service hours, you find yourself in search of new opportunities, often taking part, and often times doing so as a family.

Yesterday was one of those.

My kids and I headed down to Shady Side, Maryland to "do a little oyster shaking." Having never done that before, I wasn't quite sure what it all entailed. 

I had an bit of an idea what it was based on my days at Eagle Cove School. There, my 3rd graders raised oyster spat and had to weekly shake sediment off the oysters within the cage at the end of our school's dock. After a year of doing that every Friday in Science, we always had a spring field trip where Chesapeake Bay Foundation arrived by boat at our pier, clearly making it the best field trip ever! Once on board, we traveled along the Magothy River where the students measured salinity and turbidity before releasing the oysters into the Bay at a designated oyster sanctuary. 

Oyster shaking wasn't anything like that!

 Instead, it involved shoveling oyster shells that were essentially being recycled from restaurants. Lots of oyster shells! Individually, they barely weigh anything. En masse, they aren't exactly light! I'm feeling it in my back and arms today after 2 hours yesterday of shoveling the shells into a super-sized sifter, then shaking out all the dirt and sediment, then lifting the sifter to dump them into the cages. These cages will later be taken to giant vats to be further cleaned with water, then deposited on their oyster boat, and delivered to a variety of oyster sanctuaries in the Chesapeake Bay.  It was quite an operation!

We were 3 of the 15 or so volunteers that showed up at the Maryland Oyster Restoration Center for the 4-hour Friday volunteer window. It became pretty clear to myself and my two kids that we'd never make it all four hours in the 90° heat! We were proud of our two hours of "mission completion"--with loads of hydrating and some recovery time in the shade to get our 2nd, 3rd, or 4th wind. It was definitely physical work, and we went home quite sweaty and grimy by the end of our morning!

As with any degree of service activity, there's always that element of feeling good at being a part of something outside yourself. Shoveling gives you some reflection time.  I had a few other major take-aways from the experience as well:

• Sometimes physical work is exactly what you need. You get into a bit of a rhythm between the shoveling and then the shaking. Physical movement, and a little bit of sweat and muscle ache are good for the soul. I'm not sure my middle school son had that same take away, but it also builds perspective and gratitude. He was quite thankful he didn't have to do this job every day! 😉

• Each of these oyster shells, once part of someone's meal, are now going forward to help become the new home of future oysters, which will filter the water and help clean the Bay. That reward will come back around to all of us who enjoy fishing, canoeing, boating, swimming, playing in (and eating from) the Bay.

• It was good to be in control of something in this out of control world. (It also was a good way to get a little aggression out!) It's been a hard week for Annapolis--our virtual backyard--with the fatal events at the Capital Gazette on Thursday. It felt good to do a little something for our community and the Bay via Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

• It bears repeating again: it felt good to be part of something bigger than you. Those oyster mounds were pretty darn big, and it certainly didn't get tackled in our 2 hours, nor would it after the collection of volunteers left yesterday, even if we all did all 4 hours.  The fact that a community of volunteers come each week to do this for our Bay certainly shows the strength of environmental stewardship.

Speaking of which... there are still more oysters! If you are in Maryland and want to do something good for the Bay, clear a Friday morning or two this summer. Head to Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Shell Shaking page to learn more and register for one of the following dates:

July 6, 20, 27

August 10, 17, 24, 31

For other, less hefty volunteer opportunities through CBF, be sure to check out their website.

Special thanks to Anna Mudd, CBF's Maryland Outreach & Advocacy Manager for showing us the ropes, educating us along the way as to why shell shaking was such a vital part of Bay restoration,  encouraging us to take breaks, and giving us a tour of the facility. We learned a lot from you and it was a great way to spend the day!

Images from my camera at the Maryland Oyster Restoration Center in Shady Side, Maryland.

Reflecting on FETC 2018

There truly is nothing more magical than Christmas in January.

In Florida.

At a 3-day edtech conference, appealing to my ever-loving joy-of-learning self.

With one of my favorite people in the world, a former teaching colleague... reliving our time at last year's FETC (Future of Education Technology Conference), and making new memories this year!

With 70° weather, when what you have left behind is 40°, maybe 50° weather.

45,000 steps on my Fitbit... 10 sessions (amounting to over a dozen hours of insight and education) ... multiple dozen of booths and poster presentations visited... and what feels like that many photos, notes, and links to check out. January really is the perfect time for this conference (for more reasons than just the weather). There's plenty of time for implementation here in the next 4 months of school before summer.

With Christmas in January, rather than holiday lights, the twinkling comes in the form of LED lights, iPad and laptop screens, and the idea-flashes that come with the inspiration of speakers of the 36th annual FETC conference last week. 

My favorite parts:

1. The 20 minute free chrome extensions presented by Dr. Lynn Herr. My reading specialists will be giddy and I can't wait to get them on our Chromebooks!

2. Getting inspiration from my girlfriend as we talked about her MakerLab and learning about all the things she found fascinating in her workshops.

Sir Ken Robinson

3. Hearing education guru Sir Ken Robinson and tech goddess Kathy Schrock share their own unique wit and wisdom.

4. Getting my book Tasks Before Apps: Designing Rigorous Learning in a Tech-Rich Classrooms autographed by Monica Burns, realizing that we'd met about a decade ago as my partner in green and I visited her then-school (Alain L. Locke in NYC). With that partnership, later she and a team of their teachers came to visit us at our school to discuss our environmental initiatives. At the book signing, Monica and I discussed how both of our experiences at Alain L Locke ultimately and serendipitous led us both down our current paths.

5. Being able to walk away with at least 30 new-to-me websites and apps, ready to come home and more deeply explore each one... and eager to bring those back to my school to inspire both students and teachers alike!

6. Learning about the varied and amazing top 25 AALS websites (& resources there) from Shannon Miller... who's session last year at FETC 2017 turned me on to both Buncee and Padlet.

7. Speaking of Buncee...Hanging out with the Buncee crew, getting to meet other Buncee Ambasadors "live and in person," both at the conference and after hours.

It all reminded me how vital it is to step out of your daily routine, take a break, explore new things in your field (expanding the field of vision of those things you love), and to never stop learning or connecting.




My walk-away websites & apps to investigate, & you might want to check out too.

1. Post-It Plus
2. Chatterpix
3. KidLit.TV
4. Explore.org
5. Book Creator
6. Little Bird Tales
7. Flipgrid
8. Booktrack
9. Google Draw
10. Google Keep
11. Google My Map
12. Classhook
13. My Simpleshow
14. Elink.io
15. Spreaker
16. Write the World
17. Sugarcane
18. Baamboozle
19. Vizia 
20. Cite This For Me
21. Formative
22. Rewordify
23. OER Commons
24. Wizer.me
25. Nearpod
26. Adobe Spark 
27. Listenwise
28. CommonLit
29. Media Smarts
30. American Association of School Librarians Website: Tools & Resources
31. Make Belief Comix
32. Sutori
33. Hyperdocs

Of course, as I look at them in number list here, my work is cut out for me! 

Maybe I'll take it a day at a time. Leading me forward, look at where I'll be a month from now! 

That's the beauty of being out in the learning world of FETC... you come away so completely rich! Yes, richer for the experience, indeed!


Pics from my camera and my experience down at FETC 2018.

Jimmy & Jane (Fallon & Goodall, That is!)

Last week, the legendary Dr. Jane Goodall visited "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon." With a new documentary coming out in October entitled "Jane," and Dr. Goodall running a new masterclass, there was a lot for the two to discuss!

Nearly 10 years ago, I met Dr. Goodall at a "Roots & Shoots" fair at my school at the time. Watching her now on Jimmy Fallon, she's just as sharp as she was back then!

In case you missed it, you can watch two clips here, or go check out the full episode on the Tonight Show. Her part of the episode comes about 26 minutes into the show.



 
"Jane" documentary photos from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt7207238/mediaviewer/rm3620741120, Jane Goodall class photo from my camera, videos from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moGxtFqMvpo 

Jane Goodall's Masterclass

Jane Goodall's conservation MasterClass is coming this fall, to a computer near you.

Think about it. How often can you learn from the experts? If you are lucky, you are in the right place at the right time and can get to hear a person speak at a conference or festival.


I had that opportunity, ironically the day after Dr. Goodall's 73rd birthday on April 4, 2008. My school at the time, Eagle Cove School, was hosting a "Roots & Shoots" Fair and we were fortunate enough to have her as a guest speaker. She started her talk as she often does, hooting like a chimpanzee. Memorable!

This fall, she's working in coordination with MasterClass.com to present 25 online lessons via video on animal insights, conservation, and activism. A downloadable class workbook and "office hours" are available. What an amazing opportunity to learn from a legend!

To get a sneak preview of your class from your instructor, watch this video below or go check out MasterClass.com's page "Dr. Jane Goodall Teaches Conservation" page.  It might even inspire you to sign up!
 

Maybe this year, on your holiday or birthday wishlists, if you are someone who has everything, maybe you'll get your friends or families to give you the gift of learning. That's definitely one way to make a little less environmental footprint in "stuff," but may be a great way to grow your knowledge and environmental impact!

MasterClass.com has a wealth of other learning opportunities from experts, so maybe that wishlist of yours might grow quite long!


Video from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_zgR_1Aspk; images from https://i.ytimg.com/vi/W_zgR_1Aspk/maxresdefault.jpg and  https://authorstash.com/tool/masterclass-james-patterson-teaches-writing/

Linda Richards: A Musical Magician

The strains of the 1970s song "Reunited" are going through my head.

 An old friend is back in town.

These are the things that make your heart sing... especially when songs are involved.

Songs are always involved when it comes to Linda Richards, the mastermind behind S.L.Y.M.I: Sing Like You Mean It. Linda's music education program strives to connect kids (young and old) in music with a meaning and meant to share a message. Linda's mantra: "Songs can change the world!"

Linda, an avid environmental educator, has a rich history, in both environmentalism & music. Working with Pete Seeger on the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, she developed a music program called the Power of Song. Linda uses music to enrich content, tying it to emotions while connecting kids to the outdoors, social awareness, & the importance of empathy, respect, & caring for our world.

It's through environmental education that I first met Linda Richards, 10 years ago, at a li'l river-side eco school that sadly no longer is there.
A friend of our science teacher, Linda came to enjoy our Earth Day assembly. There, the 2 of them decided that the following year they could orchestrate a far better assembly... especially if Linda came for two days--writing eco parodies with our elementary students on Day 1 so that they could then BE the assembly the following day. For 6 years, it was an annual Earth Week assembly... which truly made our hearts sing.

Fast forward. My eco school, Eagle Cove, closed in 2014, & all of my colleagues (& students) had to flee the nest. We did, we scattered, we landed, we compared notes, & I found myself thanking my lucky stars where I landed. Some of us did better than others. I was one of the lucky ones! Life moved on, & then with my help (& others), my new school became a green school last spring. Along the way, I shared my ECS eco-experience. In our new green scene, we were looking for an Earth Day Assembly 2017. Enter Linda Richards, & the circle of life. Hakuna Matata.

Linda spent a day at my school, entertaining the younger students in a lively assembly. She & each of our 3rd grade classes wrote eco-parodies.
Our day wrapped up with another assembly for grades 3-5 where the 3rd graders were part of the featured entertainment.

Ahh! To old times, familiar memories, & another crop of kids who get to experience the importance of environmentalism & social awareness through song.
It's a beautiful, wonderful thing.

Here are the 2 songs that Linda Richards wrote with our 3rd graders:

Take Me Out to the Ocean
sung to the tune of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame"

Take me out to the ocean,
Take me out to the beach,
Help me to pick up the bottle caps,
And find ways to recycle the trash.
And there's oil from boats in the Chesapeake,
The rockfish and oysters are mad!
Stop! Help the Chesapeake and
Save the Day... Hooray!

This Bay Is Your Bay
sung to the tune of "This Land is Your Land"

This bay is your bay,
This bay is my bay,
From our own school,
All the way to Baltimore.
From the longest rivers,
To the deepest oceans,
This bay was made for you and me.

As I was fishing, I saw a rockfish.
It was so slimy, and trapped in plastic.
I helped the rockfish,
And recycled the plastic
What can we do to save our world?

To relive some of my favorite memories with Linda Rivers making magic and music with my former students, check out the links below:

• A Very Full Earth Day Bay Week
  
• ECS Earth Week Day 1 & 2
• Earth Week Excitement
• Eco Songs: We've Been Workin' On the River
• Eco Songs: Terrapins, Terrapins
• Eco Songs: We Will, We Will...Recycle
• Garbage, Garbage, Garbage, Garbage... GARBAGE
• Small Actions Do Make a Monumental Difference
• Earth Day and Bay Week's Eagle Cove Eco Concert
• SLYMI: Sing Like You Mean It

For other ways to visit Linda Richards (because you know you want to)...
Check out her music album that she released earlier this year. (An easy place to get it is iTunes.)
To see the types of music programs she could bring to your school, center, or event go to her Programs page.

Images from our school's photographer; SLYMI logo from http://www.slymi.net/.

Eco Adventure's "After A While, Crocodile: Alexa's Diary" Book Launch

It's not your typical Friday night when you can get all of this in one fell swoop:

• Book signings
• Bonfires warming
• Face Paintings
• Gator Holdings
• Reticulated Python sightings
• Reptile handling
• Arts, and crafts galore, and more

But it is what you get when you go to EcoAdventures on a book launch eve of the book After A While Crocodile: Alexa's Diary by Dr. Brady Barr & Jennifer Keats Curtis.

The book follows Alexa in her school in Costa Rica, where she and her classmates are raising American Crocodiles.  She notes her crocodile's growth in her diary, and before you know it, it's time to return her guy Jefe back to the wild.

The two co-authors are infamous in their own rights. Dr. Brady Barr is known as a reptile expert (that's a "herpetologist" to you and me) and host to over 100 wildlife documentaries for National Geographic Television. He's a regular contributor to National Geographic Kids Magazine. Jennifer Keats Curtis is an environmental author of 18 children's books, many of which are on wildlife rescue. In addition to being passionate about animals and conservation, Jennifer is an amazing environmental educator (and Marylander) who also was a regular addition to our Eagle Cove Earth Week as an author in residence each year.  

EcoAdventures is the perfect place for this type of evening...especially when the Executive Director is Mei Len Sanchez-Barr...who is married to EcoAdventures' Public Relations guy and Animal Expert, Dr. Brady Barr!

Brady and Jennifer were on hand for autographs... as was Alexa! For me, meeting them was the highlight. However for the under-10 crowd that night, it could have been more about being around some really cool reptiles, getting faces painted, and a slew of other hands-on, memorable events.

After A While Crocodile: Alexa's Diary is a great book to round out your reptilian study.  Likewise, these are just a click away:

• Teaching Activities 
• "For Creative Minds" extension activities
• Author Interview with Jennifer Keats Curtis
• Learn more about EcoAdventures and their offerings

Eco Adventure logo from http://www.ecoadventures.org; all other pictures from my camera from the Book Launching event Novemenber 18, 2016.

An Impromptu Day on the Bay: Fifth Grade Field Trip Style

The circles of life are so fascinating!

Wednesday I got to go last minute to Chesapeake Bay Foundation with son's 5th grade class on a field trip today, as they didn't have enough chaperones.

When your Head asks you to go, you go. And when you get there...you are so grateful that you did!!

It hit me when the bus pulled in and I saw Tiffany, our always "First Mate" of the boat--it hit me then that I almost missed this trip because I was über in back-to-school teacher mode here at the beginning of the year, and I nearly missed the bigger picture: my "mom" and "historic side."

I was not truly thinking that this was THAT trip.  The big ah-ha moment:  This was essentially my Eagle Cove 3rd grade oyster boat field trip, where the boat came right up to our pier. The one that was always was:

"Best.    Field Trip.    Ever."

As my son and I were talking to his buddies on this trip, we came to the conclusion that this was year 9 of the past 10 years I have gotten to go on this trip!!! Last year, in particular, I was teaching 5th grade at my current school when we made this trip.  Such good memories of the past, and so many smiles from this week.

When my old school, Eagle Cove, closed, my son was in 2nd grade. I was the 3rd grade teacher. The following year he was destined to be in my class, and take part of "all things 3rd grade." On that day that it was announced that our school was to close in June (and all the subsequent months to June), I mourned.  I mourned many things, but one element that was particularly heartbreaking was that I would never get to go on the CBF trip with my son. 

But this week, I did! I had always said it previously--9 times these last 10 years, but it was true:  
Best.  
Field Trip.  
Ever.

This Wednesday, I had a goofy grin on my face all day.

The kismit in the day was immense the more I thought of it--especially when I realized how easily I could have missed it. The boating. The "green" building. The canoeing. The shore-side picnic. The more I thought about it after the fact, the more it hit me that I was blessed, encountering a rare and magical moment that was meant to be.  Something I thought would never happen.  Something in my daze of "back to school" I almost missed.

There's nothing more rewarding than a day outdoors, a day chock-filled with memories, and a day with your kids.

Best.

Field Trip.

Ever.

A Tale of An Environmental Teacher

Once upon a time,....
there was a girl who taught at a very "green" school where they recycled, composted, built rain gardens, had green roofs, raised oysters, grew butterfly gardens, had an entire week dedicated to Earth Day, hosted Earth Hour events, and much much more.

She taught there for a very good long time. There, she was quite in her element, integrating curricular topics on the side of sustainability.  Her students were mesmerized by books like Operation Redwood. They graphed light usage and how long it took different items to biodegrade.  They did biographies on environmentalists such as Jacques Cousteau, Sylvia Earle, Jane Goodall, and John Muir. Her students weekly cleaned and counted Capri Suns to send back to Terracycle to reduce landfill waste. She was even rumored to have a majestic dress made entirely out of Capri Suns. Oh yes! They all ate and breathed the "green" scene.

Until one day....this wonderfully special school closed.

It was at this point the the friends/teachers/colleagues/families/students were quite saddened that they had to scatter like seeds in the wind.  Scatter they did.  They all landed well and started their next phase of happily ever after at brand new schools, public and independent, spread all over the community.

As would not be surprising, our one, same teacher gal also found a new school to call home. Here she got to embark on being the "iPad Lady," bringing new and innovative ideas to classroom teachers at her new school, helping her colleagues find ways to integrate technology and the curriculum.  And all was very good for her first new year at a new elementary school.  Not as "green" as where she'd been, but a good place to land all the same.

Then one summer day about 2 weeks before school started before her 2nd year there, our teacher was asked to do a favor. Would she kindly take on a homeroom classroom due to an unexpected leave of absence by a teacher on staff. This was quite a surprise, but of course she said yes. She embarked on both the hurry and scurry of setting up shop for the incoming students, as well as the "hurry and worry" on mentally getting her game on. She had to switch gears and go into classroom teaching mode versus just teaching tech with an office and classroom visits. It was supposed to be a short-term fill, but as often happens in this tale called "Life," more unexpected things happened, and she stayed in this spot for the whole school year.

There, with her students, she did what she knows how to do best.  She shared the importance of caring for our planet through student-driven tech investigations. She shared the concern of marine debris through mockumentaries and ocean cartoons. She read some of those same books as read-alouds that she had always read in the past. She embarked on a journey with a team of 3 other teachers to help the school become a Maryland "Green" School.  They triumphed and the designation was awarded!

Of course, as happens, the school year came to a close.  In addition to all of those eco-things, our girl helped her students prepare for the next step, write their end of the year speeches, and wrap up the year.  In return, her students surprised her with a very remarkable gift.  Based on her love on the environment, and their love for her, she was given a sizable donation in her name to a local environmental charity, promoted to conserving the Chesapeake Bay.  A gift was given that will keep on giving. The donations will continue forward to help further more environmental programs.

As her son once said in Kindergarten:  "Mom, it's all physics.  The world loves a circle."

A circle indeed. Those seeds that scattered to the wind with the closing of a school, had been sown. More environmental stewards had been grown. The circle of conservationism and environmental sustainability continued to grow outwards.

A circle indeed.  For the love shared and the love spread was more touching than I can describe.   I should know.  I know that girl, that teacher, very very well.

Thank You! Which, of course, is a most delightful way to "End."

GTG logo from http://www.greenteamgazette.com/; Capri Sun dress from http://www.greenteamgazette.com/2015/10/halloween-blasts-from-pasts.html; Michael Recycle costume image from http://www.greenteamgazette.com/2011/10/bein-green-this-halloween.html; CBF image attributes noted above & from https://www.cbf.org/join-us/tribute-gift-e-card?eCardViewKey=5a011206-1af7-4baf-afe6-f1174581b099