Using Technology within our Ecological Festival at Creative Montessori School

Since the beginning of March, the entire Creative Montessori community has been working on putting together an environmental fair as an annual community service project. The EcoFest will be held on May 9, 2008, on the CMS grounds. This incorporates the toddlers all the way to the 6th grade. There will be singing, dancing, a production of The Lorax, and informational booths throughout the grounds. Our mission is to educate the families about environmental issues facing our nation and what we can do as a society to correct the problems for the future generations to have a place to live and prosper.

The Upper Elementary (my class) has been extremely busy researching and gathering information on various environmental issues. This has included using the Internet to locate information/resources and find valuable contacts to answer pertinent questions. The students have learned proper E-Mail etiquette on how to write and present questions to individuals; and then send appropriate thank you’s in return. One group is even developing a PowerPoint presentation to accompany their trifold board on green buildings. This PowerPoint will feature various Green Building throughout Alabama and the United States. We were lucky enough to visit one green building in Homewood and have the owner speak to the children about the time and labor that goes into making a building green. The students are having a wonderful time researching and typing their information. The wonderful part is that they are learning so much and enjoy sharing their wealth of knowledge with others within the building.

I feel this project has really opened the eyes of our children and is making them (and me) more environmentally conscious. If each individual would tackle at least one eco friendly concept every couple a months, we could help make the world a better place for the generations to come.

Remember that it takes 100 years for a plastic bag to decompose into the earth. So make the switch to paper or splurge and spend the .99 on the recycled bag. I now have fifteen and keep them in my car at all times and use them everywhere I go. I thought it would be hard but it was so easy!