Greenversations

In less than two weeks I will send my daughter, Hannah, to her first year of school – kindergarten, where the children will be assigned, I am told, actual homework – and I will experience a milestone day of parental reckoning. But after touring the school, meeting the teachers, and commiserating with the other parents, I am almost as excited as Hannah to experience her first day and let her begin to explore and fulfill her potential.

As someone who has worked on school environmental health since 1996, I know that indoor air quality (IAQ) issues will play a role in my daughter’s ability to do just that—live out her full potential. More and more research shows just how much IAQ in school buildings affects both student and teacher health and performance.

One might think that my knowledge of how poor IAQ can affect children’s health would add to my anxiety about Hannah going to school. But while my position has made me very familiar with the problems associated with poor IAQ, it’s also made me keenly aware of the solutions. I’ve walked a mile in school stakeholders’ shoes, and seen IAQ management from each individual’s perspective. I can personally attest to how passionate people in schools are about protecting children’s health, and how a community effort around these issues can create change.

And a big part of that community effort involves parents. I’d like all the moms and dads interested in advocating for healthy school IAQ to know that they, too, can make a difference at their children’s schools.

Become knowledgeable about the issues and the solutions. Open a dialogue with the school principal about how you could be a partner in their efforts. Offer to be the “parent liaison” for IAQ and share your knowledge with other parents; give a short presentation at a PTA meeting; give the principal an IAQ “fact of the week” to publish in the school newsletter. Better yet, encourage them to get involved in the IAQ Tools for Schools National Awards Program so they are rewarded for their efforts and progress in creating healthy environments. If you become partners with your children’s schools, you will accomplish more than you ever thought possible.

If you remember only one thing from this blog, I hope it is this: IAQ management, much like parenting, is a lifestyle—not a diet. You have to live it.

About the author: Jennifer Lemon has been working on indoor air quality issues in schools since 1996. She works in the U.S. EPA’s Indoor Environments Division.

About the author: Jeff Maurer manages Web content and does communications work for the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response.

When my mom first starting teaching in 1971, duck-and-cover drills – in which students were taught to curl up underneath their desks in the event of a nuclear attack – were still in vogue. Apparently, desks were much sturdier back then – strong enough to withstand a nuclear blast.

When we lived in Kentucky, Mom taught at a school that practiced regular tornado drills. By the 1990s, teachers were being taught how to treat cuts in ways that prevent the spread of hepatitis and HIV, and “lockdown” drills became common after the Columbine shootings. By the time Mom retired last year, school safety training had been expanded to include managing students’ gluten, seafood, and peanut allergies.

Clearly, student safety in schools came a long way during Mom’s career. But in all of her years as a teacher, my mom was never once taught how to safely manage chemicals that are commonly found in schools.

That needs to change. School science labs, trade shops, and janitorial areas – any area of a school – can contain hazardous chemicals that can be harmful to students and teachers if improperly managed. Beyond the obvious health hazards, chemical spills can result in lost school days, cleanup costs, and liability.

Chemical management should be part of every school’s safety routine. Thankfully, EPA’s Schools Chemical Cleanout Campaign (SC3) is making it easy for schools to clear out unneeded chemicals and make sure that needed chemicals are properly managed. The SC3 provides a wealth of resources – including a promotional video and a tool kit for starting a chemical management campaign – to teachers, parents, school administrators, community groups, and just about anyone concerned with safe chemical management in schools.

It works, too; schools across the country are implementing successful chemical management campaigns. In my area, the Arlington Public Schools system removed 600 pounds of chemicals from its secondary schools. That hits home for me because my sister – following in Mom’s footsteps – works in the public school system here in Northern Virginia.

For my sister’s safety and for everyone’s safety, I’m glad that safe chemical management in schools is catching on. This week is Teacher Appreciation Week; I think that a good way to celebrate might be to see if the schools in your area are practicing safe chemical management. After all, the danger posed by hazardous chemicals, unlike certain other safety concerns, can’t be neutralized by simply hiding beneath a desk.

More information about healthy school environments is available online.

About the author: Lina Younes has been working for EPA since 2002 and chairs EPA’s Multilingual Communications Task Force. Prior to joining EPA, she was the Washington bureau chief for two Puerto Rican newspapers and she has worked for several government agencies.

Lea la versión en español a continuación de esta entrada en inglés.
Some links exit EPA or have Spanish content.

It’s been almost a month since our kids have been back in school. However, a radio report that I heard on the morning my youngest returned to school is still bugging me. In essence, the report mentioned that most students seem to “lose interest” in academic pursuits in middle school. The way parents, teachers, and the students themselves address the situation during that timeframe basically determines if they obtain a college degree or if they ultimately drop out of school.

I regret not having looked for the referenced study that same day, but I have found another article on why middle school matters that I’m sharing with you. I would like to give some suggestions, and welcome your opinions as well, as to how we can engage students to go on to college. I’m particularly interested in encouraging these young students to pursue careers in the sciences, mathematics and technical fields.

While Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft has been sounding the alarm for years now, I think that we as parents have to take a more proactive approach in encourage students to like science and math from an early age. We don’t have to be scientists ourselves, but we have to make science studies relevant to them. We should help them understand more about our environment. Children of all ages need to know that the simple steps they take at home, at school, at work, and in the community have a greater impact on the environment as a whole.

With this recent interest in having greener schools we can help our students learn more about renewable energy sources, the importance of protecting our water supply, air quality, greenscaping, etc. All these issues are based on science. Love for the environment does not come from a text book. It starts at home, our backyard or local playground. We shouldn’t wait until middle school to encourage them to discover nature. By then it might be too late.

I could go on an on, but I would like to here from you. How can we help our children become better environmental stewards while helping them do better in school?

Retorno a la escuela verde

Sobre la autor: Lina M. F. Younes ha trabajado en la EPA desde el 2002 y está a cargo del Grupo de Trabajo sobre Comunicaciones Multilingües. Como periodista, dirigió la oficina en Washington de dos periódicos puertorriqueños y ha laborado en varias agencias gubernamentales.

Hace casi un mes que los niños regresaron a la escuela. Sin embargo, un informe de radio que escuché la mañana en que mi pequeña regresaba a clases se me quedó en la cabeza. En el esencia, el informe mencionaba que la mayoría de los estudiantes parecen “perder interés” en los estudios cuando llegan a la intermedia. La manera en la cual los padres, maestros y los estudiantes mismos abordan la situación durante esos años básicamente determina si ellos obtendrán un diploma universitario o si abandonarán la escuela del todo.

Lamento no haber tomado nota del referido estudio ese mismo día, pero he encontrado otro artículo sobre el por qué la escuela intermedia es importante que comparto con ustedes. Quisiera brindar algunas sugerencias e invito que ustedes contribuyan sus opiniones al respecto sobre cómo podemos lograr un mayor interés de nuestros jóvenes para cursar estudios universitarios. En particular, estoy interesada en alentar a estos jóvenes estudiantes a considerar carreras en las ciencias, matemáticas y profesiones técnicas.

Mientras Bill Gates, el fundador de Microsoft lleva años dando la voz de alarma, pienso que nosotros como padres debemos adoptar un enfoque más proactivo por alentar a los estudiantes a interesarse por las ciencias y matemáticas a temprana edad. Nosotros no tenemos que ser científicos de profesión, pero sí debemos hacer los estudios de ciencia más relevantes para los jóvenes. Debemos ayudarles a entender más sobre nuestro medio ambiente. Los niños de todas las edades deben saber que los pasos sencillos que toman en el hogar, la escuela, el lugar de trabajo y en la comunidad tienen un gran impacto en el medio ambiente como tal.

Con este creciente interés en tener escuelas más “verdes” podemos ayudar a nuestros hijos a aprender más sobre las fuentes de energía renovables, la importancia de proteger nuestra suministro de agua potable, la calidad del aire, y la jardinería verde, etc. Todos estos asuntos están basados en ciencia. El amor por el medio ambiente no proviene de un libro de texto. Comienza en el hogar, [http://www.epa.gov/epahome/home.htm] en el patrio, en el parque local. No tenemos que esperar a la escuela intermedia para alentarlos a que descubran la naturaleza. Para esa fecha, podría ser demasiado tarde.

Podría continuar argumentando sobre el tema, pero quiero escuchar su opinión. ¿Cómo podemos ayudar a nuestros hijos a ser mejores guardianes del medio ambiente mientras les ayudamos a ser exitosos en sus estudios? Sus comentarios son bienvenidos.