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For
more information on our work visit
www.e-action.us
(617)-227-1522
info@e-action.us
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Become an "Educator for the
Next Generation!"
If the stories here move you, and you haven't already gotten a chance to participate in our campaign, please consider contributing just $30 now. If you have already contributed to the campaign, "Thanks so much!" Your support is truly making a difference. However, please consider adding three people to our list of supporters by sending them a copy of this newsletter today and urging them to join us!
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"e" Awarded State Grant to add afterschool "Planet Protectors" program to 5 new Boston sites!
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We have just been informed by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education that they will be funding us to serve five new after school sites in Roxbury, Mattapan, and Mission Hill. This is an exciting coup for "e" inc. 300 new children will now receive our science and civics program, "Planet Protectors," a program for which "e" has become so well known!
Attracted by "e"'s dynamic, interactive approach to tackling tough environmental topics, and the program's emphasis on helping students translate understanding into action, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education awarded "e" inc. enough funding to implement "Planet Protectors" at Orchard Gardens Community Center, Mattahunt Community Center, Ellis Memorial at Madison Park Village, and the Hennigan Community Center, with a fifth site as yet to be decided. At these sites, "e" will serve elementary- and middle school-aged students. We are excited by the opportunity to engage our students and help them view themselves as capable scientists as we involve them as positive actors for the environment! |
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Hale School Goes Ape Over Primates!
by Chamberlain Segrest, Education Coordinator
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What has two arms, two legs, two thumbs, a tailbone and a well-developed brain? That's right -- humans, oh, and gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans, baboons, capuchins, mandrills, macaques, marmosets, tamarins - the list goes on all the way to 230 animals! Our Primate Family, an order of mammals that began its evolutionary journey about 60 million years ago, is what I'm referring to. Primates are fascinating, and the fact that we are primates (that's right, we're apes!), and can see reflections of ourselves in almost all of these species, makes these connections that much more palpable. That's why "e" inc. has launched a new primate curriculum, called "Meeting the Relatives," currently being piloted with 2nd and 3rd graders at the Bird Street after school program serving the Nathan Hale Elementary School in Roxbury.
"Meeting the Relatives" is designed to inspire wonder and sympathy as the students discover that the monkeys and apes they are learning about are, in fact, our cousins! Thus far, they have investigated the tropical rainforest, the home of almost all primates, and learned why it is always hot and humid. They have gone on scavenger hunts through the forest's canopy, learning the names of many different monkey and ape species in the process. They have uncovered a sad truth, that many of these species are endangered due to habitat destruction and poaching. And they have made puppets of seven of the Amazonian monkeys, complete with prehensile tails (tails that can grasp a branch), which will soon be on display in the Boston Properties' Prudential Building rainforest foyer! As a result, the connection between humans and primates is already being made, and that's just in four lessons.
The students at the Bird Street program will soon be learning about various primate adaptations, such as thumbs, forward facing eyes, nails, large brains and even fingerprints. They will build and compare the skeleton of a gorilla to that of a human, which, if you've never compared them yourself, are extremely similar. They will participate in primate behavior simulations, such as nest building (used by many primates, including our closest relative, the chimpanzee) and feeding practices in a modeled forest canopy. They will learn, through hands-on activities and demonstrations, the theory of natural selection. They will even take a trip to the Rainforest Building in the Franklin Park Zoo, where they will take data and create ethograms (behavior assessments) on several different species of primates. Of greatest importance however, during "Meeting the Relatives," is the fact that our students will use their newly acquired knowledge to initiate an action plan that will help protect primates in the future. But don't take my word for it. Come see for yourself how awesome primates really are during the month of November, when our kids' primate puppets go on display at the PRU and they come on site to teach others about primates at a workshop (dates to be announced).
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"e" inc. Summer Intensive with the BELL Foundation was a Wonderful Success!
By Kimberly Guerra, Lead Teacher
I was sitting in my office preparing for my afternoon classes when I heard a knock at the door. I looked up to see Shawn, a student going into the fifth grade, dragging a cardboard box filled with used lunch trays, milk cartons and juice boxes. Shawn had given up half of his lunch period to walk around and collect recyclable garbage. I quickly got up to help him bring in the box and together we sorted through it, separating paper from plastic. From then on, Shawn continued to bring me lunch recyclables almost every day.
Shawn and his classmates were students in the Boys of BELL summer program (sponsored by The BELL Foundation) at the Orchard Garden School in Roxbury. They spent the morning studying math and reading while their afternoons were filled with enrichment activities. The latter included an "e" inc. science program I taught, called "Look Outside Your Window." This curriculum focuses on the plants and animals that live in our own urban habitat. The children spent time outside learning what it takes for a plant or animal to survive in a city and master new science concepts including animal adaptations, decomposition, photosynthesis, and pollination by using hands-on activities. We also focused on the many challenges animals and plants face in an urban habitat. The scholars planned and carried out a recycling program to help protect the habitats in their immediate community. They began their project by making recycling boxes for their morning teachers, and a recycling box for the cafeteria. Their next step was the creation of a plan for consistent collection so they could achieve their goal - a cleaner and sustainable community.
As their teacher, what most impressed me with their project was their commitment. Shawn and his classmates collected recycling all summer. They did not get tired after a week and give up. In fact, I mention Shawn specifically because, though all of the boys got involved, he took on a leadership role in spite of the fact that focus in other academic areas had been a struggle for him. He became motivated by what he learned in science and so he dedicated himself to the recycling program's success. Shawn's commitment influenced his classmates and illustrated to me one of "e" inc.'s fundamental beliefs: one person can make a difference by setting an example and inspiring change in others.
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"e" inc. Launches
Educators for the Next Generation
Campaign!
"e" is dedicated to answering the question, "How can we create conservation citizens for life?" If you'd like to be part of this important mission, and help us continue to serve youth in urban areas, please join us today.
We believe that one of the most effective ways to create a sustainable future is to educate, organize, and involve young people in using knowledge to take action today. If you have ever wished that others were more involved in saving and sustaining our planet, or thought that engaging young people not only creates a new cadre of conservationists but also presses adults in their lives to care, please know that by joining "e"you are helping to do this every day.
This is our first attempt at creating a solid grassroots base for our organization. We are shooting for a list of $30 supporters, 10,000 strong, knowing that if many give a little, we can do A LOT!
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