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Educators meet to find green
By: Kurt Kloeblen, Staff writer
kkloeblen@sunpublications.com
The Kansas City Environmental Education Network wants to be a part of everything green, from curriculum to buildings.
Operated through the Mid-America Regional Council, the network partners regional environmental education groups with educators throughout the Kansas City metro area.
“Our basic goal is to improve and expand environmental education,” Matt Riggs, MARC solid waste management district outreach coordinator, said. “We want to increase education and help teachers take advantage of resources that are out there.”
The network is trying to work with area school districts to see how they build new buildings, Riggs said.
“We have partnered with the U.S. Green Building Council, which is a green schools advocacy group,” Riggs said. “We want to increase our outreach to building green schools and green architecture. We combined our efforts a month ago to bring together the architectural side with the curricular side. We want a holistic approach. We’re all after the same thing – to operate sustainably.”
Riggs said public schools focusing on environmental curriculum often takes a back seat to preparing for standardized testing, due to the No Child Left Behind act.
“Public schools are fixated on testing,” Riggs said. “They are in a position where they have to be, which is unfortunate. … A lot of them would like to teach more environmental science. Private schools have the ability to be more open and be more flexible. A lot of the public schools know KCEEN, but they don’t have the time to green up the curriculum.”
Riggs said the network meets monthly to allow for networking between area environmental education groups and teachers.
“There are a lot of great resources that teachers don’t know about,” Riggs said. “There are master gardeners and nature centers. There are different types of entertainers who perform with an environmental message. There’s just so much out there.”
Even with the struggle to get environmental curriculum in schools, Riggs said students are aware and willing to be green learners.
“I think kids are probably more aware then adults,” Riggs said. “It’s an interesting and exciting topic and kids are just more open-minded.”
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Operated through the Mid-America Regional Council, the network partners regional environmental education groups with educators throughout the Kansas City metro area.
“Our basic goal is to improve and expand environmental education,” Matt Riggs, MARC solid waste management district outreach coordinator, said. “We want to increase education and help teachers take advantage of resources that are out there.”
The network is trying to work with area school districts to see how they build new buildings, Riggs said.
“We have partnered with the U.S. Green Building Council, which is a green schools advocacy group,” Riggs said. “We want to increase our outreach to building green schools and green architecture. We combined our efforts a month ago to bring together the architectural side with the curricular side. We want a holistic approach. We’re all after the same thing – to operate sustainably.”
Riggs said public schools focusing on environmental curriculum often takes a back seat to preparing for standardized testing, due to the No Child Left Behind act.
“Public schools are fixated on testing,” Riggs said. “They are in a position where they have to be, which is unfortunate. … A lot of them would like to teach more environmental science. Private schools have the ability to be more open and be more flexible. A lot of the public schools know KCEEN, but they don’t have the time to green up the curriculum.”
Riggs said the network meets monthly to allow for networking between area environmental education groups and teachers.
“There are a lot of great resources that teachers don’t know about,” Riggs said. “There are master gardeners and nature centers. There are different types of entertainers who perform with an environmental message. There’s just so much out there.”
Even with the struggle to get environmental curriculum in schools, Riggs said students are aware and willing to be green learners.
“I think kids are probably more aware then adults,” Riggs said. “It’s an interesting and exciting topic and kids are just more open-minded.”