We just received a call from the IT department in Malden, MA. Anthony Rodriguez of the IT department called for our student, Courteney and left a message saying that he will be telling all Malden city departments to follow 4th grade's advice and change the margins.
Soon after our phone message we received a personal letter from Deval Patrick congratulating us
and saying he would be considering the idea to Change the Margins. Less of a committment than we had hoped for but exciting just the same.
You will see copies of the Governor's letters and letters from State Representatives Corey Atkins, Alice Peisch and State Senator Tolman in the hallway outside the classroom.
And Tamara Krinsky is pitching our "curriculum " to Hewlett Packard as a HP contest school idea.
Showing posts with label green ideas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label green ideas. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Friday, May 9, 2008
Mayor of Cambridge takes up Change the Margins
We thought we were going to lobby Mayor E. Denise Simmons during her open office hours BUT, Jeff Walker, her chief of staff had 2 copies of engrossed* versions ( gold stamp seal, hand signed by the Clerk and in leather folders) of the resolution R-51 from the City Council of Cambridge. This resolution was read by the Mayor to our students and then presented to Eli and Mark, Cambridge citizens who wrote the letters that initiated this action by the Mayor. School Committee member Nancy Tauber, was also present. The resolution recognized the Atrium 4th grade class for their efforts and the Change the Margins
idea as a very important one. The Mayor promised to work to implement this change throughout Cambridge. And Ms. Tauber said she would spread the word to the schools.
This is a huge boost to our campaign! Great work class and especially, Eli and Mark!
In other news, the Mayor's office of Malden has promised to bring Courteney's letter to a department head meeting:
We are in receipt of Courteney’s correspondence.
Please be advised that Mayor Howard is planning on presenting Courteney’s proposal to our department heads at a meeting he has scheduled for next week ...
We’re hoping that these efforts will result in saving paper and a better environment.
If you have any further suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact this office.
Thank you -
Maureen Taylor
Office of Mayor Richard C. Howard
Malden Government Center
Great work Courteney! She has, along with Ilana, Sophie, Asha, Eric, Christian, Harriet and Isabel, been making follow up phone calls. And thanks to Alie and Shayna, Eli Cole and Mark who have been making displays for the bulletin boards.
* engross: To write or print the final draft of (an official document).
[Middle English engrossen, to collect in large quantity, monopolize, from Old French engrossier, from en gros, in large quantity : en, in (from Latin in; see in-2) + gros, large; see gross. Sense 3, from Middle English engrossen, to make a finished copy of a legal document, from Anglo-Norman engrosser, from Medieval Latin ingrossre : Latin in-, in; see en-1 + grossa, a copy in a large hand (from Late Latin grossus, thick).
More pictures here:
Friday, May 2, 2008
Thursday, May 1, 2008
May 1st news...
Fyi, Ilana's letter was published in the Watertown Tab. I'll get copies of the print version, but here's a link to the web version.
http://www.wickedlocal.com/watertown/news/opinions/letters/x914622164
Tim
AND
This from Tamara Krinsky at Change the Margins:
Norah -
Subject: [Change the Margins] Alison submitted a comment to '4th Graders Take Margins to Beacon Hill'
To: changethemargins@gmail.com
http://www.wickedlocal.com/watertown/news/opinions/letters/x914622164
Tim
AND
This from Tamara Krinsky at Change the Margins:
Norah -
A recent comment on the blog from an exec at HP. Feel free to share with your students to show how they are immediately making a difference and inspiring others to do the same!
Best,
Tamara Subject: [Change the Margins] Alison submitted a comment to '4th Graders Take Margins to Beacon Hill'
To: changethemargins@gmail.com
| A new comment from "Alison" was received on the post "4th Graders Take Margins to Beacon Hill" of the weblog "Change the Margins". Comment:
|
Monday, April 28, 2008
Watertown Town Council Changes Margins?
Letters from Eric and Ilana went to the Town Council. We received this report from Council Member, Susan Falkoff:
Date: 04/22/2008 10:18 PM
Subject: Re: 4th grade at State House on WBUR April 22
Norah,
Ruth Thomassian came to the council to announce various events related to Earth Day and mentioned having heard the radio segment. Steve Owens, chair of the Democratic Town Committee told me he'd heard it, too.
Later in the Council meeting, I made a request of the council clerk and the data processing manager to explore the feasibility of the class's suggestion.
This could mean a victory, outside our school, soon!
Date: 04/22/2008 10:18 PM
Subject: Re: 4th grade at State House on WBUR April 22
Norah,
Ruth Thomassian came to the council to announce various events related to Earth Day and mentioned having heard the radio segment. Steve Owens, chair of the Democratic Town Committee told me he'd heard it, too.
Later in the Council meeting, I made a request of the council clerk and the data processing manager to explore the feasibility of the class's suggestion.
This could mean a victory, outside our school, soon!
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
We are featured on WBUR website this AM!
Click here to listen
http://storypodnewengland.libsyn.com/
And Tamara Krinsky, who started this campaign has been in contact - she heard about us from the story on WBUR.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Reflections on The Green 13
These are student's reflections on our work. All students are represented...
I learned about dry ice. Hot water makes it steam more. I learned about saws. I liked to saw stuff. The spotlight was really fun to run and easy for me to do. Making things for the play was fun. The play was fun, easy and a little hard to do. Mainly it was fun and cool. - Eric H.
I liked learning about dry ice. And I loved learning about machines and making the dry ice machine. I liked pulling the pulleys and singing the songs. I think the best part was the finale and the I like bicycles. I liked the way we worked together. - Courteney D.
During the rock opera I learned about teamwork and more about performances. I learned that if you don't have teamwork, it won't be good. I mean, you can do it by yourself but if you have a team and team work it will be a lot better. I learned about performances after I came to America. In Korea we don't do performances. I learned that in performance you have to be really fast and and not be shy of all the people.
- Mark S.
I liked using the pulleys and finding the rays [parts of the set were missing Ed.note]for the good guy and repairing him. I liked learning about dry ice, doing the Punk News and finding a costume. I liked singing the 3 Rs and Bicycle. I don't drink as much bottled water and I sometimes walk to the diner. - Ilana H.
I really liked making up the dance for Bicycle, a lot. A lot! I liked making my costume. People said I looked "gothic". I learned never to hold dry ice because I burned myself.I really liked the singing and the dancing and the acting a lot. I learned to work together because when you do it works and it looks really good. - Shayna B.
I learned to help and to listen to others and to wait and listen for my cue.I really liked learning about punks and the stuff they wear. I really enjoyed working with Shayna and Mark. I also found the ideos to be very funny, mostly. I liked pulling up the bad guy. - Harriet T.
I have learned a lot of things while working on the rock opera. I learned about cooperation and teamwork. I also learned about performing.I really liked figuring out what I was going to use for my costume. I also loved the run throughs. I think the rock opera was a great production.I also think that the parents,and other students andteachers really appreciated our effort. Here are some things I am going to do to stop global warming: 1. Turn off my DVD player and TV when I am not using them.
2. Use canvas bags at the store. -Alie R.
I liked the pulleys,fixing the ramp [it needed to be rebuilt before the show and Sophie helped hammer it back together Ed. note]dry ice, wearing a costume, singing the 3Rs and sliding down the ramp after the show was over. It was really fast and awesome. I do not drink bottled water and I bring canvas bags to the store. - Sophie N.
I liked working with power tools because it is faster, Another thing I enjoyed was making videos because I was very relaxed and you didn't have to be perfect. It was personally hard for me to cooperate with all the ideas.I enjoyed learning about dry ice and about the fog machine. A funny incident happened when I was told to dump dry ice down the toilet And it started bubbling. - Eli B.
The rock opera taught me that anyone can cooperate if they try to. I learned about how you blunt nails by hitting them on the floor before nailing them in. This way you don't crack the wood as much.
- CJ Corrigan
I learned that working with a team to do something is a lot easier than doing it alone. We did stuff as a team but it was still really hard . I mean we can do stuff when we put our minds to it. We worked really hard on the rock opera and I am pleased with the way it turned out. I want my mom and dad to start doing more about global warming that they are already doing.. we are doing as much as we can to stop global warming or at least hold it off. ...-Asha D.
What I learned doing Green 13 is that I can make props and characters. I learned about dry ice. And I did the voice of the sun. I did a last minute part because someone was late. People said I did good but I only had 30 seconds to practice. I made my costume by myself. I already recycle all our bottles at home
Cole B.
Even while we were sharing facts we learned some facts ourselves. I loved all the songs at first. I am very proud of everyone, even the teachers. I also learned about using canvas bags,which are so much better for the environment.
Isabel D.
I learned about dry ice. Hot water makes it steam more. I learned about saws. I liked to saw stuff. The spotlight was really fun to run and easy for me to do. Making things for the play was fun. The play was fun, easy and a little hard to do. Mainly it was fun and cool. - Eric H.
I liked learning about dry ice. And I loved learning about machines and making the dry ice machine. I liked pulling the pulleys and singing the songs. I think the best part was the finale and the I like bicycles. I liked the way we worked together. - Courteney D.
During the rock opera I learned about teamwork and more about performances. I learned that if you don't have teamwork, it won't be good. I mean, you can do it by yourself but if you have a team and team work it will be a lot better. I learned about performances after I came to America. In Korea we don't do performances. I learned that in performance you have to be really fast and and not be shy of all the people.
- Mark S.
I liked using the pulleys and finding the rays [parts of the set were missing Ed.note]for the good guy and repairing him. I liked learning about dry ice, doing the Punk News and finding a costume. I liked singing the 3 Rs and Bicycle. I don't drink as much bottled water and I sometimes walk to the diner. - Ilana H.
I really liked making up the dance for Bicycle, a lot. A lot! I liked making my costume. People said I looked "gothic". I learned never to hold dry ice because I burned myself.I really liked the singing and the dancing and the acting a lot. I learned to work together because when you do it works and it looks really good. - Shayna B.
I learned to help and to listen to others and to wait and listen for my cue.I really liked learning about punks and the stuff they wear. I really enjoyed working with Shayna and Mark. I also found the ideos to be very funny, mostly. I liked pulling up the bad guy. - Harriet T.
I have learned a lot of things while working on the rock opera. I learned about cooperation and teamwork. I also learned about performing.I really liked figuring out what I was going to use for my costume. I also loved the run throughs. I think the rock opera was a great production.I also think that the parents,and other students andteachers really appreciated our effort. Here are some things I am going to do to stop global warming: 1. Turn off my DVD player and TV when I am not using them.
2. Use canvas bags at the store. -Alie R.
I liked the pulleys,fixing the ramp [it needed to be rebuilt before the show and Sophie helped hammer it back together Ed. note]dry ice, wearing a costume, singing the 3Rs and sliding down the ramp after the show was over. It was really fast and awesome. I do not drink bottled water and I bring canvas bags to the store. - Sophie N.
I liked working with power tools because it is faster, Another thing I enjoyed was making videos because I was very relaxed and you didn't have to be perfect. It was personally hard for me to cooperate with all the ideas.I enjoyed learning about dry ice and about the fog machine. A funny incident happened when I was told to dump dry ice down the toilet And it started bubbling. - Eli B.
The rock opera taught me that anyone can cooperate if they try to. I learned about how you blunt nails by hitting them on the floor before nailing them in. This way you don't crack the wood as much.
- CJ Corrigan
I learned that working with a team to do something is a lot easier than doing it alone. We did stuff as a team but it was still really hard . I mean we can do stuff when we put our minds to it. We worked really hard on the rock opera and I am pleased with the way it turned out. I want my mom and dad to start doing more about global warming that they are already doing.. we are doing as much as we can to stop global warming or at least hold it off. ...-Asha D.
What I learned doing Green 13 is that I can make props and characters. I learned about dry ice. And I did the voice of the sun. I did a last minute part because someone was late. People said I did good but I only had 30 seconds to practice. I made my costume by myself. I already recycle all our bottles at home
Cole B.
Even while we were sharing facts we learned some facts ourselves. I loved all the songs at first. I am very proud of everyone, even the teachers. I also learned about using canvas bags,which are so much better for the environment.
Isabel D.
Friday, February 1, 2008
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