Green Schools, Healthy Schools Community Forum, including Permaculture Teacher and designer Bill Roley

[Wesley Roe and Marjorie Lakin Erickson]

hi Bill
	It is so great to see your level of involvement in the LA area , thank you
for your great efforts
									wes
Green Schools, Healthy Schools Community Forum

Saturday, May 13 - 8:30am to 2:00pm
Birney Elementary School Auditorium
710 W. Spring Street
Long Beach

     As part of its "Education" and "Sustainable Communities" Issues for
Emphasis, the League of Women Voters is proud
to announce the Green Schools, Healthy Schools Community Forum. The forum,
to be held on Saturday, May 13 from 8:30am to
2:00pm, will be hosted by Birney Elementary School, which is located at 710
W. Spring Street in Long Beach (please note
that early editions of some brochures & flyers had the incorrect address of
1710 Spring St. on them). Admission is free.

      The League's goal is to provide educational materials and speakers
who will demonstrate that Green Schools result
in higher student achievement and healthier learning environments; save
schools money; improve recreational
opportunities for the city; and raise property values.

     Green schools are neighborhood schools with healthy learning
environments, green playgrounds, and shade trees. They
are built with environmentally sound materials, have low energy costs, and
conserve water. At this exciting forum,
parents, students, teachers, School Board members, architects,
environmentalists, neighborhood leaders, planners and
elected officials can learn how these intelligently designed schools can be
cost efficient and improve the environment
at the same time.

     Co-sponsored by The Sierra Club, The Gray Panthers, Long Beach
Organic, TreePeople, DESIGN, NorthEast Trees, and
The City of Long Beach Department of Parks, Recreation, & Marine, this
forum will host a number of expert speakers who
will explain the benefits and concepts of "green" design:

§ Rob Peña, Director of Ecological Design Consulting for Van der Ryn
Architects and the Ecological Design Institute in
Sausalito, CA. A specialist in climate responsive, energy efficient design,
Mr. Peña will explain what green schools are
and how they have resulted in improved student achievement.

§ Dr. Bill Roley, President of Applied Ecological Systems and Director of
the Permaculture Institute of Southern
California. Dr. Roley will present a slide show that outlines what goes
into building a green school and the process
involved in creating the Center for Regenerative Studies at Cal Poly Pomona.

§ TreePeople will present their TREES computer program which calculates the
short and long term costs and benefits of
incorporating green technologies into the built environment.

§ Scott Wilson of NorthEast Trees will talk about the successful school
projects his group has been involved with and
will explore the "Cool Schools" program which is dramatically transforming
hot asphalt playgrounds to lush, green
landscaping which helps to offset heating and cooling costs. 

§ Haydee Vicedo of 'Food from the Hood' will describe Crenshaw High's
nationally-recognized program that has taught
children entrepreneurial skills through gardening and marketing of school
garden-based products.

§ Phil Hester, Director of the City of Long Beach Department of Parks,
Recreation and Marine, will examine how
neighborhood recreational opportunities can be expanded by working with
local schools.

Why now?  The League was an advocate and partner in the Long Beach Unified
School District's drive to obtain voter
approval for $300,000,000 in property tax generated school bonds. The bond
money is matched by State funds, giving the
LBUSD money to remodel and construct 13 new schools. By exploring the
benefits of Green Schools now, the League hopes
that parents and elected officials will work to assure that our schools of
the future will improve our children's
education by incorporating unique learning opportunities with clean,
ecologically sound class rooms for generations to
come.

For more information, please contact the Long Beach Area League of Women
Voters at (562) 596-1403.

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