Our Environment

“Taking Care of our Brains, so We can take care of our Earth.”
– HISD Piney Point ES CS-STEM Green Club Motto
Impossible Missions are the only ones that succeed. – Jacques Cousteau
Where are we now?  TED 2010 Earth

Putting AI to work for the Environment

The Secret Language of TreesHow Trees Talk
Networks … Cyber Security Ideas from Trees? … Decoder

Our community …

There are so, so many resources and opportunities in Houston to engage our children, and empower them to improve their own neighborhood and lives, utilizing real-life skills to create a healthy, safe, sustainable place for them to live & flourish, and be educated & proud.  Please let’s keep the ball rolling!  My goal is to make community service a part of graduation requirements.  Maybe then schools will provide the time and staff to connect all the organizations wanting to help all our students change our future.  We need a bridge between those who want to help, and schools who need the resources.

Media that makes me think:

Solutions

Resources

  • Region IV Service Center
  • WECAN
  • Texas Children in Nature – Houston – Becky Luman coordinator…see Healthy Tweaks.
  • Cities Connecting Children with Nature
  • Healthy Tweaks LLC:  Healthy for you…Healthy for our Earth!TM.  Coordinated by Becky Luman: Every Kid in a Park – Houston, Logistics Coordinator; Houston / Gulf Coast’s Citizen’s Environmental Coalition, Board of Directors; Texas Girls Collaborative Project, Regional Leadership Team
  • HUD SEED Community Development:
  • City of Houston Education:  Juliette Stipeche, the City of Houston’s Director of Education. In keeping with his goals of a whole community, Mayor Turner has hired the first city-wide Director of Education to ensure collaboration between all the school districts that touch Houston. Please note the link to the HouSTEM Partnership.
  • Hire Houston Youth: Mayor Turner’s summer jobs program linking government, institutions, businesses, community organizations, and schools to offer internships and job opportunities to youth ages 16-24.
  • Texas Girls Collaborative Project: TXGCP connects non-profits, K-12 schools, higher education institutions, companies, organizations and individuals across the state of Texas committed to informing and motivating girls to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. While the goal is primarily to inspire our girls to love STEM subjects, the TXGCP Resources are applicable more broadly to any youth.
  • Connectory: A listing of organizations and programs that focus on motivating girls to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
  • Rice Office of STEM Engagement: The Rice Office of STEM Engagement serves as the single point of contact for all STEM related outreach and education efforts at Rice University. R-STEM promotes science awareness by supporting faculty and students at Rice University, as well as K-12 educators, in developing STEM-related educational outreach programs and initiatives.
  • Jim Blackbun – flooding expert – Rice University
  • SpringSpirit: A fabulous example of a local faith-based organization created by private donation creating a safe, healthy, place for young kids to go in their neighborhood for after school sports and education.
  • SBISD SpringBoard Mentoring Program: A fabulous example of a public school district’s well-run mentoring program that engages faith-based organizations and businesses to engage their members/employees in mentoring Houston’s Spring Branch ISD’s underprivileged youth.
  • Every Kid in a Park – Houston: The EKIP Initiative in Houston provides bus funding for Title 1 Fourth Graders to our local public lands, with the field trips tied to TEKS standards. This is a wonderful example of over 30 Houston area organizations collaborating together for the benefit of our youth…to get them to go outside for their health and education!
  • National Society of Black Engineers: There are chapters of the amazing group of go-getters in all our area universities. Recently, they hosted a Walk for Education in the Finnigan Park Community Center neighborhood, gathering over 100 college aged adults to knock on doors and open dialog, encouraging families to explore STEM and inspire youths in the neighborhood to understand the importance of a good education. What a great resources…young amazing engineering students to mentor our youth!
  • Keep Houston Beautiful…School Beautification Day. During the month of April, KHB will be encouraging schools across the Houston to participate in a “campus beautification day.” They also have on-going clean-up days.
  • Harris County Public Health’s Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child – A Collaborative Approach to Learning: HCPH’s motto is, “You cannot educate a child who is not healthy, and you cannot keep a child healthy who is not educated.” HCPH’s next School Health Leadership Group meeting is January 31st from 10:00 – 1:00 at the Harris County Department of Education.
  • Kinder Institute for Urban Research: The Kinder Institute’s mission is to advance understanding of the most important issues facing Houston and other leading urban centers through rigorous research, policy analysis, and public outreach; and collaborate with civic and political leaders to implement promising solutions to these critical urban issues. The Kinder Institute, Houston LISC, Houston Endowment & Corporation for Supportive Housing is hosting an upcoming meeting, Houston & Harris County Houston Conversation, on February 17.
  • EcoChallenge – Mine, get a school garden started.
  • Interpretive Insights – Nature Explained – Met Amanda Hughes-Horan at a CCCN-H Meeting, a growing group bring those who care together.
  • Green For All