Kansas Green Schools Conference

It's Easy being Green:  Innovation, Inspiration, Implementation

Friday, 31 July 2009         8 a.m. to 5 p.m.   

Cargill Learning Center, Sedgwick County Zoo, Wichita

Just $15 per participant before 31 May; $20 after that date

We're sorry, registration is now closed, as we are at capacity.

Includes lunch and materials.

Kick off the new school year by attending the first-ever Kansas Green Schools Conference!  Join other teachers, administrators, non-formal educators, parents, and others interested in learning more about how to "green" their schools! 

The conference will include a keynote speaker, school sharing sessions with Green School Grantees and organization representatives, Green School Share Fair, performance by StoneLion Puppet Theatre, and breakout sessions on Green School curriculum, elements of a green and healthy school, green jobs and career paths, event and festival training, and a grant workshop!

Keynote speaker Robert Kobet has traveled around the world working on green design projects.  He is well-known for his expertise in allergy-free, non-toxic design for people with multiple chemical sensitivities.  Bob is the chair of the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED for Schools Initiative.  He is passionate about green schools and will both challenge and inspire us to make our schools more green!

Click on the link below for the conference registration form:

Conference registration form  We're sorry, registration is closed as we are at capacity.

Tentative Schedule: (updated Friday, 24 July 2009)

8 a.m. Registration, coffee/rolls, networking, exhibits

8:30 a.m. Opening Session

Conference Welcome -- Shari L. Wilson, KACEE

Introduction of Keynote Speaker -- Maureen Ruhlman, KDHE

Keynoter Robert Kobet

School Sharing:

9:15 a.m. Panel Session: Green School Grantees talk about their projects

            Speakers include:

            Denise Scribner, Goddard High School

            Rick Mitchell, Prairie Moon Waldorf School

            Tim Oberhelman, Olathe South High School

Moderated by Sondra Megrail, KDHE

10:15 a.m. Roundtables with Panelists and Organization Representatives, including Kathleen Waters, Maureen Ruhlman, Karen Lollman, and Sondra Megrail with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment; Dan Nagengast with Wind for Schools; Melissa Arthur with KACEE; Peter Armesto with the Kansas Corporation Commission State Energy Office; Sedgwick County Zoo education staff; and Jenny Jasper, Miami County Conservation District.  This will be a free-flowing session where conference participants can move from topic to topic, ask questions, and gather information.

11 a.m. Breakout Sessions:

Project Learning Tree/Project WET with a Green Schools Twist (part 1) -- This workshop will be a fun, hands on learning experience where participants will engage in activities about renewable resources, trees, pollution, the water cycle and much more. Participants will receive the Project Learning Tree guide as well as the Project WET guide. 

*Participants must come to BOTH workshop sessions (before lunch 11:00-12:30 and after lunch 2:00-3:30) to receive the guides.  Facilitated by Ashlyn Kite-Hartwich, KACEE, and Kara King, Sedgwick County Zoo 

Grant Workshop:  Need some funding for a green project? Sit in on this workshop to learn about different kinds of grants for schools.  Presenters include Maureen Ruhlman, Sondra Megrail,  Kathleen Waters, and Karen Lollman with KDHE; Dan Nagengast with Wind for Schools; Peter Armesto with KCC State Energy Office; and George Potts, Kansas Department of Wildlife & Parks, will talk about the OWLS Program. Scott Nightingale with KDHE will moderate the session.

Event/Festival Training:  Raise the excitement level at your school by holding a green event or festival! This session will tell you how. Presenters include Heather Loewenstein with StoneLion Puppet Theatre and Melissa Arthur with KACEE.  Moderated by Schanee' Anderson, Sedgwick County Zoo.

12:30 p.m. Lunch

1 p.m. Share Fair (Schools sharing information about their "green" projects)

1:30 p.m. "Down the Drain" -- Performance by StoneLion Puppet Theatre

2 p.m. Breakout Sessions:

Project Learning Tree/Project WET with a Green Schools Twist (part 2) -- This workshop will be a fun, hands on learning experience where participants will engage in activities about renewable resources, trees, pollution, the water cycle and much more. Participants will receive the Project Learning Tree guide as well as the Project WET guide. 

*Participants must come to BOTH workshop sessions (before lunch 11:00-12:30 and after lunch 2:00-3:30) to receive the guides.  Facilitated by Ashlyn Kite-Hartwich, KACEE and Kara King, Sedgwick County Zoo 

Elements of a Green and Healthy School:  There are all kinds of ways to make your school green! Learn about green infrastructure and healthy, sustainable actions to benefit your school. Presenters include Chad Althouse with the US Green Building Council, Kansas City Chapter, and Jane Shirley with KDHE's Coordinated School Health Program.  Moderated by Kathleen Waters, KDHE.

Green Jobs and Career Paths:  What’s the outlook for green jobs in Kansas? This session will fill you in.  Presenters include Marie Hall with the Kansas State Department of Education, and Bruce Graham, Cloud County Community College Wind Energy Technology Department.  Shari L. Wilson with KACEE will moderate the session.

3:30 p.m. Robert Kobet will help us wrap up the day

4 p.m. Optional tour of Sedgwick County Zoo (check out parts of the zoo you don’t normally get to see!) or the brand new, "green" Earhart Environmental Magnet Elementary School (provide your own transportation)

5 p.m. Head home

For more information, contact Shari L. Wilson at swilson@kacee.org and 913-287-6879 or Jolene Amtower at jamtower@kacee.org or 785-532-1902.

KACEE would like to thank the Sedgwick County Zoo, KDHE, the Greater Kansas City Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council, Start-Thinking, StoneLion Puppet Theatre, and Diamond Solar Solutions for helping to sponsor the conference.