Monday, March 23, 2009

Kids Write to Know "GO GREEN" Awareness

Check out this event next Saturday if you're in Houston.

It looks like a really great event to take the kids. We are planning on attending and will most likely grab something to eat at the Thai restaurant in the same square. If you haven't been to this square you have to check it out. It reminds me of San Antonio.

The event will be held at the East End Urban Market that is in the same square with Bohemeo's and the Houston Institute for Culture.

Date: Saturday, March 28, 2009
Time: 1:00pm

Put your hands to work in a creative way
Increase the value of your community!
Join us at East End Urban Market
716 Telephone Road @ Lockwood

http://www.eastendurbanmarket.com
RSVP at http://www.kidswriteonline.org

Goals:
Help youth discover the power of thinking on paper
& Help increase the value of your community by recycling and going Green

Everyone will enjoy:
Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
Hands-on Workshops by local artists
Special presentations by Kids Write to Know students
Author of "Where is my Daddy", Valerie Paterson Owens

AND Latin Grammy Award (the oh so cool) Artist Lizbeth Ortiz

As well as, Students for a Better Houston digital storytelling projects

2 comments:

dave said...

This is great for kids! I love it. This is what we have just started...take a look.

Earth Day Project Leaves Green Footprint
Vermont Home School Family builds surprise successful business with their Greenfoot™ car magnets

Wells, VT – March 19, 2009 - What initially started as a school project about earth day and raising environmental awareness has evolved into a rapidly growing business for the Emmons family, who created the "Greenfoot™" car magnet.

The green magnet is in the shape of a footprint, and has the phrase "Keep it Green" across the top- meant- to remind people of their carbon footprint and encourage them to live a "green" life.

David Emmons, his wife Janet, and their three children, Maxson, 19, Katie, 14, and Abbie, 11, are using this project to spread the message of the importance of living a “Green lifestyle”, just in time for Earth Day.

"It started out as a science lesson for the two home-schooled girls last Earth Day and over time turned into a lesson on responsibility, community and working together to make a change," David Emmons said.

"We were studying how our actions impact our environment," Janet Emmons said. We started seeing how if we change small things in our daily routine we could have a noticeable impact on our environment."

As a school project that applied hands-on practical application, the girls were asked to think of a way to raise awareness on the impact an individual's lifestyle can have on the environment and to let people know how easy it can be to reduce a person's carbon footprint. After considering billboards and other ideas, the family decided to work together to create car magnets. "We all figured it would be a message that is visible nearly all the time," Janet Emmons said.

The family went right to work. “Our daily life became all about artwork, trademarks, copyrights, packaging, displays, and more artwork, we each had a part to play in this creative process,” David said.

“We determined from the start that we would have everything made locally so that the children would see first hand the positive impact they could have on their own community,” Janet said. With the help of a local print shop to print the package the magnet is sold with and a Hubbardton, VT blacksmith to make displays out of recycled products, the children were able to watch every step of the process.

"They've seen this from the idea and sketch on a piece of paper right down to the finished product," their father said.

Through the process the family incorporated school and life lessons in art, marketing, advertising and much more. But what the family learned most was the importance of living green and the impact individuals can have on the world.

"I learned that by taking small steps in your daily life, little things such as recycling and turning off lights when you leave a room, it can really help," Katie said. “I’ve always tried to recycle … but now I really think about things like ‘I should probably turn this off,’” she said. “I’m definitely more aware of it now.”

Maxson said one thing he learned was the effect anyone, including families in small-town Vermont, can have on their world. “It’s been exciting to watch this take off,” he added.

The lessons learned were exactly what their father said he had hoped for at the beginning of the project.
”The main thing I wanted them to learn is that they can make a difference. So many times people feel powerless in the world and I hope what they have learned is that everyone doing a little can affect the world, isn’t that what Earth Day is all about” he said, adding “a percentage of the proceeds from the purchase of the magnets goes to renewable energy projects”.

Since hitting store shelves in July, the “Greenfoot” magnets’ popularity is growing. The family routinely spots the magnets as they travel around Vermont and other parts of New England, David Emmons said. Although he said it is exciting to see magnets on what he calls “vehicles of awareness,” the family sees this as the beginning wave of people committing to a lifestyle of living “green”. “Our dream is to raise awareness all across the country with these magnets,” David said.

To help make this dream come true, the family has constructed a Web site at www.gogreenfoot.com. The site allows people to share what they are doing to live a “greener” life, get tips on what they can do to help and learn more about the project. Customers may purchase Greenfoot magnets directly from the site while retailers interested in carrying the Greenfoot can find ordering information on the site.
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Anonymous said...

Please, bring all your friends to the festival... For more information, or to rsvp go to

http://www.kidswriteonline.org/rsvpforartandmusicfesti.htm