Category Archives: Green

Green

Earth Day 2023

School sites across PAUSD schedule activities to coincide with Earth Week and Walk and Roll from April 17th to 21st. This is an incomplete list. Watch this space, and contact your school site if you want to get involved or plan an activity of your own!

Elementary
Two resources that multiple sites are using include the Earth Week Activity Center https://bit.ly/ewac2023, and the Kat Kid Adventure ecomagazine, https://katkidadventure.com.

Addison: Green careers activity.

Duveneck: Kat Kid adventure magazine

Fairmeadow: Flip the Switch! energy conservation activity and Kat Kid adventure magazine

Hoover: Parents and kids will clean up weeds and plant in the garden. Kids will put plants in small cups to take home with them. Possible craft: musical instruments made out of recycled materials.

Ohlone: Trash pickup; used book sale; sorting bins; planting; recycled art; electronics recycling. They will also Flip the Switch! in May.

Secondary

Fletcher: They will host a Pop-Up visit from the Museum of the Future; Canopy is planting four trees, and they’ll do Flip the Switch!.

JLS: Flip the Switch! and bike blender activity.

Gunn: 4/15 Green careers panel from 2-5 pm at Gunn High School’s library. Book display at Gunn library. Collective art activity.

Community events

4/15: Green volunteering fair for all students, 10-1 at Mitchell Park Community Center. More info here.

4/21: March and Rally at Palo Alto City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave). From 2-4pm there will be family events. From 4-6:30pm all community members welcome, with guest speakers, a march, information tables, giveaways and volunteer opportunities. More info here.

4/22: Earth Day at Rinconada: Resource Fair and Pollinator Garden Tours. 1213 Newell Rd., Palo Alto. 10am-1pm. More information here: https://paloalto.bibliocommons.com/events/641a1e952c1c263700b26746

4/29: City Nature Challenge at the Palo Alto Baylands. 9am -12pm. More information here. https://savesfbay.org/event/city-nature-challenge-at-the-palo-alto-baylands-jwncqal/

4/30: Youth Community Services Pop-up Event at Izzi’s Child Development Center at Ravenswood. 951 O’Connor St., East Palo Alto., 10am-12pm.  More information here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CpmHhIXuL8i/?hl=en

Green

Earth Month 2022 Activities

PAUSD celebrates Earth Month this April with activities across the district!

This list will be updated as new events are added, but also please reach out to your school PTA. Some of these activities are online and open to all PAUSD students, and there are community events, too.

Elementary Schools: Fairmeadow

  1. The 2022 Earth Day edition of the Kat Kid Adventure, a student eco-magazine, celebrates amazing eco-actions by countries, cities and citizens from around the world. The free digital version is here. Printed copies are $1 each (schools can pay what they can). Fairmeadow, Escondido, and Duveneck are using the magazines for their Earth Month celebrations. 
  2. The “Flip the Switch Challenge,” where kids are turning off the lights when they leave the room! The collective goal for the school is 2,500 flips. 
  3. Gratitude postcard campaign to thank the Palo Alto City Council for their commitment to make Palo Alto greener. Open to all K-12 kids, it’s a way to teach how Palo Alto is currently doing and the goals they’re setting for a cleaner city. 

Elementary Schools: Hoover

  1. Dress our school with your plants!  Inspired by the book “The Empty Pot,” each student was given seeds with instructions on how to grow them at home. They will bring their plants to Hoover on Earth Day and the following week. The plants will be displayed throughout the campus. Every participant will receive a recognition gift; those with the healthiest plants will receive a special reward.
  2. Tips to prevent food wasteStudents will search for the best solutions to prevent food waste and enter their ideas in a Google Sheet. The Hoover Green Team will post the best suggestions.

Elementary Schools: Ohlone

  1. A used-book collection and sale as a fundraiser. 
  2. Several recycling collection campaigns – used disposable masks, fruit stickers, and are continuing on markers/crayons/pens. Others are welcome to contribute items. 
  3. Earth Week Activity Center  https://bit.ly/ewac2022

Middle schools: Fletcher

  •  Monday 4/18 Postcards for the Earth with The Cloud Project

Middle schools: JLS

  • Thursday, 4/14 Museum of Tomorrow Sustainability event at lunch and after school. Brought to you by Berkeley students and Safe Routes to School.
  • Monday, 4/18 Waste sorting Kahoot!
  • Tuesday, 4/19 Postcard for the Earth with The Cloud ProjectWednesday, 4/20 Earth Knowledge Bowl
  • Thursday 4/21 Reusable art project
  • Friday 4/22 Art contest and environmental topic table(s)

High schools:Gunn 

(all events in senior quad at lunch unless noted otherwise)

  • Monday, 4/11 Succulent Drive: buy a succulent for a dollar during lunch.
  • Friday, 4/15- Museum of Tomorrow: view sustainable transportation exhibits during brunch, lunch, and after school, brought to you by Berkeley students and Safe Routes to School.
  • Thursday, 4/21 Art Day: help us build an eco-friendly mural.
  • Tuesday, 4/26 Science Day: Explore exciting innovations in sustainability across many disciples represented by Gunn clubs.

High Schools: Paly

  • Monday, 4/18 through Wednesday 4/20:Pledge to eat at least one vegan meal per day for 3 days. Tag or DM @palyplantbased on instagram with a picture of your meals to qualify to win a PRIZE! Prizes will be distributed on Wednesday at lunch in front of the student center. 
  • Wednesday, 4/20:  There will be FREE SAMPLES of vegan chicken nuggets and sweet/sour sauce at the student center. Give honest feedback regarding the new lunch offerings. 
  • Friday 4/22: Plant potting! Students can paint a pot and plant a native plant to take home with them. Come to the quad on Friday at lunch to create a custom home for a small plant!
  • There will also be speakers throughout the week. 

Community:

March and Rally for Our Earth 4/22, 4-6pm, King Plaza in front of City Hall.

Guest speakers Marc Berman, Mayor Pat Burt, and environmental leaders and musicians. After the rally at 5, students will lead a march around and back to King Plaza. After the march, visit local organizations’ tables and hang your Earth Day pledges on the “Pledge tree.”  Open to everyone. RSVP here. 

Palo Alto Earth Day Fair 4/23, 10-1pm, Mitchell Park Bowl. 

Booths dedicated to Palo Alto climate policy, climate anxiety, electrification, succulent planting and more. Open to the whole family.

E-waste Recycling on Saturday, April 23rd 9am-1pm, Ohlone parking lot (950 Amarillo Ave).

Gather up your electronics and unused unrepairable items for the E-waste truck in the Ohlone parking lot (950 Amarillo Ave) on Saturday 4/23 9am-1pm .
Bring electronics, power tools, computers, cell phones, CD players, computers, cords, printers, metal, TVs, and more to be safely recycled and raise money for Ohlone!
Full list of accepted items: https://ajelectronicrecycling.com/accepted-items/

This event is open to the community.
Questions? Want to drop off light items in advance? Email promiserani@audrey

Earth Day Youth Community Event, 1:30-5:30 pm, Rinconada Park.

Palo Alto high school students will host activities including youth talks, environmental education and green STEM projects posters, kids drawings and crafts, and a performance by a Paly student band. This event is free. Students interested in speaking at the event or who want to bring a project to display, please email here.