We have worked with Greenfield schools since 2010 on numerous projects.

Our philosophy: Greening Greenfield is committed to helping young people take action to save the health of the earth and has worked best with them when we have been asked to help enhance their awareness of, develop understanding of, and take action toward personal and communal resiliency. Typically our work has been with both youth and their teachers.  

We have worked....

• on school grounds to create gardens;
• in classrooms...observing student work and providing feedback… supporting teachers during a lesson … guiding and participating in art projects;
• with educators and town officials to develop a school composting program;
• in community gardens helping youth learn about vegetable gardening while performing community service and filling a real-world need;
• with Educational Specialists from NESEA (New England Sustainable Energy Association) to stay knowledgeable about curricula; and
• in conferences to learn about, and share with teachers and administrators information on farm-to-school program development.

The key ingredient is for interest in resiliency to be expressed by children and / or the adults who live and work with them.

Science and Sustainability Expos 3-12 grades (2012-2015)

Workshops offered in preparation for the Expo: These 2 fun hands-on learning projects for kids are excellent, and still being offered nationally! KidWind involves some complex set-up but the Green home is easy to do in the classroom. 

KidWind Hands-On Wind Energy Education

Educators and youth in grades 3-12 build and take home a free model electricity-generating wind turbine with your own blade design. Learn about the knowledge, skills and resources needed to bring wind energy education to your youth using standards-based activities in an engaging, hands-on manner. Also find out about the KidWind Challenge that was held at Greening Greenfield's Science and Sustainability Expo on March 7, 2015, a competition where teams test home-made, small-scale wind turbines in a wind tunnel.

Dream Green Living. Dream Green Living Model Homes and Resilient Landscapes. 

Dream Green Living challenges young people and others to design and build imaginative and fun model homes and landscapes, and/or a village system with features that enable people to live a healthy, fulfilling lifestyle with low impact on the natural environment over a long period of time. Explore sustainability, environmental stewardship, energy concepts and ecology with your students, and learn about climate mitigation through landscape design while engaging in the engineering process as you design, construct, manipulate, play with, and redesign the tabletop creations. The project can be a collective learning experience, and is accessible to a wide range of learners.

This workshop is a cooperative hands-on adventure, and will model the process of bringing this project to youth. Final products can be exhibited at a free culminating event, the EnergyTeachers.org's Green Dollhouse Challenge, that will be held at Greening Greenfield's Science and Sustainability Expo in Greenfield on March 7, 2015. 

2014 Science & Sustainability Expo  3rd annual event was held March 1, 9am-3:30pm 

2013 Science & Sustainability Expo  2nd Annual held Sat, April 13 - click here for how 35 exhibits wowed attendees, and click here for a list of Green Dollhouse and Showcase exhibits and KidWind entrants and prizes. 

Science and Sustainability Expo 2012 a Great Success 

On Saturday, May 5, 2012, enthusiastic chatter from over 150 children, parents, volunteers and visitors participating in Greening Greenfield’s new Western Mass Science and Sustainability Expo filled Greenfield Community College’s dining common.

“We were really pleased with the number of people who participated, and the variety and quality of projects and exhibits that youth brought to the event,” said Susan Reyes, event coordinator. “There was such a fun, supportive, and enthusiastic atmosphere – we really want to do it again!”

The event included three elements: the competitive KidWind Challenge, and non-competitive Youth & Educator’s Showcase, and the Green “Dollhouse” Challenge.

During the KidWind Challenge, a national competition, the 14 teams of secondary students who had designed working models of wind turbines, lined up to have their 3-foot turbines judged for quality of design before moving onto the wind tunnel. Here students gathered and cheered encouragement as each took a turn to test the output of their turbine, which was projected onto a large screen.

In the non-competitive Youth & Educator’s Showcase, students, teachers, parents and volunteers visited the 33 displays, asking questions, sharing information, and writing comments in booklets that the students took home with them. The displays showcased projects and initiatives relating to ecology and environmental science, technology and sustainability, such as climate change, renewable energy, composting, carbon sequestration, and others. There was also a special area for entries in the EnergyTeachers.org Green “Dollhouse” Challenge. On display were several model sustainable houses and “Green Stream,” a sustainable recreational vehicle.

Overall, 60 youth, 12 educators, 20 volunteers and numerous exhibitors, parents and attendees took part in the Expo. Youth came from 8 elementary, middle and high schools, some of which are participating in the UMass STEM RAYS (Research Academy for Young Scientists) project or \the Massachusetts Association of Science Teachers, as well as a display from the Girl Scouts of North Hatfield Troop 11313. There were also displays from the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association, the New England Small Farms Institute, the UMass Wind Energy Center, the Franklin County Solid Waste District, and the Pioneer Valley Biochar Institute.  Students were from Mohawk Trail Regional High, Greenfield High, Holyoke Catholic High, Franklin County Technical School, Amherst Regional Middle, Montague Elementary, Hopkins Academy, Four Rivers Charter and an area home school.

“We wanted to enable local educators and youth to share and inspire one another with their science and sustainability projects, and to offer celebration and encouragement for their endeavors by a deeply caring and competent team of over 20 local, experienced volunteers – and we were really happy with the outcome,” added Susan.

The event closed with a ceremony where each team was acknowledged for their participation and creativity, and awards were handed out to the KidWind Challenge teams.

Greening Greenfield would like to thank Susan Reyes and all the students, teachers, and volunteers for their vision and efforts.

2012 Science & Sustainability Expo  First ever - held Sat, May 5, 2012. Click for full story of Inspiration in Action: KidWind Challenge, Green Dollhouse Challenge & Educational Projects Showcased - 4th-12th grade Educators and Home Schoolers.. more photos...and in the news

HS Students Paint Recycling Toters (2010)

If you have wished there were a handy place to throw away an empty can or bottle in the public areas of Greenfield, your wishes are coming true.  Thanks to the art students at Greenfield High, Wisty Rorabacher, and a grant from the Greenfield Local Cultural Council, a community art project called Artfully Recycle was born. Our Town is now decorated with eye-catching toters that call out to you to recycle those cans and bottles.  

Eight Greenfield High School students were inspired to do something to cut the amount of trash that goes to our land fills. Wisty Rorabacher, a retired high school teacher who has completed numerous community-based projects with students that won national awards, applied for a Local Cultural Council grants, because she knew that public art projects done by teenagers help build positive relations between young and older citizens, students and town officials. “I wanted to do a project combining my interest in art, education, community, and sustainability.”  

Artfully Recycle was a group effort. In addition to the students and the grant, Sandy Shields and Janine Greaves, Greenfield Department of Public Works agreed to provide 10 large, green toters for the students to paint. Shields and Greaves also agreed to judge the students’ designs to insure that the designs would attract attention and increase city-wide recycling.  Art teacher Debbie Prondecki welcomed the toters and the clutter of a group art activity into a section of her classroom.  

Prondecki and Rorabacher met with the students and talked about both recycling, as part of sustainability, and graphic design.  The students were challenged with articulating simple, clear messages about sustainability and communicating those ideas through original designs.  

“When I began this project, I thought of all the instruments I used to make out of pan-tins, pots, and bottles, all recyclable products. I wanted to use this idea to incorporate music with nature.” said twelfth grader Candace Bellville describing her design process. “ I really hope these bins catch people’s attention and get them to think more about recycling and their effect on nature.  Hopefully, this will be another big step in helping Greenfield become more green.”

Many challenges popped up as the project evolved. Should the designs be single sided or wrap around the toters?  How could the designs be transferred to the toters?  Purchase of an art projector solved that problem - and this projector is now available for community use.  What kind of paint will stick to the toters, which are designed to resist grafiti? After numerous tests and discussions, the students finally got to work.

During spring semester, Rorabacher worked on her own toter in the high school art room for 3-4 hours, two days a week.  “It was important to be there with the students, sharing the process of art, of creativity. Beyond asking one another for advice, celebrating one another’s progress, and simply being a listening adult, it was important to model putting in the time needed to complete a project.”  

Rorabacher added,  “I hope this is only the beginning of my being involved with the high school. There is so much positive energy and willingness to take action. And I hope town officials and business owners will seek out public art projects that involve students of all ages.  Think of how delightful it would be to have school art throughout Greenfield!”

“This project was AWESOME!” said Janine Greaves, Recycling Coordinator for the Greenfield Department of Public Works. “The toter with mermaids on it is going to be at the Green River Swimming Area, and the one with sunflowers on it will be at the Town Hall. Others will be placed at strategic places around town, so please look for them, and honor the students by pitching in your bottles and cans!”

Center School 6th graders (2009) survey people on the street in Greenfield about their awareness of climate change and the Greenfield 10% Challenge. They make graphs and presentations about their findings. 

Empowering Students to Seek Climate Change Solutions (2009 & 2010) Greenfield Middle School, Expanded Learning Time (ELT) program.