“e”
moves
to new Headquarters as guests of the Genzyme Corporation
As a result of discussions with a supporter of our work, “e”
received a generous donation of office and teaching space from
the Genzyme Corporation, a company whose management is deeply interested
in questions of sustainability. Since January of 2005, “e”
has been in its new home at One Kendall Square, in Cambridge.
Our new headquarters has
given us the chance to begin planning for “The
Learning Room,” a ‘one room schoolhouse’
to be outfitted with a variety of flexible teaching stations. We envision
this public education space to focus its teaching on issues of sustainability
and to first be used as a field trip site for local schools.
In addition, our location
in Kendall Square has offered us new opportunities to broaden our outreach
to include Cambridge. We anticipate beginning after-school work in Cambridge
by Spring of 2006.
“e”
hired
by Boston Pilot School to establish experienced-based environmental
projects and curriculum throughout School
8th graders
from New Boston Pilot celebrating after a morning of Tide Pool exploration
last spring.
“e”
has been hired as the consulting organization charged with bringing
a dynamic new program to life. As the result of a three-year award to
the New Boston Pilot Middle School from an Anonymous donor, we have
been based at NBPMS twice a week since October, working with teachers
and adjunct staff. “e” is formulating new community partnerships
for the school, establishing new education models, and readying NBPMS
for a February launch of a new project-based curriculum for 6th graders
across four separate Academies.
Mid-winter
‘06, teens from each of the four Academies will be charged with
undertaking a challenge that will be posed to them and that will lead
to the creation of four different gardens or ‘farms’ on
school property. The farms will serve as a type of portfolio, demonstrating
each Academy’s effort to understand both environmental processes
and the impact of farming across cultures.
In
addition, we anticipate that the project will help the children build
an understanding of the important historic relationship so many people
have traditionally had to “the land.”
In
the Spring, we will turn our attention to working with 7th grade staff.
Here they will tackle the science and humanities topics that will engage
the children in assessing, mapping, and ultimately caring for two local
Urban Wilds – one in Dorchester and one within Franklin Park.
"e"
Board Grows
We are happy to introduce three new
members who bring with them a broad range of knowledge and skills:
- Mr. Mike Farrell, Triumverate Environmental
- Mr. Brad Weis, Manager, Starbucks
- Mr. Kim Goslant, Environment Attorney,
The Poloroid Corporation
The "e" Board
of Directors focuses on strategies for growth and mission, helps the
organization build relationships, and oversees fundraising, budgets,
and goals.
We
are very pleased to have the support and involvement of these dynamic
leaders and we publicly welcome them to our team. |
 
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After
school program member creating a poster for the schoolrecycling project
at a Charter School in Dorchester
After
School Programs triple with more to come!
After a successful year piloting new curriculums, “e” has
signed up several new sites to bring environment science and community
action into their after school programs.
This
year’s focus is Ocean Biodiversity.
Children, from ages 6-to-12, work in teams and learn about water’s
uniqueness, the many habitats filled with sea-dependent beings, survival
techniques of the soft and the shelled, fish behavior, storm drain protection,
and how to protect the water sources in their area.
In
our classes children do experiments, build models of the ocean, investigate
microscopic beings, identify live fish, care for aquaria, visit outdoor
estuaries, and then plan activities to improve water health.
New
grants (see below) will allow us to take the program to even more sites
this spring and next winter.
New
Foundations join “e” ranks!
"e" has begun to attract a roster of foundations
excited by our action model and our commitment to deep science education.
New
to our list of foundations in the past two months are: The Robbins de
Beaumont Foundation, Draper Labs, The Fuller Foundation, The Dewing
Foundation, and The Clipper Ship Foundation.
We
thank each of them for this show of support.
The
Learning Room –
From Idea to Reality.
Since
our inception, the “e” mission has always included finding
ways to reach the broadest public. Now, with the donation of space from
Genzyme, we are working to making this a reality.
Through
a pairing with the Robert Kennedy School (elementary and middle) in
Cambridge we will be fabricating flexible workstations and testing the
content and design with the school’s faculty and students this
spring.
We
envision The Learning Room as a field trip site for day and after schools
from Cambridge and Boston. At The Learning Room we will be focused on
helping children understand the concept of “sustainability”
in all its many manifestations. Each classes’ four-visit program
will the be followed by “e” - supported action projects
back in the classroom.
Questions we will ask children to solve might include:
— Do you know the many ways that nature recycles?
— Why can we say that the sun has always been Earth’s main
source of energy?
— Can you come up with ways to build a sun collector?
— Have you looked at the ways early peoples made careful use of
resources?
— When is a lot really ENOUGH?
We look
forward to the many opportunities The
Learning Room will bring for community education and
action. Look for our invitation to visit when our opening occurs this
Spring.
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