Green Schools Challenge for High School

Mission:

Dream in Green’s mission is to empower individuals to respond to climate change and other environmental challenges facing local & global communities by assisting diverse organizations, such as schools, households, governments and businesses to reduce their environmental footprint. Dream in Green has served the South Florida community for 13 years by using hands-on education as a tool to implement our mission.

The program is aligned with the Miami-Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS) science curriculum pacing guides so teachers can integrate activities with their lessons.

Why Become a Green School?

• Reduce school’s utility costs by becoming more energy and resource efficient
• Improve management of school facilities and resources
• Expose students to green careers
• Provide a healthy environment for school occupants

Program Goals:

• Educate students about the relationships between water and energy consumption, waste generation and their environmental footprint.
• Reduce water and energy consumption and waste generation through behavioral change to help participating schools, students’ homes and communities save money and take action on environmental issues.
• Introduce resource-efficient behaviors that become part of the students’ daily routine.

Core Principles:

• Provide low-to-no-cost solutions that help people change behaviors and tackle climate change and other environmental challenges.
• A team of students, parents, teachers, administrators and facilities staff work together to implement the program guided by a common purpose.
• Green Teams develop and implement plans that support their school’s unique needs, opportunities and priorities.

Outcomes:

• Students – Increase appreciation for, connection to, and knowledge of their environment with intent to become environmental stewards
• Teachers – Increase interest & skills in environmental education with intent to integrate environmental education into ongoing instruction
• School/Community – Increase interest and knowledge of environmental policy & public engagement when dealing with environmental problems