Professional Development
Baltimore Energy Challenge Professional Development
On Thursday, January 26, 2012 members of the Baltimore Energy Challenge engaged our entire school community with a Energy Bingo. We had over 45 participants, including teachers, paraprofessionals, and non-profit personnel.
pd_flyer_pppcs1.pdf | |
File Size: | 89 kb |
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Office of Sustainability Staff Development
On January 23, 2013, PPPCS held an hour long staff professional development session by the Baltimore City Office of Sustainability on the topic of .energy use reduction. We learned that reducing our electricity consumption can help improve our air quality, reduce our dependence on foreign fuels, curb our greenhouse gas emissions, prevent the construction of more power plants, reduce the risk of blackouts, and save us all money on electric bills.
Wet and Wild Professional Development
Christa Huber, a third grade teacher at PPPCS, has really become an advocate for wetlands, energy effeciency and environmental education. One of the programs that she participated in was the Wet and Wild. On Wednesday, February 13, Christa gave an overview of what it takes to be a Green School and Projects Wet
and Wild. We had 47 participants listening intently to what Christa said.
and Wild. We had 47 participants listening intently to what Christa said.
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File Size: | 327 kb |
File Type: | pptx |
Professional Development Opportunities
* Middle school science teacher, Mike Hendrick, has a masters in Environmental Education. Mike uses this when he visits the elementary school classes to conduct experiments and exploratory sessions.
* Ben Saeli, our other middle school science teacher, trained for 1.5 hours at the National Aquarium. During this time, he was taught about the animals that live in our bay and ways we can help them thrive.
* Ben Saeli attended a professional development that was sponsored by the Maryland Association of Science Teachers. This PD was on 10/19/12 and he attended three sessions that were devoted to environmental concerns.
* Christa Huber, third grade science and social studies teacher, took the professional development offered through Baltimore City called "Elementary Environmental Leaders" in Fall 2012. It was offered through the Irvine Nature Center, and the facilitator is the Manager of School and Urban Education Programs. The course gave Christa a brief overview of the curricula Project Wet, Project Wild and Project Learning Tree. It also taught her how to effectively incorporate environmental education lessons into her curriculum.
Christa is currently taking a 60 hour course to be trained as a Master Naturalist for the Piedmont Region. After she graduates, she is required to complete 40 hours of volunteer work at Irvine per year. Her final project involves planning a Raise and Release Monarch Butterfly Event for the Nature Center. On her free time, Christa is also volunteering at the Patuxent Wildlife Refuge, located in Laurel, Maryland. She is mainly working with the education department, writing curriculum and helping out with various education and interpretation events.
* The University of Maryland Extension Classes brought their nutrition class to Patterson Park Public Charter School in spring of 2010 and 2011. Kathy Renzi, Nutrition Educator, brought her knowledge to many PPPCS personnel as well as personnel from surrounding schools. This one credit class met once a week, discussing such nutrition topics as food deserts, encouraging low income students to eat healthy, and how to prepare your environment for growing fruits and vegetables. The spring 2011 class had eleven of our staff members participating. The staff included Kelly O'Connor, Mike Hendrick, Georgia Holland-Pence, Abi Jakubowski, Eliza Greer, Liz Obara, Debbie Costas, Elizabeth Ernst, Liz Gutting,and Emily Augustine.
* Serena Harris, second grade teacher and club leader for our Garden Club, also took the nutrition class and is currently waiting for acceptance in to a program called Food For Life. Serena plans on becoming a Food For Life Educator. The program allows grade school children to experience a hands-on approach to sustainability and healthy eathing. Students will create their own compost for planting to harvesting crops for community dinners. In addition to this, students will be given an opportunity to learn about the foods we eat while giving back to their community.
* Ben Saeli, our other middle school science teacher, trained for 1.5 hours at the National Aquarium. During this time, he was taught about the animals that live in our bay and ways we can help them thrive.
* Ben Saeli attended a professional development that was sponsored by the Maryland Association of Science Teachers. This PD was on 10/19/12 and he attended three sessions that were devoted to environmental concerns.
* Christa Huber, third grade science and social studies teacher, took the professional development offered through Baltimore City called "Elementary Environmental Leaders" in Fall 2012. It was offered through the Irvine Nature Center, and the facilitator is the Manager of School and Urban Education Programs. The course gave Christa a brief overview of the curricula Project Wet, Project Wild and Project Learning Tree. It also taught her how to effectively incorporate environmental education lessons into her curriculum.
Christa is currently taking a 60 hour course to be trained as a Master Naturalist for the Piedmont Region. After she graduates, she is required to complete 40 hours of volunteer work at Irvine per year. Her final project involves planning a Raise and Release Monarch Butterfly Event for the Nature Center. On her free time, Christa is also volunteering at the Patuxent Wildlife Refuge, located in Laurel, Maryland. She is mainly working with the education department, writing curriculum and helping out with various education and interpretation events.
* The University of Maryland Extension Classes brought their nutrition class to Patterson Park Public Charter School in spring of 2010 and 2011. Kathy Renzi, Nutrition Educator, brought her knowledge to many PPPCS personnel as well as personnel from surrounding schools. This one credit class met once a week, discussing such nutrition topics as food deserts, encouraging low income students to eat healthy, and how to prepare your environment for growing fruits and vegetables. The spring 2011 class had eleven of our staff members participating. The staff included Kelly O'Connor, Mike Hendrick, Georgia Holland-Pence, Abi Jakubowski, Eliza Greer, Liz Obara, Debbie Costas, Elizabeth Ernst, Liz Gutting,and Emily Augustine.
* Serena Harris, second grade teacher and club leader for our Garden Club, also took the nutrition class and is currently waiting for acceptance in to a program called Food For Life. Serena plans on becoming a Food For Life Educator. The program allows grade school children to experience a hands-on approach to sustainability and healthy eathing. Students will create their own compost for planting to harvesting crops for community dinners. In addition to this, students will be given an opportunity to learn about the foods we eat while giving back to their community.