Complete Staff Awareness
In order to make sure Poly's entire staff is aware of and committed to our green mission, the Poly Green Team has presented at schoolwide faculty meetings. In such presentations, students have described their clubs and the ways faculty can support them. Poly staff members are therefore aware of every environmental club at Poly, club leadership/contacts, the specific goals of each club, and how they can help students achieve sustainability goals. The presentation pictured below was on February 3, 2020 and was delivered by 5 of the Poly Green Team's student members.
Below: Faculty Meeting Sign-In Sheet
Letters were also placed in every teacher's mailbox listing the top 10 ways to assist with greening at Poly.
The Green School Application process, green lessons, and the Earth Month Celebration were all discussed at a science department staff meeting on February 10, 2020. Below are the sign-in sheet and agenda for the meeting.
Additionally, members of the Poly Green Team have presented at the Poly School Family Council (SFC) meetings, making the larger Poly community aware of Poly's greening efforts and of the green school application process. This is documentation from the meeting on January 29, 2020.
The following email was also sent to all Poly staff members.
Professional Development
In addition to hearing from Poly's Green Team, faculty have also attended professional development sessions to enhance and integrate environmental education into their curriculum. Below are documentation of attendance and work of 13 different teachers from different disciplines (science, media, history, modern languages, and engineering) at these sessions (there are about 78 teachers at Poly). Most of the teachers now have tools to engage their students in a Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience (MWEE). Teachers who attend Chesapeake Bay Foundation workshops are expected to complete an Environmental Literacy Module (ELM) as part of their attended PD. These ELMs represent how the teachers will incorporate environmental literacy into their curriculum the following school year.
Mr. Gibson
Mr. Gibson is a Chemistry teacher who attended the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Streets and Streams PD Jun 26-30, 2017. He did five mini excursions around Baltimore City to various possible MWEE field trip sites for his students.
Below: Additional documentation from Mr. Gibson's Professional Development. He is pictured in the left picture far left in the orange shirt and in the right picture in the middle with the grey shirt.
Mr. Marinelli, Dr. O'Neill, and Ms. Castillo
Mr. Marinelli, Dr. O'Neill, and Ms. Castillo attended the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Streets and Streams PD Jun 27-July 1, 2016. Mr. Marinelli is the Science Department Chair and the Environmental Science teacher. Dr. O'Neill is the library media specialist and film teacher. Ms. Castillo is a Chemistry teacher. They did five mini excursions around Baltimore City to various possible MWEE field trip sites for their students.
Below: Email correspondence for the Professional Development session attended by Mr. Marinelli, Dr. O'Neill, and Ms. Castillo.
Ms. Mathew
Ms. Mathew teaches Biology and Forensic Science and has attended a variety of professional developments for environmental literacy. She received a scholarship to attend the Audubon Educators Week in Hog Island, Maine in July 2017. Ms. Mathew facilitated and submitted an ELM for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Industry, Infrastructure, and Impact PD Jun 24-28, 2019. She also attended a microplastics PD July 29-31, 2019 with Maryland Sea Grant at the IMET. Ms. Mathew also attended the MAEOE Conference in Ocean City, MD February 7-8, 2020 with the two student Environmental Club leaders (seen in pictures below) to work on the green school application as well as capacity build for the 2020-2021 school year. Ms. Mathew runs various environmental literacy PD's for teachers in Baltimore City as a Chesapeake Bay Foundation Teacher of Environmental Literacy Leadership (TELL) Mentor.
Below: Email correspondence for an additional Professional Development attended by Ms. Mathew on biofilms and microplastics.
Ms. Mathew also runs the Professional Development at Great Kids Farm teaching biology teachers how to conduct a stream study and an action project.
Ms. Gapulan
Ms. Gapulan is a Biology and Research Practicum teacher who submitted an ELM for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Industry, Infrastructure, and Impact PD Jun 24-28, 2019. She did five mini excursions around Baltimore City to various possible MWEE field trip sites for her students. She applied and received a Chesapeake Bay Trust grant that allowed her and Ms. Mathew to mimic the field trip excursions they did on this PD with their students during the 2019-2020 school year.
Ms. Gapulan also presented to other BCPSS teachers about her MWEE unit and writing grants to fund environmental field trips.
Ms. Lang
Ms. Lang,who teaches Biology and Anatomy & Physiology, submitted an ELM for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Industry, Infrastructure, and Impact PD Jun 24-28, 2019. She did five mini excursions around Baltimore City to various possible MWEE field trip sites for her students.
The photos below show Ms. Gapulan, Ms. Lang and Ms. Mathew all participating in the various activities of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Industry, Infrastructure, and Impact PD on June 24-28, 2019.
Mr. Sangvhi
Mr. Sangvhi is a Biology teacher who attended a professional development held at Great Kids Farm in winter of 2019 where he learned how to measure water quality and identify species for a classroom environment. Below are some pictures he took at the farm.
Mr. Rittner
Mr. Rittner is a Physics teacher who attended the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Teachers on the Estuary Data Edition PD August 5-9, 2019. He got to stay at the Blackwater Refuge, visit Smith Island, conduct a bio blitz, along with collaborating with various teachers from all around Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. This PD greatly inspired Mr. Rittner which resulted in him choosing the Environment as the theme for this year's STEM event.
Mr. Headley and Mr. Wolfe
Mr. Headley and Mr. Wolfe attended the South Carolina Governor’s School for Science & Mathematics (GSSM)'s Student Research Conference 2020 where they learned about coastal ecology and environmental research. They were able to incorporate what they learned into their AP Capstone and AP Seminar classes to guide students in environmental research. Mr. Headley is the chair for the History department and Ms. Wolfe is the head of the Engineering department. Below is more information about the conference and a screenshot of a PowerPoint presentation they created for the conference providing proof of attendance.
Mr. Reeser
Below is documentation from Mr. Reeser attending PDs with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and Baltimore Ecosystem Study. Mr. Reeser teaches AP Environmental Science, Marine Biology, and Biology.
Mr. Todaro
Mr. Todaro, along with Mr. Reeser, has attended the Baltimore Ecosystems Study Professional Development the past three years. Below are his lesson plans he created through the PD. Mr. Todaro is a Computer Science teacher.