Middle school teachers from four states converged on the Green Boot Camp at the Union County Vo-Tech Schools campus last week to gather hands-on experience with the latest tools for teaching sustainable topics to young students. The camp, made possible by generous support from Honeywell, is designed to help educators prepare students for career opportunities in the emerging green economy.
The camp was conducted by two educators at Vo-Tech, Paul Savage and Jennifer Puglia, who designed the week-long curriculum with an assist from tools and experts provided by Honeywell.
"Thanks to this partnership, Union County is becoming a national leader in green education that can lead to new careers," said Freeholder Chairman Daniel P. Sullivan. "The Green Boot Camp is a testimony to Vo-Tech’s high standards of quality and creativity and to the dedication of its teachers and staff, and to the strong community commitment by Honeywell."
Vo-Tech and Honeywell presented the first Green Boot Camp last summer and it was an immediate success. Middle school educators from 18 of the 21 school districts in Union County attended. This year’s event drew educators from South Jersey, Virginia, Alabama, and New Mexico.
The Green Boot Camp focuses on middle schools in order to help young students approach science concepts with more confidence and skill, before they encounter the increasingly high demands of high school level coursework.
"The goal was to use the first Green Boot Camp as a model and test pilot for engaging educators from across the country," said Dr. Thomas Bistocchi, Superintendent of the Vo-Tech Schools. "Based on the success of this year’s camp, we anticipate continuing to work with Honeywell to expand this valuable program."
The Green Boot Camp combines a wide variety of sustainability topics with effective, modern teaching methods such as project-based learning. The curriculum focuses on hands-on exercises including measuring water quality, designing a solar powered house, constructing a working windmill, and constructing a pedal-powered electric generator.
"Honeywell helps drive sustainability every day with thousands of products and services that reduce energy use and carbon emissions," said John Isherwood, market manager for Honeywell. "We’ve also spent decades promoting math and science education. So supporting the Green Boot Camp is such a natural fit. We hope to be able to expand our efforts with Vo-Tech and involve teachers across the country."
Vo-Tech teacher Jennifer Puglia noted that bringing educators in from other regions of the U.S. helped to enrich the Green Boot Camp experience.
"For example, one of our exercises was to build a rain barrel, which is an effective conservation tool for water-rich areas like Union County," said Puglia. "The teachers who came from New Mexico added their experiences with using drought-resistant plants to make the most of water scarcity."
For more details, visit www.greenbootcamp.net