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E-Mails to Coaches and General EE Notes

To submit a message for general distribution to the Mass Envirothon community, contact Brita Dempsey. Critical messages for Envirothon coaches and teams are noted in RED.

Date Sender Subject
11 Dec Brita Dempsey Feb Ecostation workshop date set
11 Dec Pam Landry Planet Connect Youth Engagement Grant
21 Nov Brita Dempsey MA Envirothon Current Issue Materials Available
21 Oct Brita Dempsey UMass workshop agenda posted
20 OCT Pam Landry EPA's Watershed Academy is pleased to sponsor its 60th free Webcast Seminar on Thursday, October 27, 2011
20 OCT Pam Landry Massachusetts Statewide Stormwater Management Training Seminar Series: Funding Stormwater Management
28 Sept Brita Dempsey Intent to Compete form available
14 Sept 2011 Ed Himlin Free Program – How to Keep Your Water Clean
1 Sept 2011 Brita Dempsey Save the Dates! (and lots of other important information)
23 August 2011 Will Snyder Science Writing workshop

Updated (12/11/11)
Some of these links will redirect you off the MA Envirothon website. We are not responsible for outside content
.

Feb Ecostation workshop date set
Please join us Wednesday Feb 8th, 2012 at Worcester Technical High School for our Ecostation workshop 8:30-2. Three sessions of workshops on water, soils, forestry, and wildlife will be held. A more detailed agenda and directions will follow.
Sign up by Monday January 23. Schools with registered teams may bring as many students as are interested in attending. Please email Brita to sign up.
Participants may bring their own lunch or purchase a "Gourmet Pizza Buffet" prepared by the culinary arts program for $10.

2012 Wildlife Conservation Youth Engagement Grants

Environmental solutions for the future can begin with you! Whether you’re in a city, rural area or a suburb, wildlife is all around you. In many places, that wildlife faces challenges. If you’re a high school student with a creative idea for conserving and protecting wildlife, Planet Connect is offering grants of $1,000 to implement a project in your local school or community. In addition, all grantees will receive funding to participate in a local summer internship focused on wildlife conservation or natural resources.
Here’s your chance to make a difference! Apply for a national Planet Connect Youth Engagement Grant today! Visit planetconnect.org/2012wcgrants to learn more and to watch the grant promo video.
Need some help brainstorming project ideas? Check out the grant projects and internship summaries from the 2011 student grantees here: planetconnect.org/2011grantwinners. Apply by February 1, 2012!

Current Issue Documents avalible
Click here to download the 2012 Current Issue pdf, the Community Research checklist, and the Community Action Checklist.

EPA's Watershed Academy is pleased to sponsor its 60th free Webcast Seminar on Thursday, October 27, 2011 "Conducting Effective Stormwater Outreach"

This webinar will help state and local agencies, municipalities, watershed groups and others design effective outreach initiatives. It will showcase EPA's Nonpoint Source (NPS) Outreach Toolbox, which offers a variety of stormwater TV, radio and print ads and other tools. Featured products cover: general stormwater, lawn and garden care, pet care, septic system care, motor vehicle care, and household chemicals. The webinar will also feature ThinkBlueMaine. This successful awareness and behavior change outreach effort by the ThinkBlueMaine partnership included the development and airing of a 30-second Public Service Announcement (Devil Ducks)and the creation of posters, doorhangers and other products. Recent survey results show a marked increase in public understanding and a willingness to take actions to protect water quality.

Please register for webcast in advance.The presentation will be posted in advance at www.epa.gov/watershedwebcasts. Also, Webcast participants are eligible to receive a certificate for their attendance.

Massachusetts Statewide Stormwater Management Training Seminar Series: Hosted by the Charles River Watershed Association October 27, 8 am – 12 noon. Free!

Intent to compete form available
hello! Two updated forms for you (click on the link to download each form):
1. the Intent to Compete form, due by Jan 31, 2012, with payment.
2. Quick facts for teams- a wealth of information on the program all in one spot

Also, we have relocated our workshop this Friday to Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park, the site for the 2012 competition. No sneak peeks at ecostation locations, we promise, but still a great chance to learn about Stormwater in the Blackstone River Valley. Here's a link to the updated agenda. It's not too late to sign up- please let me know if you'd like to join us so I make enough coffee.

1 month until the UMass Amherst workshop! More info on that soon! -brita

 

Free Program: How to Keep your Water Clean
Polluted runoff is the greatest threat to our water, but it’s easy to fix.  Please join us on September 22 at 7 pm in the Leominster Library Community Room.  Learn how you and your church, business or school can help to keep water clean.   This workshop is cosponsored by the Leominster Public Library and the Massachusetts Watershed Coalition.  The program is free and no reservations are required. Refreshments will be served.  For more information, contact the library's reference desk at 978-534-7522 ext. 3.

 

Save the Dates!

Welcome to MA Envirothon 2012! Please mark your calendars for a whole year's worth of exciting opportunities: workshop descriptions can be found at www.maenvirothon.org/workshops12.html

Friday Sept 30, 2011: Coaches workshop, West Boylston 8:30-2 Free! You are encouraged to invite coaching partners from your own school/community or prospective coaches from other schools. This workshop offers a first look at this year’s Current Issue as well as a chance to provide input on the future of the Massachusetts Envirothon and of course, quality time with our fabulous ecostation leaders.

Friday Oct 28, 2011: Team workshop, UMass Amherst 8-3 It's early this year!!

Tuesday Jan 31, 2012: Registration Deadline: Intent to Compete forms and payment due

Feb 6 or 7 or 8, 2012, times and place TBA: Ecostation workshop

Saturday March 31, 2012: Team workshop, Wheaton College, Norton

Monday April 31, 2012: Registration Deadline: Team members form due.

THURSDAY MAY 17: Envirothon 2012, Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park

Financial matters:
We are planning on running a vibrant program this year on a bare bones budget.
Team Registration for the 2012 program year is $200. This includes:
- participation in all workshops*
- email alerts and updates
- 2012 Envirothon Manual (on cd)
- map of the team’s community for Current Issue research and presentation
- participation in the May 17 competition**

* Workshops are free to students and coaches from schools that have filed an Intent to Compete form and paid the program registration fee. For teams that have not registered, there will be a $10 fee for each workshop participant (student or coach). These fees will be deducted from the program registration fee when the team registers. For example: 12 students and 2 coaches from an unregistered team attend the UMass workshop. They pay $140 when they sign up. Afterwards, they decide to register for the 2012 Mass Envirothon, but they only need to pay an additional $60 (for a total of $200) when they file their Intent to Compete. Mass Envirothon does not limit the number of participants from any school at any workshop, but we ask for an adult-to-youth ratio of at least 1:10 for participating teams.

** The May 17 competition is strictly limited to the registered five-member team and up to two coaches. There will be no alternate program at the 2012 competition.

Revised Rule Interpretation for 2012: Mass Envirothon rules allow a second team to be drawn from a school if that second team is completely separate from the first team – including a separate coach, a separate sponsoring organization (e.g. library, garden club, conservation commission, Audubon sanctuary), and separate registration fee. Second teams will be allowed to register between January 31 and February 15 until the limit of 50 registered teams is reached. If more second teams register than there is space available, a lottery for the open spaces will be held on February 16.--

Science Writing Workshop
From the UMassK12/STEM Ed email list: Writing for Science Fairs

Have you wondered how to help your students with writing major science fair and research papers? The Mass Academy of Math and Science in Worcester will offer a one-day curriculum workshop for middle and high
school teachers on October 1 (9 AM . 3 PM) focusing on science fair research papers, logbooks, presentation boards, and literature research. The workshop will include effective strategies for writing research papers, using logbooks to document research, designing effective presentation boards, and publishing student work. The
workshop includes electronic templates of all curriculum materials and opportunities for networking with colleagues from other schools, as well as lunch and morning coffee.

Contact Dr. Judith Sumner (jsumner@wpi.edu) for additional workshop information and registration (due by September 23).