November 2009 Investigational Site Visit

Pictures by Deric

Casady Challenge 20/20 Executive Board Josh, Sarah and Deric were joined by Katie and Ritt Mrs. Zesiger, Mrs. Linn and Mr. Reynolds in their investigational site visit to Keystone Elementary School and Farm, an award winning "green school" and "pilot of the pilot Oklahoma Green School Program." The school was founded by former Heritage Hall Elementary School teachers. It is in its 5th year of operations and as John Duhon, the director of projects stated, "every year we are blessed with the opportunity to open our doors to an amazing group of kids>" (55 children attend the school)
Keystone Adventure School and Farm: http://keystoneadventureschool.com/ Keystone Adventure School and Farm is located on the N.W. corner of Danforth(192nd) and Western in Edmond, OK. You can call us at (405)216-5400 19201 N. Western, Edmond, OK 73012





After the visit the brainstorming began

Sarah: I'm not entirely sure how feasible this would be but if some of the tools in the greenschool toolkit could be given to the lower schoolers to let them see how much energy is wasted...kinda do the same thing that Keystone does in letting the kids discover the problems and come up with their own solutions. but of course getting their solutions implemented at Casady would be a lot more difficult than at Keystone. either way it would allow them to learn about the environment.
also if we used the heat laser/kill-a-watt we could gather stats about our school and obviously work to reduce energy waste ourselves but also we could present our results in chapel and challenge the students and faculty to reduce the waste.
that's all i have off the top of my head.

Josh: I had a lot of fun and interesting thoughts towards the site visit to Keystone School. I would like to get a laser temperature reader and
use it in a few rooms around the school. I was also wondering how long the presentation has to be for the $300 grant.

Deric: We are looking forward to his thoughts

Katie: We are looking forward to her thoughts

Ritt: We are looking forward to his thoughts. Thank you for sharing "r.c. treats."

Mrs. Clay: Their recycling program is the same as ours: Paper, plastic and cans. They have the same system and process. Mrs. Clay has questions about how they handle heath hazards, liability issues, insurance concerns. Mrs. Clay has requested to job shadow a Keystone teacher for a day to understand a little bit better how the school operates. Mrs. Clay's main goal was to see the environmental strategies the school is applying and to hear how the children and faculty are using the "Green School Tool Kit" and get advise from the Casady Sciene teachers regarding the tool kit. During the brainstorming time, Mrs. Clay ask students if they wanted to present this project at the Social Studies Conference to acquire the funding for the tool kit and/or for alumminum reusable water bottles. Students responded yes. We will need to apply for the presentation this week. Mrs. Clay requested help for the presentation from Mrs. Zesiger, Mr. Sappington and Miss Bornhoft (Environmental Club activities, energy audit in MD, and Vegetarian Club as well as Carbon Footprint awareness in Spanish Classes)

Mr. Reynolds: We look forward to his comments regarding Keystone. During the bus brainstorming of what Challenge 20/20's focus for the year should be, he brought to the table the idea of "wind power and windmills."

Mrs. Linn: We look forward to her comments regarding Keystone. Mrs. Linn said that the two tools we already own are the most useful for a collaboration between Challenge 20/20 and the science regular curriculum.

Mrs. Zesiger: We look forward to her comments regarding Keystone. In the area of global awareness, Keystone has a Kids Cafes that is raising money and improving the drinkable water of children in remote areas of the world. Mrs. Zesiger's daugther Katie is fundraising next week for the victims of the flood in Manila and Challenge 20/20 and YAC students will help with the effort, but possibilities for future collaborations between MD and UD are only just beginning.

Katie: How about investigating the lake?