VISTA Americorps: Event Support

Bluegrass Greensource is seeking a full time VISTA Volunteer to plan events with environmental themes. Previous experience in promotion and event planning is preferred. Email resume, letter of interest and contact information for three references to amy@BgGreensource.org.
Click here for the full job description.

This VISTA opportunity is offered through the Plantory, with Bluegrass Greensource as the host site. Click here for information specific to this VISTA program, including compensation, hour requirement, and benefits.
For more information about the VISTA program in general, please visit http://www.nationalservice.gov/programs/americorps/americorps- vista.

Applications will be accepted through May 10th or until position is filled. The position will officially start in August 2017. EOE. 

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Outreach Specialist

Bluegrass Greensource is looking for a highly motivated candidate to work with adult environmental education and outreach in Central Kentucky. Much of the work will be with Lexington businesses and neighborhood groups, but will also work with organizations and local governments throughout the 20 county Bluegrass Greensource service area.

Click here for the full job description.

Interested applicants should email a letter of interest, resume, and contact information for three references as well as salary requirements to amy@bggreensource.org. Please be sure to mention Outreach Specialist in the subject line. Applications will be accepted until May 15th or until a suitable candidate has been identified.

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Kentucky Energy Education: a Field Trip to Harlan County

PattieBy: Pattie Stivender,
Education Director

On March 23rd and 24th, Bluegrass Greensource took 50 students and 25 adults to Harlan County to learn about Kentucky coal mining. Students from six counties in Central Kentucky learned about the history of coal mining and what the expectations are for the immediate future. This field trip was the culmination of 6 months of classroom activities and meetings about energy resources and energy in Kentucky.

On the first day of the trip Students attended tours of Portal No. 31 and the Kentucky Coal Mining Museum to learn about the history of mining. Portal No. 31 Underground Mine Tour in Lynch offered us the unique experience of touring an actual coal mine by rail car. The ride included animated exhibits that narrated the history of coal mining in Harlan County.

Lynch was the largest coal company-owned town in Kentucky through World War II. Lynch and Portal 31 were established by the U.S. Coal and Coke Company, a subsidiary of the United States Steel Company, in 1917. Lynch was considered one of the model coal camps in Appalachia because of its quality health care, education, housing, social services, wages, benefits, and recreation. The more than one thousand buildings in Lynch provided housing for the miners that flocked to Harlan County to work at the coal camp.  

The Kentucky Coal Mining Museum, located in the former coal camp town of Benham, offered students the opportunity to experience the conditions ofmining in their mock coal mine. The guides were knowledgeable about all aspects of mining and patiently answered student questions.Benham was originally occupied by farming families. International Harvester purchased the area in the early 1900’s for its rich coal seams; then mining began. The museum building was the second building built by the company to house a company commissary. The first one, built on the same site, was a wooden structure destroyed by fire in the mid-teen’s. The concrete and masonry structure replaced the burned building in 1923.

The building was purchased in June 1990 by the Tri-City Chamber of Commerce for the future site of the museum. The Kentucky Coal Mining Museum offers a complete picture of the lives that revolved around the coal industry.

The second day of our trip was spent with the Kentucky Junior Coal Academy in Harlan. The Junior Coal Academy is part of a coal training initiative that offers extensive miner training programs at Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS). Students were given the challenge to make their way through the smoke trailer mobile training unit using a cable and cone system. They were also shown the simulators used to teach about coal mining and visited a mock mine. 

As interesting as these activities were, the highlight of the trip was our overnight stay at Benham Schoolhouse Inn. In 1926, Wisconsin Steel built a state of the art all-grades school for the children of the Benham. In 1961, the last high school class was graduated from the school, which continued to serve as the local elementary until 1992. Today the school is a charming inn.  

While at the Inn, we were treated to a delicious catered dinner, a dance party, and a movie in the gym. Students and teachers are now preparing presentations about their KEY experiences that will be shared with the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students in their schools. Thank you to all of our teachers and students who made this trip so enjoyable!

Bluegrass Greensource would like to thank the Department for Energy Development and Independence for providing funds for the Kentucky Energy for Youth program.

Students at Deep Springs Elementary told us about their favorite activities:

My experience at Portal 31 was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had.  It included the most amazing effects in the portal.  Also I liked how it included two of my favorite things; rail rides and back in the day times. I learned a lot more about coal mines from this trip.  Like how there were life lines, and they had to crouch down to mine. I’m so thankful I got to go on this amazing experience.  Thank you!
-Leyla

The Kentucky Coal Academy was my favorite part of the trip because I had a great time in the simulation. And the gifts, such as a squishy coal lump and a keychain miner’s hat that lights up.
-Kyleigh

I am very thankful for the field trip being funded. I liked when we were in Portal 31.  I experienced that it was very hard for coal miners to work in the mountains. DEDI KEY field trip was very fun.
-James

I liked Portal 31.  I experienced a time before machines were made and why mining was a thing and why they started mining Black Mountain.
-Elijah

Teachers enjoyed the trip as well:

Portal 31 was by far the most beneficial stop.  It had the biggest impact on my students as to the history of coal and the finite supply we have.  What fun the Benham Schoolhouse Inn was.  The playground was a blast from the past!  My students had a grand time at the inn.  This was the EASIEST field trip I’ve ever been on with students.  Well done!
– Vivian Bowles, Kit Carson Elementary

We loved this trip!  I was honestly surprised at how informative and fun it was.   Playground break time was a huge plus.  Thank you so much for all your hard work organizing this for us.
– Stephanie Sawyer, Western Elementary

I’m glad we had the opportunity to attend this trip.  I know it was something my students would never get to experience if they didn’t get to go on this trip. I am thankful for the grant.
– Adonya Boyle, Cardinal Valley Elementary

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Ready, Set, Give: April 18th is Kentucky Gives Day

April is Earth Month, a time when we reflect on our relationship to the natural world around us and recommit ourselves to making a difference in our environment. It’s the time when we fully emerge from our winter cocoons, ready to get back outdoors and get our hands dirty in the garden, get back on the hiking trail, or participate in some of the many outdoor events that are happening around us. 

KYGives Day also happens in April – on April 18th. This is a one-day fundraising event meant to unite and raise the profile of the many nonprofits providing services throughout Kentucky.

Check out our page at www.kygives.org/organizations/bluegrass-greensource and show your support for sustainable Central Kentucky! 

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Introducing, Junior Nature Explorers!

Anyone who has or works with young children these days has surely noticed a trend where kids spend less and less of their time outdoors. Some blame the prevalence of screens in the home. Some blame “helicopter parenting,” which is shorthand for parents who hover over their kids and try to remove any sort of danger or obstacle they might face. And some blame the idea that the sense of community that defined many of our neighborhoods, towns, and cities has degraded to the point that it’s not safe to let our children play outdoors without adult supervision.

Whatever the reasons for this trend, the results are often the same – most young children have less experience being outdoors in nature. In the past few years, there’s even been a new term created to describe this: Nature Deficit Disorder.

At Bluegrass Greensource, we believe that the outdoors and nature make the best classrooms, particularly when it comes to reaching young minds early on and connecting them with a sense of wonder and curiosity about our natural systems. For many years, we have been developing a program that encourages preschool children and their teachers to get outdoors more and use the natural world around them as a classroom. This summer, because of a generous grant from Norfolk Southern, we are happy to finally bring this new program – the Junior Nature Explorers Program – to life.

“As the mother of a preschooler, I am extremely excited about this new program,” says Amy Sohner, Bluegrass Greensource’s Executive Director. “I see how much my daughter responds to discovering worms under rocks and veins in tree leaves. Junior Nature Explorers will expose preschoolers in Central Kentucky to the wonders of nature and show preschool teachers how to use the areas outside their buildings to inspire exploration.”

Simple in design, the Junior Nature Explorer Program has two parts. In the first phase, Greensource educators will provide three in-depth lessons to preschoolers, guiding them as they play, explore, and learn about the world around them. After completing the series of lessons, each student will be awarded a Junior Nature Explorer certificate and given their very own Explorer Kit, which will include books used in the program, a magnifying glass, binoculars, and nature journal. The second part of the program involves working with the teachers to help them better incorporate outdoor learning into their curricula. After completion of the program, classrooms will receive an Explorer Resource Kit that is filled with all of the materials used in the program, as well as a detailed packet that includes all of the lessons. This is being done to ensure that the participating teachers can continue to replicate these lessons for future classes.

“Every time we go outside, there is an opportunity to learn about something new in our natural world,” says environmental educator Kara Sayles, who has been working with young children at Bluegrass Greensource for nine years. “Exposing children at a young age to environmental education can help them understand the world around them. It can help them develop a sense of place, allowing them to utilize their innate, natural curiosity to develop a life-long desire to learn.”

If you are a preschool educator, or know a preschool educator, who would like to participate in this program, please contact our education director, Pattie Stivender at pattie@bgGreensource.org to register or learn more about our early childhood education offerings.

For more information about Bluegrass Greensource education programs, check out the video below!

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We’re the featured charity at Don Jacob’s!

All during the month of April, Bluegrass Greensource is the featured Charity of the Month at Don Jacobs BMW, Honda, and Volkswagen in Lexington. This program is a wonderful way to support environmental education in Central Kentucky while also receiving top-quality service on your automobile at Don Jacob’s!

This program works in two easy, exciting ways: If you schedule a service visit at Don Jacobs during the month of April, and make a gift of $1 to $25, Don Jacobs will match your donation. You can also do good with nothing more than your phone and a Facebook check in. If you are at Don Jacob’s for a service visit or to purchase a new vehicle, simply snap a selfie of yourself at the dealership, post it to Facebook with a check-in, and Don Jacob’s will donate $5 to Bluegrass Greensource!

These are great ways to show your support for environmental education, double the impact of every dollar donated, and support a local family-owned dealership and its hard working staff who have placed their commitment to the Lexington area at the center of their operations since 1971. 

Please join us at Don Jacobs this month to show your belief in environmental education and your support for this wonderful community partner!

 

 

 

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