Green Schools Conference & Expo: Highlights, Scholarships, and Public Events

The Green Schools Conference & Expo is coming to Pittsburgh in just a few weeks! We hope you can join us for this great national-scale event that will be landing right here in Western Pennsylvania. Below are the details and some relevant opportunities.

Dates: March 31 & April 1, 2016
Location: David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Downtown Pittsburgh
Conference Website: http://greenschoolsconference.org/

Conference Highlights

• Plenary Speaker – Dr. Chris Emdin, STEM Professor (Columbia University Teachers’ College), outspoken critic on race, culture, inequality, and education; creator of #HipHopEd social media movement

• Student Summit – Students will have an opportunity to develop a leadership role on sustainability issues in their schools  
• Numerous Breakout Session Tracks – Master Speakers, Operations, Place-Based Education, Culture & Creativity, Integrated Curriculum, Whole-School Sustainability, and Community Collaboration
• Food, Equity, and Community Panel – An impressive lineup of speakers will discuss the connections between food policy, food waste, food access, health and nutrition, and childhood hunger
• Thursday Night Celebration (Downtown location TBD) – A party worthy of Pittsburgh, featuring a student cooking competition as part of Project Lunch Tray
• Pre-Conference Sessions (Wednesday March 30) – Experience Environmental Charter School’s culture of sustainability, Chatham University’s Eden Hall campus expeditionary learning, Phipps Conservatory’s Art & Biophilia workshop, and GHSA’s School Sustainability Culture Program
• Building a Garden @ Pittsburgh Brashear High School – Join us on Saturday, April 2nd for the Green Apple Day of Service project, building an internationally-themed garden for the diverse and multicultural community at Brashear HS in Beechview

Scholarship Opportunities

Thanks to generous support from the Remake Learning Network and American Eagle Outfitters Foundation, we are able to offer a limited number of partial and full conference scholarships to students and educators in the Greater Pittsburgh region! While we are eager to have all types of people attend the conference, we believe it is especially critical to get students involved in defining the future of education and sustainability, so we hope to encourage as many of them as possible to attend. Here are a few details:

• Open to students and educators
• Covers some or all of the registration fee for the conference (meals included)
• Unfortunately, we do not have sufficient funds to cover other costs, such as transportation, substitute teachers, etc.

Anyone interested in a scholarship should complete this short application form. Questions? Contact Andrew Ellsworth at Green & Healthy Schools Academy.

Can't attend the full conference? You can still join in on these events!

Even if you aren't able to attend the full conference, we hope you can make one or more of these great conference events that are open to the public:

• Open House (Expo Hall): March 31, 4:15-5:15 p.m. - Free! Check out exhibitors, student art, and posters of innovative projects from around the country.
• Keynote Panel - Reshaping School Nutrition at the Local, National, and Global Level: March 31, 5:30-6:30 p.m. - Free!
• GSCE Celebration: March 31, 7:00-10:00 p.m.  - At a location TBD near the convention center; $35 payable at the door. More to come!