Monday was an exceptional day and I thought I would share it with you (I figured a feel good story was in order after my recent anti-Hilary rant on my politics blog).
This week at my school we are having our first ever Earth Week Celebration. I have been one of the ones organizing it and was the MC for our all school assembly on Monday. As I was to do much of the talking to the 450 people in attendance I was a bit nervous leading up to the event.
It turned out to be one of those days where synchronicity was present making the day go just right. An example was when after searching everywhere for a black sharpy I finally asked a fellow teacher if she had one. Without saying anything she opened the large cardboard box that was in her hands to reveal an almost empty box. The only thing in the bottom of the box was a brand new box full of black sharpies. Since things like that happen to me fairly frequently, I was not too surprised but I did happily take note of the event. Another thing that happened that day was on my way into the city in the morning I was thinking about stickers to put on my car and I remembered one that I saw once a long time ago that said "EARTH" and the ART was written in a different color. I liked that one and thought about it a bit. Well on the way back home, while driving over the Golden Gate Bridge, I saw the same exact model car I drive, a 240D, with one sticker only on it - the earth one I just described. So perfect for that was my Earth Day!
So the assembly went off without a hitch and everyone in the school loved it. There was comedy and education and inspiration and the boys were captivated which says a lot. My main speech was about why we were celebrating Earth Week. I talked about all the obvious things that come from the Earth like penguins and beaches. Then we discussed the things we need for survival that come from the earth like pizza and sushi, fresh water and oxygen. Then I challenged the kids to think of things that do not come from the Earth. I told them that there were some things inside the gym that do not come from the Earth and had kids guess what they were. They guessed things like the basket ball hoops and polyester. I agreed that you may look out of this world while wearing polyester but I explained to them that it actually does come from the Earth. Well after some kids got kinda close by guessing stars and sunlight I pulled the meteorites out of my pocket.
So then we talked about the things we like such as I-pods and basket balls that we rely on the Earth to supply us with as well. This was all wrapped up with the point that besides just celebrating the Earth for providing us with all the things we love from penguins to video games, the purpose of Earth Week is to become aware of how the choices which we make in our lives effect the Earth and its ability to continue to provide all these things and to learn actions we can take to make it easier for the Earth to do so.
In addition to me talking we had a video presentation of "Eco-mercials" done my different classes, a trailer for the BBC Planet Earth series with amazing video images of nature, a skit where students went around to teachers and educated them about the paper coffee cups, plastic water bottles, and plastic shopping bags that they were holding, and we talked about individual actions and school wide actions we are encouraging the school community to take this week and beyond. As I ended the assembly I told the kids that they were very lucky to be living in San Francisco, one of the greenest cities in the country, and that the upper school was gonna have the treat immediately following the assembly of hearing from the city's Mayor, Gavin Newsom about how the city is leading the nation in many areas relating to the environment. Just as I said that I looked down to see the mayor sitting on the gym floor with the kids right in front of me. Not an everyday occurrence at school to say the least. I knew he was coming to talk with us but we were not planning on having him in the assembly at that point.
So anyway the upper school went to the little theater after the assembly and we heard from Mayor Newsom for 45 minutes about his passion for and the cities action on environmental issues. He was a fantastic speaker with a casual manner and had the boys attention the whole time. I had just wrapped up my 2 week energy for the future research project with the 8th graders and Gavin touched on everything we had learned. I had even talked a bunch about biodiesel from Algae and he told everyone to look into that if they had not all ready. I could see the boys looking at each other as he covered topics we discussed in class. It was a great way to re-enforce what we studied. Plus I had talked in depth about the government's role in making change so it was very good to hear from a politician, especially one who was taking action on these issues.
We also have lots going on in different classes throughout the week. There is a buzz around the school among the boys and staff alike about what we can do to be greener. It is inspiring and I had sensed a desire from many in the staff to get greener so I am taking full advantage of the momentum and running with it. There are compost bins sprouting up across the school and kindergarten parents who are getting lectured by their children at home when they use a paper towel instead of a sponge.
And this is just the beginning as I hope to plug myself in next year and coordinate even more as far as service learning and greening on a regular basis.
So I realize I have written a lot and I titled this email "my day with the mayor and the rock star". So I guess I still have to talk about the rock star. Well after school I rushed to sea Trek in Sausalito to do one of my fund raising trips for the Power to the Peaceful Festival that I have done a few times before. The trip is called "Paddle with Michael Franti "(he is the rock star for those unfamiliar with him) and it is a big money maker for the festival. We take just a few people out for an hour or so with Michael and his managers and then hang out with some wine and food to chat afterwards. We came up with the idea while brainstorming fund raising options a few years back when I had the thought and then Michael verbalized it before I could say anything. Turns out he likes to kayak and so we turned it into a good money maker and a fun excuse to get out on the water every once in a while.
Michael and his gang are the kind of people that when you meet them you feel like you have always been friends - really great people. And they are also extremely politically active. One of Michael's early songs when he had the Hip Hop band Disposable Heroes had a chorus that said "all I ever think about is music and politics". This is obviously true if you see what he has been up to ever since. I talked once with Sat Santokh who was an activist since the 50's, manager of the Grateful Dead, and deep in the antiwar movement of the 60's and he said that Michael was the most dedicated musician he had ever met to the anti-war movement. Miachael Franti's lyrics and messages are all about peace and social justice and he even went to Iraq, Israel, and Palestine to see first hand what it was like and he made an incredible movie about is experience called "I know I am not alone".
Anyway, he is awesome as is the Guerrilla Management crew and so hanging with them and talking about everything from the environment and traveling to Madonna and Clinton was entertaining and inspiring and a great way to end my Earth Week kick off day.
peace ya'll
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