The Teva Learning Center’s Bring it Back To Our School (BBTOS) program
is designed to foster further opportunities for teachers and students
to explore the themes we teach at Teva. While the four days at the
Teva Learning Center have a profound effect on everyone involved,
we recognize the potential for an even greater impact through follow-up
programming in the classroom and through special programs and school
visits by the Teva staff. The most basic way we ensure the opportunity
for the students to continue the Teva experience, as well as to
learn about environmental responsibility, is to initiate a project
that they will implement back at their school. These
projects have included introducing school-wide recycling programs,
eco-fairs, and energy use reduction campaigns. Since 2002,
Teva has had a part-time BBTOS coordinator who can meet with each
school individually during their Teva visit. Initial consultations
provide the teachers the opportunity to seek advice and guidance
that is particular to their school’s needs. From basic Torah texts
to the halakhic imperatives of conservation, no Jewish
Studies teacher leaves Teva empty handed. Even science and social
studies teachers have been interested in integrating Jewish text
into their lessons. This dedicated staff person also ensures that
schools have follow-up on their questions, needs, and projects
throughout the school year.
 While at Teva, teachers
have the opportunity to participate in classes
ranging in topics from ‘Judaism and Ecology 101,’ to ‘Bird watching’
to ‘Make Your own Worm Composting Bin.’ These classes are voluntary
and teachers who take advantage of them have been very enthusiastic
about them. This past June, we also had the first ever seminar
for classroom teachers.
We have often found that teachers are keenly aware of problematic
environmental practices, but do not have the time or the resources
to confront these issues. By learning more about each school,
Teva has been able to develop practical and effective resources,
such as a school recycling manual and a school-wide energy audit
program, which teachers can put to use upon returning home. Some
schools are taking an interest in Teva’s new PCW (post consumer
waste) recycled paper co-op, while others plan to buy recycled
pencils for their student-run school store.
Be sure to watch the slideshow above
for an overview of different projects school projects we’ve seen
recently.
This fall, since many schools now arrive at Teva well aware of
the BBTOS program, we have had a number of teachers approach us
with excitement about their ideas for this year’s project. Some
schools have even chosen to take on multiple projects in order
to accommodate their students talents and interests.
The result of Brooklyn’s Hannah Senesh school’s 2003 project
are already being taken for granted. When their 2004 sixth graders
heard that the non-disposable plates they used regularly in their
lunch room were a result of last fall’s BBTOS project, it had
an impact on their enthusiasm for their choice for this year:
to advise the school’s administration on sustainability for the
building of their new school building.
| Number of School
Visits
2001 - 2002: 3
2002 - 2003: 8
2003 - 2004: 21
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Just a few weeks ago, the Harry Halpern School of Brooklyn sent
their computer teacher as the chaperone for Teva. When we suggested
going the educational route for their BBTOS project, he jumped at
the chance to have his students create a website based on what they
learned at Teva. During a one hour meeting, students designed a
BBTOS project where they created a website about conserving habitats.
By tailoring the BBTOS project to his classroom needs, we were able
to re-invigorate the students’ flagging interest about website design
and create a meaningful BBTOS project around conserving habitats.
The Gesher Day School in Fairfax, VA is engaged in a project
of larger scale than ever seen before at Teva. Students in K-6
are taking part in a year-long inquiry-based exploration of their
new campus. The programs, developed by the Teva Learning Center,
include site visits and in-class lessons ranging from hands-on
activities and games to text studies and art projects. The project
will culminate with a Lag Ba'Omer celebration on the new site
with parents, teachers and community members.
 In
Fall 2003, the students from Solomon Schechter School of Manhattan
combined their BBTOS project with their favorite hobby: making
small models of people out of office supplies. What once may have
been a wasteful practice became a hit claymation movie: Eraserpeople.
By putting together multiple still camera shots, the students
put together a five minute video that teaches about psolet and
compost. You can view Eraserpeople from the Teva website. Watch
it now!
Once the teachers leave Teva, we provide continuous consultations
through email, phone calls and an online
teacher resource center that offers ecology-based curriculum
free of charge. The final component of the Bring it Back to Our
School program is school visits. These visits are sometimes simple
recognitions of a job well done, with songs and updates from the
students, and other times are more extensive projects in which
the Teva staff will work closely with students and teachers on
a project of their choice. In the past, these larger school visits
have involved helping in the construction of a nature trail and
outdoor classroom, conducting a school-wide energy audit, and
a role playing program in which students debated the pros and
cons of various logging practices.
We truly have seen tremendous growth and productivity from the
BBTOS program. In the Fall of 2003 we were able to conduct follow-up
visits for over 90 percent of Teva schools, doubling our previous
numbers. We have also seen a sharp rise in the success rate of
the student-initiated projects. Just two years after assigning
a staff member to oversee the program, BBTOS has moved from being
a one hour time slot in the four day Shomrei Adamah venture, with
a majority of the projects falling by the wayside, to a healthy
program with the majority of projects ending in success for the
schools, the students, and the world.
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