Summary: 1/31 Climate Change Walk

Thanks to twenty incredibly energetic and engaged Mason-Rice students (ranging from 1st to 5th grade), we successfully launched this year's Mason-Rice Green Team Kids this past Friday afternoon! Given the unusually warm January we've experienced and the urgency of our climate crisis, it seemed appropriate to (re-)introduce the topic of climate change at our session and empower our students to help raise awareness of the issue within our community (while enjoying an outdoor walk on a warm Friday afternoon in January).

After spending some time in the classroom discussing climate change and the story of Greta Thunberg, the students had a chance to hear from Kate, a Newton South high school student -- one of our "own" youth here in Newton -- who cares deeply about our environment and is taking action to help address climate change.

Once we wrapped up the classroom portion, we headed off (20 kids and 6 grown-ups!) to Newton Centre. If they chose to do so, students carried customized signs that they were given an opportunity to create in the classroom. The students were creative and came up with quite a unique assortment of signs:

And then we were off! Thankfully, the kids received a TON of support from people in the community (e.g. car honking, thumbs up, smiles), which they seemed to enjoy very much.

Thanks everyone! Stay tuned for next month's session on "Recycling and Composting"!

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Our last meeting!

On June 7, we Green Team coordinators were happily surprised and showered with beautiful flowers, cards and gifts from our Green Team Kids and their parents. Were were thrilled to hear how much the students enjoyed the programming over the year, and we thank the parents for their ongoing support and generosity! To cap off a great year and to enjoy the beautiful summer afternoon, we enjoyed a scavenger hunt outdoors that covered numerous topics we've discussed over the course of the year followed by frozen treats, a short presentation by Kate and Audrey about eating vegan (this was a topic we were going to cover in an earlier session, when we went to visit the Mayor instead!), and then a photo slideshow of the year. Thanks everyone for an amazing year, and have a great summer!

Congratulations Mason-Rice Green Team!

Mason-Rice Green Team, an initiative of the Mason-Rice PTO with the support of Principal Bultema, was selected again as a recipient of multiple awards for its environmental education work during the 2019-20 and 2020-21 school year. For its work last year on lunchroom composting and additional in-person and virtual programming, the Green Team recently received the state’s Excellence in Energy and Environmental Education Award and the M assachusetts Department of Environmental Protection’s Green Team prize. Thank you and congratulations to Mason-Rice parents and Green Team leadership Wendy Sheu and Barbara Nestle, former Mason-Rice parent Heather Friedman, Mason-Rice alumnus Kate Esbenshade, Principal Bultema and all of the incredible Mason-Rice students who participated in the Green Team. We are excited to continue and expand this important work at Mason-Rice in the 2021-22 school year. If you are interested in co-leading or learning more about the Green Team, please contact Wendy

"Crystal Lake" : A Special Presentation with Crystal Lake Conservancy Co-President Janice Bourque on March 11@4-5pm

Please join the Mason-Rice Green Team and our guest speaker, Crystal Lake Conservancy Co-President Janice Bourque for an interactive and educational presentation on March 11 about Crystal Lake! Join us to learn and ask questions about all things relating to Crystal Lake, including: the history of the lake, how it formed, where it gets its water, animals in/around the lake, pollutants and how to keep it healthy. Sign up your child to come learn about this important topic, and feel free to join as well! RSVP here . Zoom info will be sent to all registered participants at least two days prior to the event.

Mason-Rice Green Team Kids!

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