PRESS RELEASE
Contact:
Karla Utting
786.574.4909
ka***@dr**********.org
MIAMI – August 25, 2015 – Miami, FL – To commemorate its 10th anniversary, Dream in Green (DIG), a Miami-based non-profit organization, launches The Dream in Green® Academy (The Academy), a new education platform that promotes collaboration with other community organizations to introduce environmental education programs to K-12 schools in South Florida.
The Academy builds on the success of the Green Schools Challenge (GSC), DIG’s flagship program, by leveraging its established framework for delivering educational programming to K-12 schools. The GSC is a long-term, whole-system program that engages students in hands-on activities to save energy and water in schools and teaches them about the links between energy, water, waste, the environment, climate change and community sustainability. The GSC, currently in its tenth year, serves as the entry level program of The Academy in which participants learn the basics of sustainability and build the foundation for a green school.
For the 2015-2016 school year, DIG partnered with the Coral Gables Museum to offer the Green City Challenge as one of The Academy’s ‘graduate’ level programs available to schools that have completed two years of the GSC. The Green City Challenge aims to teach students about environmentally sustainable design as it pertains to architecture and urban planning. “The Coral Gables Museum is proud to partner with Dream in Green in its efforts to educate K-12 audiences about sustainability as it pertains to cities,” said Caroline Parker, Director of Programs for the Coral Gables Museum. “The Green City Challenge will introduce children to career paths such as architect, builder, city manager, environmentalist, and historic preservationist, and teach them that the way we build and manage our cities has a huge impact on our environment.”
The Water and Energy, Learning and Behavior (WE-LAB) program, a DIG program which has been in existence for two years, will also be offered through The Academy. WE-LAB was designed to educate students, teachers and community residents about the fundamental relationship between water and energy. WE-LAB provides participants low-to-no-cost solutions that help them save money while promoting behaviors that benefit the entire community.
For almost ten years, Dream in Green has made environmental sustainability a priority for hundreds of schools and thousands of households across South Florida. To date, DIG’s programs have served 280 unique schools and educated 84,000 individuals, of which approximately 58,500 are K-12 students. Our partner schools have helped save 2.1 million dollars by conserving 20.1 million kilowatt hours of electricity, which translates to a reduction of 30.6 million pounds of carbon emissions.
“As we launch the tenth year of the Green Schools Challenge, we are thrilled at the opportunity of expanding our educational offerings through the creation of the Academy and the partnership with the Coral Gables Museum, and we look forward to continue empowering youngsters to become stewards of the environment and advocates for sustainability in our community,” remarked DIG’s Co-Founder, Nick Gunia.
Dream in Green is always in need of funds for their programs. If interested in sponsoring please contact Karla Utting, Dream in Green’s executive director, at ka***@dr**********.org
ABOUT DREAM IN GREEN
Dream in Green’s mission is to empower individuals to respond to climate change and other environmental challenges facing local and global communities.
We assist diverse organizations, including schools, households, local governments, and businesses to reduce their environmental footprint. Through establishing partnerships in our community, we develop, implement and oversee educational programs and workshops that promote environmentally sustainable behaviors among all age groups with particular emphasis on K-12 students.
For more information visit our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
