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June 2005

• Practice What You Teach
• A Connecticut Classroom
• Adopt-A-Rainforest Success Stories
• Grant Opportunity

As the school year draws to a close, we wish you all a fun and relaxing summer. We hope the Rainforest Alliance Learning Site has been a valuable resource, and as always we welcome your questions, comments and stories from the classroom. Stay tuned for exciting new additions to the Learning Site!

Practice what you are teaching about conservation by using sustainable supplies in your school or classroom. We've made it easy to find eco-friendly products. Check out our new sustainable school supplies page for a list of Rainforest Alliance certified products and where to find them. You can start making environmentally sound choices on everything from paper products for the classroom, to bananas and coffee for the cafeteria and teachers' lounge.

In an interview with Rainforest Alliance staff, Mrs. Peterson, an ESL teacher at the Jefferson School in Norwalk, CT shares how she adapted the Rainforest Alliance's 5th grade curriculum to teach writing skills to her fifth grade students. Read on for a teacher's perspective on bringing the Learning Site resources into the classroom.

Rainforest Alliance: Has the curriculum benefited your students? How?

Mrs. Peterson: This curriculum has a strong cultural link to our students and their families, many of whom are from Central and South America. Because of this connection to Latin America, the students particularly enjoyed studying the units about bird migration and coffee farms in El Salvador. Many of the students are conscious of environmental concerns as well. It was an eye-opening experience for them to see that a common product, such as coffee, can have strong environmental connections.

Rainforest Alliance: How did your students respond to the lessons?

Mrs. Peterson: They loved the story Life in San Miguelito. We discussed the parallels between his life and our lives in the United States. We read through the 5th grade resources together to learn about El Salvador's El Imposible National Park. We discussed how birds migrate from the United States to El Salvador, and the students used the information as the basis for writing a report. We only spent a few hours working together on this project each week, but the students were visibly enthusiastic and learned a lot.

Read the complete interview...

Students from across the United States have been busy raising funds to support conservation projects in Latin America through the Rainforest Alliance's Adopt-A-Rainforest program. At Tamaques Elementary School in Westfield, NJ, students created their own "businesses" and raised $420 for the program. More than 1000 miles south, at Anderson Elementary School in Tampa, FL students were highlighted in the Tampa Tribune for their creativity and hard work in raising $800 for conservation.

Teachers interested in purchasing materials to implement the Rainforest Alliance curriculum in their classrooms may be eligible for a $500 grant from the Independence Community Foundation's Small Grant Program. The Foundation makes grants for education, culture and the arts, neighborhood renewal and community quality of life in the deposit areas of Independence Community Bank, including New York City, Nassau County and Essex, Bergen, Hudson, Middlesex and Union counties in New Jersey.

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