Ed roundup: E-waste recycling event coming up
| Thursday, Sep 02 2010 06:00 PM
Last Updated Thursday, Sep 02 2010 06:00 PM
Bakersfield College is taking in unwanted electronics Sept. 24 and 25 when it hosts a free electronic waste collection on the campus' southwest parking lot.
Residents and businesses can drop off unwanted computer monitors, televisions and cellular phones, among other electronics free of charge. Organizers are also accepting car and rechargeable batteries, but fluorescent bulbs or lead batteries cannot be accepted.
California law states that e-waste must be recycled as consumer electronics contain low levels of hazardous metals that can contaminate soil and water.
Once items are collected, they will be taken to Bakersfield's Alianza Recycling and Recovery for processing. Bakersfield College's partner, Neil Agness E-Waste Recycling, will assume ownership and the liability of the recyclables. All hard drives collected will be wiped of information and destroyed by Alianza.
The collection will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the corner of University Avenue and Haley Street.
What would your school do with $25,000 to improve fitness? If you have a good answer, your school could turn those plans into reality.
The "Henkel Helps Get Kids Fit" essay contest aims to address the health and fitness crisis among nation's youth while acknowledging the budget crisis faced by schools across the country. Parents, students, educators and community members are encouraged to submit responses.
Ten finalists, chosen by Henkel and the American Council on Exercise, will receive a free video camera to create a video that brings to life the health and fitness issues facing their school and their idea for making the most of the $25,000 prize. Voters will then select the winner online.
School nominations are due by Sept. 30. For information and to apply: www.HenkelHelps.com.
A $1.3 million gift from the Claire Giannini Fund to a nonprofit that supports classroom projects has helped pay for more than 2,000 teacher projects throughout California, including more than 100 in Kern County that will benefit thousands of students, according to DonorsChoose officials.
From the gift by the private foundation in San Francisco, 114 projects were funded in Kern County for about $90,000 through nonprofit DonorsChoose.org, an online application where educators post their needs, and people can fund bit by bit. Chevron here announced it would match donations given to educators' projects.
Projects funded by the donation range from a few dollars to cover school supplies to thousands of dollars for iTouches and other technology.
One local school in particular is taking the lead thanks to the help of one teacher recently highlighted in The Californian as a "What's working" teacher. Brook Webb has been using curriculum, hands-on activities and tools she's received through numerous grants to teach students state standards in non-traditional ways. And she has shared with fellow teachers at Sing Lum Elementary the best way to get those grants, the school's principal said.
Before the recent Claire Giannini gift --which funded about 29 additional projects at Sing Lum -- the school had received funding for 140 projects worth about $136,000 through DonorsChoose. Panama-Buena Vista Union School District as a whole received funding for 236 projects worth $197,000. Chevron also funded the school (as well as several others throughout Kern) for about 13 more projects.
-- Jorge Barrientos, staff writer
For more education news, go to The Californian's education blog, The Grade, at www.bakersfield.com/blogs or follow The Grade's Twitter at twitter.com/TBCTheGrade.
