The 2014 recipient of the Joan Riehm Memorial Environmental Leadership Award will be announced on or around Earth Day, April 22, 2014. Joan dedicated much of her professional life to making Louisville a better place to live and work. She worked primarily in the public sector, for the city of Louisville, the state of Kentucky and for Louisville Metro, helping create the newly merged city and county. Joan was in public service for the right reason - to make things better in her community. Among her strongest talents were her ability to rally people around an idea and her ability to communicate. She was instrumental in creating the Partnership for a Green City, creating the director’s position and a lifelong advocate for being green and living green. The Partnership seeks to honor Joan’s leadership and memory annually on Earth Day through this award.
Eligibility – Public service employees limited to the Partnership members (Jefferson County Public Schools, Jefferson Community & Technical College, Louisville Metro government and University of Louisville) and quasi-governmentals (Louisville Regional Airport Authority, Louisville Water Company, Metropolitan Sewer District and Transit Authority of River City). Nominees should possess a leadership role in the promotion of environmental sustainability. There are no self-nominations.
Submittals - Electronic nominations are preferred in Word or portable document file (pdf) format. Nominations may include additional supporting documentation (e.g. résumé, letters of support, photographs, flyers, supportive news clippings, etc.). Hard copy submittals may be mailed to the Partnership mailing address.
NOMINATIONS ARE DUE BY MONDAY, MARCH 31, 2014. The review committee will consist of people from outside the partner organizations.
Criteria – Nominations will be scored on the following criteria:
1. Innovation and creativity of the sustainability change - up to 20 points. 2. Sustainable leadership provided outside regular job duties - up to 20 points. 3. Long-term impacts of sustainability change – up to 20 points. 4. Degree that the individual contributed to making the change – up to 20 points. 5. Outside recognition and adoption of the innovation – up to 20 points.
The Fifth Annual Joan Riehm Memorial
Environmental Leadership Award
Honoring sustainable environmental leadership in public service
The 2014 Joan Riehm Memorial Environmental Leadership Nomination Form Nominee: Darleen Horton Organization: Jefferson County Public Schools, Cane Run Elementary Mailing Address: 3951 Cane Run Road, Louisville KY 40211 E-Mail Address [email protected] Phone 502.485.8224 Nominated by: Mike Mulheirn, Director of Facilities and Environmental Services E-Mail Address [email protected] Phone 502.485.3178 or 3336
The Partnership for a Green City seeks to recognize leadership in an individual capacity that promotes environmental sustainability efforts in the community. The person could have implemented a sustainability project, program or event. The nominee could be knowledgeable and educate others or may be a catalyst in an organization or the community. The focus of the work should be on moving toward greater environmental sustainability.
Joan Riehm brought people together to collaborate on issues important to Louisville with environmental issues and sustainability being close to her heart. In that spirit, we are creating an open nominations process where the individual(s) making a nomination can be as creative and innovative in the nomination format. Nominations can be in prose form, PowerPoint or Prezi, video or any other easily disseminated format for the Judges. Supplemental information such as letters of support or project information will be considered with the nominations due by March 31, 2014.
Nominees should be public sector employees of the Partnership organizations. Self-nominations are not permitted. The Partnership for a Green City reserves the right to select more than one recipient in any year.
The award includes a $500 honorarium.
The complete nomination should be e-mailed to [email protected] or mailed to: Partnership for a Green City, UofL Urban Studies Institute, 426 W. Bloom Street, Louisville, KY 40208 Nomination packets of the previous recipients are available at www.partnershipforagreencity.org, but don’t let the scale of previous nominees prevent anyone from making a nomination. Acknowledgement and Authorization – As the nominator, I understand that the information submitted with this nomination will be used to assess the nominee’s eligibility for the award. I certify that all the information provided on this nomination form and in the documents accompanying it is true, accurate and complete. Signature: Date:
Riehm Award Recipients: 2010 – Larry L. Owsley, Vice President of Business Affairs, University of Louisville 2011 – Michael Mulheirn, Director of Facilities and Environmental Services, Jefferson County Public Schools 2013 – The Honorable Tina Ward Pugh, Louisville Metro Councilwoman, District 9 2014 – Pamela Dumm, Business Manager, Jefferson Community & Technical College 2015 - ?
Sustainability in the Outdoor Classroom Wikipedia lists the definition of sustainability as “the capacity to endure.”
Outdoor classrooms are natural learning environments and valuable tools for helping students make real life connections to subjects they might only read about otherwise. Cane Run Elementary has an exciting outdoor classroom with many features for teaching, learning and enjoying. As we began to plan and build there were important questions to be considered. Perhaps the most important question was, “How can we make this area easily sustainable?” Lots of people get very enthusiastic about building gardens and other features without thinking about long term issues such as weeds and water sources. What about seating areas? Logs are awesome seating and provide excellent opportunities for observing decomposers and shredders. And yet, what happens when the logs decompose so much they are no longer good for seating? Is it still possible to have logs brought into the area? At a previous outdoor classroom, changes had been made to the schoolyard that prevented a large vehicle from delivering replacement logs where they were needed. We ended up creating individual seats from cut up logs. That worked ok, but smaller logs have to be replaced more often. That experience prompted us to use boulder seating in our current space which has worked out extremely well and is totally sustainable. Raised bed gardens that are well “mulched in” have far fewer weeds than other gardens. Consider using landscape cloth covered with gravel instead of mulch around the beds. The raised bed gardens have more productivity and lots less bending over to pull pesky weeds. A great way to create an easily sustained environment where students can observe decomposition and lots of other science concepts is a “discovery zone”. This is just an area where some pan sized creek stones and small pieces of logs are arranged on bare earth surrounded with wood chips (not treated with chemicals). A great place for a discovery zone is along a wall of the building where it will not be a problem for mowers. As weather occurs, the logs will begin to rot and the creek stones will become habitats for roly-‐polys, crickets, worms and beetles. Give students hand lenses and clipboards with pencils and just watch the great inquiry and note booking that takes place. My students like to create a database of what they found and put the info into a graph showing how many of each critter they found. Another great inquiry is, “why are these animals living under a rock or log where it is dark?” A discovery zone does not need to be large – think flower bed size – quality over quantity. When thinking of creating a sustainable outdoor classroom, consider the long-‐term responsibilities and possibilities such as human influence on an environment; stewardship; biodiversity; consumption; carrying capacity; social justice; food and poverty; and the joy of being in a natural setting. Plan; get everyone involved; revisit; plan again and then build an outdoor learning space that is just right for your school.
March 28, 2014 To Joan Riehm Memorial Environmental Award Committee: As the principal of Cane Run Elementary and her direct supervisor, it has been a pleasure working with Darleen Horton as Magnet Coordinator.
This letter serves as support documentation that I endorse Mrs. Horton for Environmental Leadership Award. Darleen has been a pioneer in the area of Environmental Education. She writes lessons and teaches across the curriculum utilizing agriculture concepts (science, math, social studies, environmental science, practical living, arts, engineering, and technology). Darleen Horton aligns agricultural learning activities with state and or national education standards. She takes ownership of projects and her professional involvement in organizations motivates others. Darleen’s demonstrates leadership by aligning agricultural learning activities with state and or national education standards. She plans and implements special programs utilizing agricultural experts for the student body (such as Pioneer Day, STEAM Day, Science & Math Night, Career Day). Darleen provides professional development, presenting at local and state conferences and spear heading Cane Run’s Environmental Magnet. She designs and builds Outdoor Classrooms and mentors educators by providing programming to embed science and environmental science across the curriculum. Darleen sponsors a weekly Environmental Education Club for students.
As Principal of Cane Run Elementary I nominate Darleen Horton. Darleen will be a wonderful recipient of the Joan Riehm Memorial Environmental Award. She is innovative and unrelenting in her approach to advancing environmental education. I know if she is awarded the Joan Riehm Memorial Environmental Award teaching and learning will benefit. Your organization will be impressed by her relentless desire to promote education for all students. If you need more information, please feel free to contact me. Sincerely, Dr. Gwendolyn Goffner Principal, Cane Run Elementary 502-‐485-‐8223
Darleen Horton
An educator for more than four decades, Darleen Horton leads by modeling outdoor education and environmental literacy to students, staff, families and community. She designs and builds outdoor learning environments to provide real learning experiences that will not only teach lessons but will help children understand their position as responsible citizens of the Earth. Believing that food is a common denominator, she uses gardening with students, staff and families to focus on healthy eating, the value of local food and to develop respect for cultures around the world. She creates and presents professional development to embed environmental science, environmental literacy, and environmental responsibility across the curriculum for local schools, district, state and national educators. Her Peace Garden Program at Cane Run Elementary was one of the international recipients of the Hunger to Hope Award, presented by YUM Brands.
For many years she has led environmental clubs and “green teams” -‐ groups of students focused on reducing the carbon footprint of their school, their family, and themselves. Last year, Cane Run’s Green Team won the National Rookie School of the Year Award from the National Energy Education Development group. She leads the Recycling and Food Composting programs at Cane Run Elementary. Her EE Club students build electronic game boards from recycled materials on environmental topics then use those game boards at family and community events as a teaching tool. She holds school wide family events several times each year to promote environmental, science and math programs.
She is a presenter for KET educational video, Raindrops to Rivers and Think Garden, and has been published in the FOSS National Newsletter on the Environmental Magnet Program at Cane Run. She is also an author in a book about Presidential Awardees for Excellence in Science Teaching.
She has initiated and developed true partnerships creating mutual respect and understanding between the business community and the school community. These partnerships have led to the building of an excellent, handicapped accessible community playground in the front area of Cane Run Elementary. School and community families utilize this area as a safe and healthy way to spend time outdoors. Additionally, with help from the partners, various gardens and outdoor features have been placed along the fitness walk around the school property.
• Darleen Horton believes that environmental studies make connections to children’s real world and builds bridges that cross gaps in a traditional classroom setting. Critical thinking skills in content areas translate to basic life skills when students construct their own learning. Being a responsible part of the environment enhances learning no matter what the age.
• Her Green Apple Energy Trees at Cane Run reflect the substantial influence environmental education has had and continues to have on the students, staff, families and community members at Cane Run. The green apples have individual pledges written on them, made by all these stakeholders, to be a visual reminder to everyone who comes through the front doors of the school that greater environmental sustainability is a major focus.
Darleen is a recipient of the:
• 2014 Clean Air Champion Award (Metro Louisville Air Pollution Control District)
• 2013 Trailblazing Teacher Award • 2013 Charlie Hutton Leadership and Community Service Award • 2012 Kentucky Association for Environmental Education
Outstanding Individual for Excellence in Environmental Education • 2007 Community Pride Public Service Award • 2005 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and
Science Teaching (first recipient for an environmental focus) • 2005 WHAS ExCel Award • 2004 Amgen Award for Science Teaching Excellence • 2004 Ashland Inc. Teacher Achievement Award • 2004 Aegon Teacher Award • 2004 Environmental Educator Grant from Soil & Water
Conservation District • 2004 Fred Wiche / Brightside Award – First Place in the School
Division • 2003 Environmental Educator of the Year (Jefferson Co Soil & Water District)
Darleen Horton’s passion is using nature to bring learning alive for children of all ages to help them create a more sustainable and healthy world.
March 28, 2014 Partnership for a Green City c/o Brent Fryrear, Director Joan Riehm Memorial Environmental Leadership Award U of L Urban Studies Institute 426 W. Bloom Street Louisville, KY 40208 Dear Members of the Review Committee: As naturalist of the Jefferson County Public Schools, I am pleased to support the nomination of Cane Run’s Environmental Magnet Coordinator, Darleen Horton for this recognition. Like Joan, Darleen works enthusiastically for the betterment of her economically and environmentally impoverished Cane Run community. It is with Darleen’s dedication and commitment to a better future for the environment and her student’s lives that she is able to communicate her schools needs and rally people including; district administration, teachers, students, parents and the larger community around her vision of sustainability for all. Most notable is Darleen’s leadership, creativity and innovation of developing Cane Run’s outdoor classroom. Its many features include a pond, multiple theme gardens, sitting areas, composting area, discovery zone, fossil bed, force and motion station, bird-‐feeding area. They were developed with the curriculum in mind for all teachers in each subject area to use as a resource. Darleen has worked with the Cane Run teachers and teacher’s district wide though professional development on using outdoor classrooms as an educational resource. Many teachers who are interested in developing their own school sites are recommended by the district and invited personally by Darleen for an educational tour. Darleen’s support, enthusiasm and demonstrations in working with students has empowered Cane Run’s teachers to be comfortable and confident in taking their classes out on their own so that on a given day multiple classes will be using these resources. It was through Darleen’s ability to communicate her needs, the schools needs and its educational value that she is able to garner on-‐going community support in both dollars and physical labor to make it come to fruition and sustainable. Beyond the local school, Darleen has developed a relationship with multiple agencies and organizations to provide Cane Run’s students with real life experiences to assist them in seeing and applying their school knowledge in the larger community setting. With Cane Run’s students at a 95% free and reduced lunch rate, many of these students would not have these opportunities otherwise. Students and teachers have the educational opportunity to visit, the Louisville Zoo, Blackacre State Nature Preserve, Jefferson County Memorial Forest, Oxmoor Farms, the Louisville Water Company and even Red River Gorge.
Because of her dedication and compassion for her student’s as seen through her work, Darleen is able to engage dozens of community resources for daylong school wide annual events that all students participate in including a Pioneer Day and Earth Day. In addition, Darleen sponsors Energy nights, Science nights, and Food literacy nights at Cane Run for students and parents alike. Darleen’s enthusiasm goes beyond the school day and it is not uncommon for her to work many additional hours and use her personal resources as well to improve, provide additional opportunities, and sustain the schools environmental theme. She has developed an environmental club, gardening club and green energy club at Cane Run. She has empowered her students through these clubs in variety of ways. Environmental students have participated in the PGC Youth Environmentally Aware leadership program with the students highlighting Cane Run’s participation in the states Green and Healthy School projects. The green energy club often highlights the schools environmental green infrastructure to visiting professionals wanting to learn more about its design. Under Darleen’s leadership and guidance, Cane Run students were presenters at the KY Chapter of Educational Facilities Planners International Conference. Students presented to professionals on how to best use school buildings and grounds to learn. The clubs also completed research and energy audits, which earned the school the 2013 Green Ribbon School Award and the Rookie School of the Year award by the National Energy Education Project and was additionally recognized by KDE and the U.S. Dept. Education. Additionally, Darleen has received: the National Presidential Science Teachers Award, the Kentucky Association for Environmental Education’s Outstanding Environmental Educator Award, the Center for Green School’s ‘Trail Blazing’ Teacher Award. YUM brands have recognized her school garden efforts with the International Top 20 Global Award for Peace Gardens. She has served as President of the Kentucky Science Teachers Association, has been a presenter at annual conferences for the Kentucky Association for Env. Education and the National Science Teachers Association, and has been involved with developing the KDE Kentucky Environmental Literacy Plan. As I write, Darleen is currently off presenting at the International Technology and Engineering Conference on “Engineering in the Outdoor Classroom”. Once again, Darleen’s efforts and leadership goes beyond her regular duties. I am proud and honored to be a colleague of Darleen. Darleen has immersed the Cane Run community and beyond in a variety of ways, at different levels for long lasting impact for sustainability. She has been recognized at the state level and national level. Through a tremendous amount of time, effort, innovation and creativity, much beyond the call of duty, Darleen now deserves, in the spirit of Roan Riehm, to be recognized locally! Sincerely, Bryan Thompson JCPS Gheens Curriculum Management Naturalist
To whom it may concern, I would like to nominate Darleen Horton for consideration regarding the Joan Riehm Memorial Environmental Leadership Award. I have attached the completed form, recommendation letter, and pictures of some of Darleen’s work in environmental sustainability and the education of children at Cane Run Elementary School. Please contact me at your convenience if you need any additional information. Thank you in advance for your consideration. Darleen is very deserving of this award! Kind regards, John Gant
D a r l e e n H o r t o n
Cane Run Elementary, Louisville, KY 502-‐551-‐9907
CAREER SUMMARY
Current Position Cane Run Elementary Environmental Magnet Coordinator
08/2009 to Present
Designing and building world class, standards based Outdoor Classroom; Creating standards based lessons in environmental literacy and environmental education to be embedded into current curriculum for all grade levels, K – 5. Building partnerships with local businesses and industry and creating an advisory council from that group; Working with environmental leaders in the district, community and state on environmental principals and working with students to make real life connections. Creating and presenting professional development for local, state, and national educators; Mentoring of pre-‐service teachers; working with the school administrative team; grant writing; curriculum development and teacher development. Prior Positions Chenoweth Elementary, Louisville: Science Lab 08/1999 to 07/2009
Christian Academy of Louisville: Kindergarten 08/1993 to 05/1998
Anchorage Independent School: ECE permanent sub 11/1992 to 05/1993
Cranbrook Hospice, Troy, MI: Administration & Training 09/1989 to 04/1992
Mt. Pleasant Hospital, PA: Administration & Training 06/1988 to 07/1999
Connellsville El., PA: Kindergarten 08/1986 to 05/1988
Shabbona Middle School, IL: Language Arts Lab 08/1984 to 05/1986
Morris, IL Vo-‐Tech & H.S.: Permanent Sub 08/1981 to 05/1984
Falling Waters, WV: 4th & 5th Grade 08/1975 to 02/1976
Elementary School Danville, IL: Reading & Librarian 08/1974 to 06/1975
Awards, Grants, and Profess ional Organizat ions
• 2014 Clean Air Champion Award • 2013 Trailblazing Teacher Award • 2013 Charlie Hutton Leadership and Community
Service Award •
2012 Kentucky Association for Environmental Education Outstanding Individual for Excellence in Environmental Education
• 2005 Presidential Award for Excellence in
Mathematics and Science Teaching • 2005 WHAS ExCel Award • 2004 Amgen Award for Science Teaching
Excellence • 2004 Ashland Inc. Teacher Achievement Award
• 2004 Aegon Teacher Award • 2004 Environmental Educator Grant from Soil &
Water Conservation District • 2004 Fred Wiche / Brightside Award – First Place in
the School Division • 2003 Environmental Educator of the Year
(Jefferson Co Soil & Water District) • Society of Elementary Presidential Awardees • Association of Presidential Awardees in Science
Teaching • National Science Teachers Association • National Association of Environmental Educators • National Education Association / Kentucky
Education Association
• Kentucky Science Teachers Association Board of Directors
• Kentucky Education Association
• Kentucky Association for Environmental Education • Jefferson County Teachers Association
Profess ional Service
• Mentor for Pre-‐Service Teachers 2005 – present (Bellarmine, University of Louisville, IUS, JCTC) • Outdoor Classroom Chairperson for Partnership for a Greener Metro-‐Louisville followed by participation in various
committees within the Partnership as a representative for Jefferson County Public Schools • Presenter for National NSTA Conventions (SEPA and APAST – presidential awardee associations) • Presenter at KSTA Conventions focusing on Inquiry Science and Integration of Environmental Education across the
Curriculum (2000 -‐ 2013) • JCPS Garden Alliance Presenter • Inquiry Science Presentations: District and State, and National • Review and Selection Committee for KY PAEMST elementary division • Author of a chapter in the book, Presidential Awardees, From the Hills to the White House • Author and Presenter on KDE video: Inquiry Learning, Methods of Instruction 2006 • Author and Presenter on KDE video (Environmental Ed): Raindrops to Rivers, Professional Development, 2008 • Science Instructor for JCPS Alternative Certification in Elementary and Secondary Program (ACES) • Science and Professional Development Reviewer for Corwin Press -‐ ongoing • Content Advisory Committee for KDE and West Ed to develop the assessment items for state assessments • Core Content for Assessment Version 4.0 Revision Committee for KDE • AIMS Presenter for Elementary Teachers • Key Leader in the Building a Presence for Science program in Kentucky • Jefferson County Public Schools Elementary Science Alliance Facilitator • Elementary Science Writer for Core Content for Assessment Guides for JCPS • Jefferson County Public Schools Committee to Write and Revise Science Open Response Questions • Environmental Leader and Curriculum Committee for Chenoweth Elementary • Creator and Presenter of Utilizing the Outdoor Classroom Across the Curriculum • JCPS Professional Development: Building and Teaching in Outdoor Classrooms • Louisville Science Center: Teacher Institute Curriculum Writer and Presenter
Education
Bachelors of Science Degree, Western Kentucky University Graduate: Education and Environmental Education, University of Louisville