Green Leaders

Why become a green leader?

If you are interested in assisting a school with the Green School Application process or you just want to help your community become more sustainable, then this is the perfect position for you. We are always looking for parents, educators, students, naturalists, community members and others to help assist their local schools to become a Maryland Green School. There are various roles that Green Leaders can have (see Duties of a Green Leader).

Trystan Sill and Amy Henry, two green leaders, pose in front of a blue bird box which will be gifted to Green Schools.

How do I become a green leader?

To become a Green Leader you have to go through a MAEOE training workshop. This training highlights the Maryland Green School Application process and provides resources for Green Leaders and teachers. Workshops are held around the state in the fall and the spring, information about Green Leader Training can be found on the MAEOE website, social media or Green School Newsletters. Although you may be working with schools prior to attending a Green Leader workshop, attendance at one of these workshops will be essential if you are supporting a school with their application. You can sign-up to become a Green Leader at the training or send an email to greenschools@maeoe.org .

Upcoming trainings can be found below.

Green Leader Responsibilities

Green Leaders should contribute a minimum of 10 hours annually to the Maryland Green School Program throughout the course of a year and must include:

Presentation to a non-Maryland Green School introducing them to the program.
Meet with a Green School Team from a school working towards certification.
Attend training every 1-2 years (there are changes to the application each year).
Participation in 2 of 3 MAEOE events: Volunteer at the annual Maryland Green School Youth Summit and Awards Ceremony, volunteer as a Maryland Green Schools Reviewer or volunteer at the MAEOE Conference.

Green Leaders Working in Schools

Green Leaders will work with at least one school. Examples of support that Green Leaders/volunteer may provide:

Help review the green schools program application before submitting it to MAEOE
Help establish Sustainable Practices (Objective 2 of the Application): Bluebird box program, a recycling/energy monitoring project, further examples can be found on the MAEOE website.
Work with the school to establish connections with local experts who can support Sustainable Practices
Work with the school to secure funding for projects
Present information about the Green Schools Program to new or recertifying Green Schools

More information is available upon request with the Program Coordinator; greenschools@maeoe.org. Green Leaders will be linked to a Green Center in their local area. Green Leaders and Green Centers offer local support to current and potential Maryland Green Schools.

Green Leader, Donald Belle, from the the Schmidt Center is giving students a tour of the Green House and teaching them about the variety of plants inside.

“I receive satisfaction that I am able to assist schools in becoming certified Green Schools. I enjoy supporting schools, assisting them to achieve their goals.” — Donald Belle

Upcoming Green Leader Trainings:

How to Review Green School applications:We will go through how to review Green School Applications. We will review applications from previous years so that participants have a comprehensive understanding on how to review an application.
To sign up: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0C48AAA929A31-application1

Reviewing Green School Applications

This year we have 150 applications to review! Each application needs to be review three times and we could not do this without help from volunteers like you. We encourage all reviewers new to the Green Schools Application Review to attend a Green Schools Review Training. However, if you cannot attend a training you are still welcome to come review applications. If you have never reviewed applications, there will be a brief training on site the day of your review. Please be sure to bring lunch and, if possible, a laptop. All the applications are electronically. You are not obligated to stay for the entire 6 hour session. Simply sign up for a specific date and stay as long as you can. There will be snacks and coffee!

To sign up: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0C48AAA929A31-mdgreen1