2015 Fall Newsletter - Keep Iowa Beautiful

Fall 2015
TEACHERS GOING GREEN
Teachers from Runnells Elementary School went on
an “Unbelievably, Fantabulous 10-yard Hike” during a
workshop September 2 at the Metro Waste Authority’s
Environmental Learning Center in Runnells, Iowa. Excited
about collecting and identifying insects, they learned about
resources available through Teachers-Going-Green.com
(TGG) to help their students do the same.
Some teachers checked out teaching kits before they
even left the workshop! They’ll use the kits to teach TGG
lessons that tie environmental education with academic
standards. TGG Teaching Kits contain everything a
30-student classroom needs for lessons on Water,
Mapping, Art, and Outdoor Fun and Teambuilding. Kits can
be reserved online and delivered to any district in the state.
Keep Iowa Beautiful Education Consultants customize
the program to meet individual needs of schools. Overarching objectives are to familiarize teachers with the
resources of www.teachers-going-green.com, address
teachers’ concerns about outdoor education, and develop
awareness of place-based education and service learning.
The Principal Financial
Foundation funds the
effort.
Teachers Going
Green.com is an online
resource that houses nearly
200 free, ready-to-use
lessons. It expands access
to outdoor education and
assists teachers in linking
academics to nature.
To learn more, or to
request a workshop in
your school district,
please contact:
Martha McCormick,
KIB Education Consultant,
515.979.3311 or email
nextstepadventure@mac.com
*Runnells Elementary staff participating in the
“Unbelievably, Fantabulous 10-yard Hike” lesson.
KEEP IOWA BEAUTIFUL ANNOUNCES
HIGH SCHOOL SCHOLARSHIPS
Keep Iowa Beautiful is offering five, $1,000
scholarships to Iowa high school seniors in 2016! Students across Iowa who plan to enroll in an Iowa
college or university and plan a major in areas related to
community, sociology or environmental science are eligible
to apply. “My dad recognized from the beginning that Keep
Iowa Beautiful serves as a key resource for educating
youth on the importance of respect for the community
and our environment,” said Jay Byers, son of Bob
Byers. In memory of Bob’s dedication to young people
and environmental concerns, KIB and the Byers family
established the Byers Scholarship Environmental Fund.
Through Bob’s leadership, KIB’s Litter-Free School
Campus program was initiated in northwest Iowa in 2003.
“KIB seeks to improve behavior patterns in
our younger generations and reinforce values in
older generations that encourage respect for home,
neighborhood, community and state,” said Gerry Schnepf,
KIB Executive Director. “We serve as a key resource for
educating youth on the importance of respect for the
community and our environment.”
Students can complete the application on-line at
www.keepiowabeautiful.com/grants/byers no later than
January 8, 2016. Award winners will be notified by mid
March, and invited to an award ceremony in the Governor’s
Office at the State Capitol in April. For questions please
contact Martha McCormick, KIB Education Consultant at
515-979-3311 or e-mail NextStepAdventure@mac.com
Garden for Every School
Board of Trustees
Mike Richardson
Chairman
Miriam Erickson Brown
Vice-Chair
Donald F. Lamberti
Honorary Co-Chair
Robert D. Ray
Honorary Co-Chair
Anthony J. Colosimo
Secretary
Doug Shull
Treasurer
Jeff Badger
Michael Chilton
Neal Coleman
Tim Dohlman
Kim Drautz
Steven Falck
William J. Fultz
Tom Hanafan
Pat Hensley
Geri Huser
Megan Jones
Barbara Lykins
Reo Menning
Brandon Neilson
Nancy Richardson
Loretta Sieman
Scott Smith
Paul Trombino III
Ken Waller
Marcia Wannamaker
Inky Westfall
Staff/Consultants
Gerald F. Schnepf
Executive Director
515-323-6507
William H. Jackson
Executive Assistant
515-323-6537
Martha McCormick
Education Consultant
515-979-3311
Hometown Pride Coaches
Jeff Davidson
Jasper County
319-541-7048
Remember science lab? Ever dissect a cat, a frog or an eyeball? How about the
drawings you did of the different parts of a flower or a seed? Keep Iowa Beautiful is
working with schools and organizations all over central Iowa to create sustainable
school gardens.
Studies show there are numerous positive impacts on academic outcomes for
students who garden. The highest positive impacts are for science, then language
arts and math.
School gardening also encourages healthier food
choices. Children who garden are far more likely to
eat vegetables they grow in school gardens, and
they also ask for them at home. When this happens,
the whole family eats better! Twelve school garden
studies reported in 2015 in School Health show
increases in fruit and vegetable consumption.
School gardens encourage children to
participate in community and develop community/
school partnerships. Kids who help grow a school
garden learn to volunteer and give back through
service. A 2005 study of third through fifth graders
shows that students who garden have higher
interpersonal and cooperative skills than nongardening students.
Watch for the launch of “A Garden for Every School”--the planning process,
video training modules and incentives for schools in Dallas and Polk County. Go to
Teachers-Going-Green.com and click on “School Gardens to watch it grow!
KIB PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST
Grab your I-phone or digital camera and shoot a photo of your favorite attractive
Iowa location! Keep Iowa Beautiful is pleased to announce the 6th Annual
Keep Iowa Beautiful Photography Contest aimed at raising awareness for Iowa’s
beauty. This photo contest offers both amateur and experienced photographers an
opportunity to tell Iowa’s story in a fun, engaging way.
“It is a great way for ‘Iowa lovers’ to share what they like about rural and urban
Iowa,” said Gerry Schnepf, KIB Executive Director. “First place will receive $25 and
second place $20. Both will receive complimentary registration to KIB’s Annual
Conference in 2016.”
The deadline to enter the contest is December 31, 2015 and all entries must be
submitted as high resolution JPEG electronically to bjackson@keepiowabeautiful.com
. $5 entry fee, contest rules and payment can be made at www.keepiowabeautiful.
com/media/photography-content
Douglas Elam
Louisa County
319-654-4007
Doug Friedli
Fremont County
402-873-2215
Georgia Freerks
Sac County
319-215-0861
Beth Hicks
Capitol Neighborhood
515-556-0586
Margo Underwood
Pocahontas County
641-420-3896
www.keepiowabeautiful.com
1st Place winner in 2014 was Amy Racine.
The Rooster — Holliwell Covered Bridge,
Madison County
State Fair thank you…
A big (call it huge) THANK YOU to the 65 volunteers that staffed the KIB booth at the Varied Industries Building
during the Iowa State Fair. ‘Nothing Compares” to the many hours of greeting thousands of Iowans and giving them
information about KIB’s programs that are helping build stronger Iowa communities. Please keep us in mind for
next year and reserve some time at the fair for KEEP IOWA BEAUTIFUL. The dates are August 11-21, 2016.
State Fair Volunteers 2015
Bev & Marv Albaugh 2*
Kathy Anderson
Craig Armstrong 2*
Kathryn Arndt 2*
Karen & Dennis Amman
Nancy Baldwin
Brenda & Jim Barnett
Lindsey & Devon Bell
Helen Beneke
Delores & Jerry Benjamin 2*
Jackie Boat
Drue & Don Cavanaugh
Jon Christensen
Stacey & Neal Coleman
Rick Courcier
Doug Elam
Heath Ellis
Karen & John Eveland
Karen Fachman
Steve Falck
Phyllis Ann Frohlich
Janeice Garrard
Diana Illingworth
Rosie Laubach 2*
Lori & Mark McAllister
Sue McMillan
Lindsay McMillan
Dolores & Pat McQuileen 2*
Phyllis Menke
Reo Menning
Bob Meyer 2*
Tanya Michener
Jaclyn Michener
Crystal Parsons
Ross Paschall
Gale & Joe Rivas
Susan Sandor 2*
Rachel & Tim Scheib
Duke Schnepf
Gerry Schnepf
Loretta Sieman 2*
Marisue Sievert
Judy Stammeyer
Joyce Steinkamp
Brenda Vrba
Marcia Wanamaker
Lauren Wertz
Carolyn Whiting
Linda & George Wright
*Volunteered for 2 shifts
Daily Fair Photo Contest Winners
KIB launched an
Iowa State Fair Daily
Photo Contest at the
Fair. The daily photo
contest invited fair
attendees to capture the
beauty of the Iowa State
Fair during their visit.
Each day a winner was
selected and awarded
a $25 Casey’s General
Stores gift card, one
year KIB membership
and a lapel pin. Daily
winners and photos
were posted on KIB’s
Facebook page.
Day 1: Cecil Knapp from Bloomfield
Day 2: Melissa Winger from Bondurant
Continued on next page
Day 4: Sue Woolston from Boone
Day 3: Steven McKinney from Lytton
Day 6: CJ Sullivan from Van Meter
Day 5: Tammy Orr from Clear Lake
Day 7: Nancy Martinez
from Des Moines
Day 8: Pat Schnepf
from Johnston
Day 9: Brenda Vrba
from Pocahontas
Day 11: David Klein from Des Moines
Day 10: Bob Meyer from Clive
Day 12: Shirley Holm from Sigourney
Capitol to Corndogs Clean 5K Run
The 3rd annual Capitol to Corndogs Clean 5K Run was held during
the Iowa State Fair. The Green Runners of Des Moines led about 30
runners from the State Capitol to the main gate at the Fair, collecting
trash along the way. Keep Iowa Beautiful provided gate admission
and Budwiser provided a bagged-trash collection point and a cold one
for the team.
HOMETOWN PRIDE COACHES CORNER
Hometown Pride
Community Coach
Doug Elam-Louisa County
Louisa County Rural Hometown Pride hosted the
first ever county-wide litter clean-up on Saturday,
September 19th. This three-hour event reached
every corner of the county, from Letts in the far
north to Morning Sun down south. (Photo by
Roger Hunt, Louisa - Muscatine High School FFA
members)
Hometown Pride Community Coach Margo Underwood –
Pocahontas County
Fall is a great time for a bus tour and all nine Hometown Pride Committees are busy preparing for their countywide Hometown Pride bus tour and celebration of projects.
Participants on the tour will travel to each of the nine communities to view projects implemented by the
Hometown Pride Committees during the past three
years of the program.
The bus tour is scheduled for September 26,
from 9am – 3pm. One of the Gilmore City projects
featured on the bus tour is this beautiful mural
(attached photo) painted by two local artists Pat
Cirks and Jeanne Hutchinson on the Wrestling
Building located in the downtown area. The Gilmore City Hometown Pride Committee
received a Paint Iowa Beautiful grant from KIB and
Diamond Vogel Paint to paint the wall.
Nonprofit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Waterloo, IA
Permit No. 901
300 East Locust • Suite 100
Des Moines, Iowa 50309
Return Service Requested
Cal end ar/ Dea dlin es
6th Annual Photo Contest
Entry Deadline
December 31, 2015
Paint Iowa Beautiful Grants
Application deadline
February 19, 2016
Byers High School
Scholarship
Application deadline
January 8, 2016
Yo-Ho Tools Grant
Application Deadline
March 4, 2016
Keep Iowa Beautiful Month — April 2016