Bag the Book!

Climate Action Committee Presentation

wellst — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 15:38:54 +0000

Our presentation to the Brookline Selectmen’s Climate Action Committee went well! Special thanks to Aydin, George, Jamila, and Claire for reading letters and to all the others who came! The committee was impressed!

It was a bit less formal than last time, but a similar presentation and question period. Selectwomen Mermell and her committee are interested in our idea! In fact, they’ll be working on writing up some draft legislation (or a “bill” or “warrant article”) that they’ll share with us in August or September. At that point we can offer more suggestions. For now, it’s up to them to decide on opt-in or opt-out and how best to make that happen for Brookline in a legal document.

I’ve given the committee the opt-in ordinance that was passed into law in San Francisco this spring as a model to work from. You can download it by clicking here. Hopefully the committee will come up with something similar that we’ll review with them in a month or two.

And as a reminder, our ultimate goal is for Brookline’s phone book ordinance/bill/warrantarticle to be voted on in November’s Town Meeting and passing! If so, we’d be the first “town” in the USA to ever do this (two “cities” have already). And we’d be active citizens changing the law to help the planet…WOW!!

Board of Selectmen!

wellst — Tue, 10 May 2011 20:02:42 +0000

Dozens of 4th and 5th grade students have finished collecting and processing survey data. Click here to see the results that strongly support our project. Now they’re writing letters to Brookline’s Board of Selectmen. And we just received great news: the Board of Selectmen said we can come present our letters at next Tuesday’s evening meeting!! We’ll have ten minutes to read a few letters and try to convince them to propose an opt-in law slowing down phone books at next fall’s Town Meeting (the legislative branch of Brookline’s government). Cross your fingers that the Selectmen like our idea.

5/17 UPDATE: BIG NEWS

Standing tall atop a pile of four heavy Brookline phone books in order to reach the microphone (they are good for something!), seven Park School students read letters tonight before Brookline’s Board of Selectmen, dozens of friends, their families, and strangers, too. These kids were so composed speaking before the packed room, and best of all, they got results!!

I’m thrilled to announce that in the end, the Selectmen liked our idea and are referring it to the Selectmen’s Climate Action Committee where they’d like our help writing this legislation (aka: a “warrant article”) that might make it to Town Meeting in the fall where 250 Members will either vote it into law, or vote against it.

These children are being heard and learning about the democracy and civics by being apart of it. They are learning by doing. The ball is rolling and town leaders in the executive branch like our little cause. Next up is writing and filing the warrant article that may require visiting a few town committees. Then, if all goes well, we’re off to the legislative branch for a vote in November 2011.

Phone Book Crafts?

wellst — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 02:49:55 +0000

Do any teachers out there have a creative phone book projects you can share? I’ve heard they’re great for booster seats and door stops, but how about creative art projects like building the Pyramids of Egypt or Greek Temples? Or making cleaver pencil holders like this one.

Here are detailed instructions for making these pencil holders.

Design Our “Phone Books Are Dinosaurs” Trophy

wellst — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 01:58:47 +0000

If anyone would like to share ideas, drawings, or photos for how to design our “Phone Books Are Dinosaurs” trophy, please submit them to us at BAGtheBOOK@gmail.com and we’ll put them up on our homepage. Some of my students can then make some the trophies out of clay and paint from your design. Later we’ll mail them to any schools that get their towns to pass a law to slow down yellow phone books.