SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA – The San Luis Obispo County Green Schools Action Group 2012 kick-off meeting took place on Tuesday, March 20th, with over 60 community members in attendance. The action group, which is chaired by the Central Coast of California Chapter (known as “C4) of the United States Green Building Council, is the culmination of the landmark green schools movement taking place in our county and is comprised of leading stakeholders in the K-12 and tertiary school communities.

"The green schools movement is the biggest thing to happen to education since the introduction of technology to the classroom," says Glenn Cook, Editor in Chief of American School Board Journal. This action group has set an aggressive timeline to reach county-wide and nation-wide goals for greening our schools, and they intend to reach them by fostering collaboration between school districts and other stakeholders, sleuthing out opportunities for grants, encouraging partnerships and celebrating success, promoting information sharing, and serving as a platform for making a true impact in the schools of our county.

Community members at this meeting included administrative representatives from public and private school districts, managers of school facilities and food service departments, teachers and educators, parents and PTA representatives, Cal Poly staff and students, local government officials and County Board of Supervisors, members of non-profit and non-government organizations, the County Office of Education, and diverse group of industry (renewable energy, lighting, HVAC, contractors) representatives.

As a follow up from this launch, the SLO County Green Schools Action Group will chair a series of green schools “Seminars for Success”, each focused on a topic relevant to green schools (i.e., Energy, Water, Recycling, Curriculum, etc.). The first seminar, which will be comprised of a panel of local experts and round-table discussion, will take place on April 19th, 2012, at the Ludwick Community Center. All community members are welcome and encouraged to attend. Please direct any comments or inquiries to the committee co-chairs, Erin Inglish from the Lucia Mar Unified School District (einglish@lmusd.org) or Jen McIntyre from the Integrated Waste Management Authority (jenmcintyreca@gmail.com). More information is available at www.usgbcc4.org.