West Central Region

Counties: Adams, Bond, Brown, Calhoun, Cass, Christian, Fulton, Greene, Hancock, Jersey, Logan, Macoupin, Madison, Mason, McDonough, Menard, Montgomery, Morgan, Pike, Sangamon, Schuyler, Scott

Upcoming Events:

Illinois Teachers Workshop
Rocks, Minerals & Mining in Today's Society
The Illinois Association of Aggregate Producers' (IAAP) Illinois Teachers Workshop is a three-day event designed to inform Illinois educators about the importance of rocks, minerals, and mining in everyday life. This goal is accomplished by allowing teachers to tour active mining operations and by providing information, teaching materials and activities they can take back to their classrooms. The 2010 Workshop will be held July 19-21 at Chestnut Mountain Resort in Galena, Illinois. A teacher registration form detailing workshop and graduate credit fees may be downloaded from the IAAP website at http://www.iaap-aggregates.org/workshop.htm.

July 24, 2010
11am and 11pm
Big Gig Concert
Riverfront Park, Alton

Sept. 11, 2010
10am-2pm
Electronics Drive
Hardin

Sept. 18, 2010
11am-5pm
Mississippi Earthtones Festival
Riverfront Park, Alton

Sept. 18, 2010
9am-11am
Mississippi Earthtones Festival
Riverfront Park, Alton

DIVE-IN Event will be held at The Nature Institute in Godfrey, IL on October 22, 2010. Please call Patti Brown 618-467-2521 teachers, homeschool leaders if you want to attend an all day water education event for 4th and 5th grades. Limited number of spaces for classes available and for reimbursement of bus and substitute teachers. You and your students will spend a day going from station to station learning about water. Lots of interactive stations, educational resources and visiting at the John M. Olin Nature Preserve.

Dec. 11, 2010
10am-6pm
Green Gift Bazaar, Alton

Dec. TBA
10am-6pm
Green Gift Bazaar
Edswardsville

Dec. TBA
10am-6pm
Green Gift Bazaar
Collinsville

Save the Date!
The 2011 EEAI Annual Meeting and Conference will be held on April 15-17, 2011 at Pere Marquette State Park in Grafton, IL

Resources:

The Sangamon River: A Sense of Place DVD
For social science teachers of grades six through eight in Cass, Champaign, Ford, Mason, Menard, Logan, McLean, De Witt, Piatt, Macon, Sangamon, Christian, Montgomery, Macoupin, Tazewell and Shelby counties, The Sangamon River: A Sense of Place is a DVD that can help you teach about a local resource, its culture and history. This DVD (56 minutes, closed captioned) was produced by the University of Illinois at Springfield and has been shown on local PBS stations. If you teach in one of these counties and would like a free copy of this DVD, please send your request on school letterhead to Valerie Keener at the address listed below.
Valerie Keener
Administrator, Division of Education
Illinois Department of Natural Resources
One Natural Resources Way
Springfield, IL 62702-1271
217-785-0973
Cell 217-725-9620
FAX 217-782-9552
valerie.keener@illinois.gov

IL Zero Waste Schools Grant Program
The IL Zero Waste Schools Grant Program provides Illinois public and nonpublic schools grant funds to be used to implement or expand recycling and waste reduction programs. The purpose of the program is to assist Illinois schools in achieving zero waste status, thus increasing the amount of solid waste diverted from Illinois landfills. A new grant cycle will begin later this year to fund recycling programs to begin in schools in the Fall 2009. Your name will be added to the 2009 IL Zero Waste Schools Grant program notification list. You will be contacted as soon as the application is available. To be placed on the notification list, please email Brett Ivers at Brett.Ivers@illinois.gov

In addition to the grant program, the Bureau of Energy and Recycling sponsors the IL Sustainable Education Project (ISTEP). ISTEP offers FREE educational resources, including hands-on inquiry kits (recycling/vermicomposting), bookmarks, and posters that focus on energy efficiency and recycling. ISTEP also offers pencils made from recycled material available in multiple quantities for classroom/school events. The website is being updated, but a description of some program offerings can be found at www.istep.org. Please contact Susan Nevitt at Susan.Nevitt@illinois.gov or 217-785-2863 to order material.

Reconnecting People to Our Region's Great Rivers
The network of conservation, heritage and recreation attractions developing in The Confluence provides countless opportunities to reconnect to the Great Rivers in the heart of our bi-state St. Louis region.
www.confluencegreenway.org

Regional Directors:

Patti Brown
The Nature Institute
tni3@piasanet.com

Paula Edgar
John Wood Community College
edgar@jwcc.edu