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How to Become a Certified Oregon Green School

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Step 1: Sign Up!

Send an email to mail@oregongreenschools.org to:

  • Connect with a regional coordinator for support
  • Receive our newsletter
  • Get set up with your own working folder for sharing �resources and documentation

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Step 2: Choose a Certification Track

Gardens & Grounds

Green Lunchrooms

Reduce, Reuse, & Recycle

Walk & Roll to School

Energy Conservation

Environmental Justice

Water Conservation & �Pollution Prevention

https://www.oregongreenschools.org/certification

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https://www.oregongreenschools.org/walk-and-roll

Walk and Roll To School�Resource Guide

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Each certification track has a resource guide that includes:

  • Certification tools�
  • Curriculum and activities�
  • Community partners�
  • More!

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Step 3: Take Action

Plan your project.

  • Fill out Certification Form Part 1 at the beginning of your project. �
  • Upload the form to your OGS Google folder and send an email to your regional coordinator and mail@oregongreenschools.org.�
  • We’ll review your form and share any feedback or additional resources.

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Certification Form Part 1

1. What is a sustainability problem at your school and why is it important? �Guiding considerations: What track are you working on and what led you to choose that track? What topic or problem are you trying to solve? Why is this topic or problem important to you? How can you frame your question in language that suggests a possible solution or change you want to see?

2. What will you do to investigate and understand the problem? �What baseline measurement will you start with to measure your impact? Guiding considerations: Will you undergo an audit? What kind of audit? An interview? How else might you collect data? You will need to set a baseline of measurement to be able to evaluate your impact. Your evaluation can be qualitative or quantitative.

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Certification Form Part 1 (cont.)

3. What action item(s) will you take to solve �the problem?

Guiding considerations:

  • Our goal is to….
  • We will start to do this by…
  • What are some milestones?
  • How will we monitor our progress?
  • How will we know when we succeeded?
  • What will it cost?

4. How will you measure your impact? �Guiding considerations: Your impact data should be measured against the baseline you set in question #2. Your data can be qualitative or quantitative.

6. How will you reflect and plan to build on your work?

Guiding considerations: What will you have learned through this process? What do you plan to do next? Do you plan to do more work in this certification track or move on to another track?

5. How will you share your action with the school community?

Guiding considerations: Tell us how you could shout your success!

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Implement your project.

  • Work with your team to implement your project.

  • Ensure that you document your baseline and demonstrate your impact through qualitative or quantitative data.

  • Reach out to your regional coordinator if you have questions.

Mill Park Elementary School - Portland, OR

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Summarize and evaluate your results.

  • Fill out Certification Form Part 2 at the end of your project.

  • Upload the form to your OGS Google folder along with any supporting documents including qualitative or quantitative data that demonstrates �your impact.
  • Send an email to your regional coordinator and mail@oregongreenschools.org to let us know your project is ready for review.

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Certification Form Part 2

1. What was a sustainability problem at your school and why is it important? �Guiding considerations: What track did you work on and what led you to choose that track? What topic or problem were you trying to solve? Why was this topic or problem important to you? How did you frame your question in language that suggests a possible solution or change you want to see?

2. What did you do to investigate and understand the problem? �What baseline measurement did you start with to measure your impact? Guiding considerations: Did you undergo an audit? What kind of audit? An interview? How else did you collect data? What was the baseline of measurement you used to evaluate your impact? Your evaluation can be qualitative or quantitative.

Please upload all relevant evaluation documents to your OGS Google folder.

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Certification Form Part 2 (cont.)

3. What action item(s) did you take to solve �the problem?

Guiding considerations:

  • Our goal was to….
  • We started to do this by…
  • What were some milestones?
  • How did we monitor our progress?
  • How did we know when we succeeded?
  • What did it cost?

4. How did you measure your impact? What was your impact? �Guiding considerations: Your impact data should be measured against the baseline you set in question #2. Your data can be qualitative or quantitative. ��Did anything get in the way of accomplishing your actions? How did you solve it?

6. How did you reflect and plan to build on your work?

Guiding considerations: What did you learn through this process? What do you plan to do next? Do you plan to do more work in this certification track or move on to another track?

5. How did you share your action with the school community?

If you have a product please hyperlink it here or add it to your OGS folder (i.e., slideshow presentation, video, document).

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Receive recognition and promote your success.

  • After your application is approved, you’ll receive a plaque �to recognize your team’s certification.
  • Celebrate your success at a school assembly, by writing an article for your school newsletter, etc. Be creative!

Dorena School - Dorena, OR

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Step 4: Keep Up the Good Work!

  • Maintain your project and continue �to measure results.

  • Think about expanding your project, setting new goals, or making other changes to strengthen your impact.

  • Consider pursuing a new certification track and/or a new project in a certification track you’ve already tackled.

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Thank You!