Sustainability: Nimishillen Project

The Nimishillen Creek watershed is located in Stark County, Ohio in the northeastern portion of the Muskingum River watershed in the Ohio River drainage basin.   Everyone who lives or works in the watershed contributes in some way to the overall health of Nimishillen Creek.  It is OUR watershed!

The Canton Club

The Canton Club was founded in 1907 as an exclusive Business Men’s Club. It was housed in the St Francis Hotel, which was located across the street from its current location. In 1923, the club relocated to the top floors of the First National Bank Building. Today, the building is known as the Chase Tower and is the tallest building in Stark County.

The Canton Club Event Center maintains the eloquence and prestige as it did in the early 1900’s. The Event Center is located on the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth floors.

Address: The Chase Tower - 101 Central Plaza South, Floor 12 - Downtown Canton, Ohio

http://www.cantonclubevents.com/

Stark Parks Sippo Lake Clubhouse

Sippo Lake Park was purchased in 1977 with a Community Development Block Grant because of its central location between two of Stark County's major cities. It provides visitors with a variety of amenities, programs, and 202 acres of deciduous forest, wetlands, old fields, and mixed shrub areas. Featuring a variety of habitats for wildlife viewing, this quiet urban oasis is home to a large number of bird species, including blue herons and other waterfowl. The songs of spring peepers, frogs, and toads also enliven evening sunsets along the shoreline of the 100-acre lake. The bluegill, crappie, carp, catfish, yellow perch, and bass that make Sippo Lake their home often jump right out of the water in the lake's early morning mist.

Address:  Clubhouse & Marina - 5300 Tyner St NW - Canton, Ohio

http://www.starkparks.com/park.asp?park=1 

The goal of the Nimishillen Project is to encourage and support educators looking to integrate sustainability into the curriculum. We believe that sustainability is a key component of higher education, linking to core goals of civic engagement. Sustainability emphasizes concepts of civic responsibility and interdependence while encouraging critical thinking and the application of knowledge and skills within the community.

Sustainability is not an additional component that needs to be added to the curriculum; instead it is a lens through which we can look at our curriculum through, helping educators to bridge classroom curriculum to the communities in which our students live. We operate from the premise that faculty are the experts in their own discipline and look to assist them in  uncovering threads of sustainability within current curriculum and to exploring ways to expand and integrate the knowledge and skill sets critical to sustainable thinking.

Pre-Workshop Information

Schedule, Meeting Locations, Parking, Pre-Workshop Preparation, Stipends

Goal:  A two day professional development experience designed to introduce and inspire, explore and apply, and identify possibilities for incorporating the lens of sustainability in your classroom.

Workshop Schedule

Day One:              Wednesday, May 15^th from 8:00 am – 4:00 pm at the Canton Club

Day Two:              Thursday, May 16^th from 8:00 am – 4:00 pm at the Sippo Lake Clubhouse

Continental breakfast and lunch will be provided.

Please note sessions will begin promptly at 8:00 am.

2013 Guest Co-Facilitator:  Jennifer Cirillo, Director of Professional Development - Shelburne Farms Sustainable Schools Project.  Jen has extensive experience integrating sustainability into the curriculum from elementary through higher education.   You can learn more about her work HERE.

Workshop Locations & Parking Information

Day One:             Canton Club

The Chase Tower - 101 Central Plaza South, Floor 12 - Downtown Canton, Ohio

*Free parking is available in the REM lot next to the club.  Tickets will be validated by the Club.

Day Two:             Stark Parks - Sippo Lake Park

                              5712 – 12th Street NW, Canton, OH  Tel: (330) 409-8096

Please meet at the Clubhouse off Tyner Street at 8 am. Parking is adjacent to the facility.  Park Map: http://www.starkparks.com/files/parks/SippoLake5-2010_map1.pdf

Pre-workshop Preparation

1. Course/Assignment Revision:  Identify at least one class that you are currently teaching or plan to teach that you would like to work on during the workshop.   Bring the course syllabus and learning objectives to the workshop.
2. Recommended Reading –It’s All Connected: It’s All Connected: A Comprehensive Guide to Global Issues and Sustainable Solutions by Benjamin Wheeler, Gilda Wheeler, Wendy Church (Facing the Future, 2005), selected sections. Copies of this book will be mailed to you this week.  It will be yours to keep.
3. Optional Readings:

·         Tony Cortese, “The Critical Role of Higher Education in Creating a Sustainable Future” http://www.aashe.org/documents/resources/pdf/Cortese_PHE.pdf

·         Reliable Prosperity – www.reliableprosperity.org   An excellent website to become familiar with the concepts of sustainability and how it might relate to our region.  Created for the Pacific Northwest, it highlights organizations in that area.  Please take some time to explore the site and ponder how might these ideas translate to Stark County? 

·         Dan Sherman, “Sustainability: What’s the Big Idea?” http://www.aashe.org/files/documents/other/WhatsTheBigIdea_Sherman.pdf

·         Jim Farrell, “Waking Up to Nature” http://natureofcollege.org/book/chapter-one-waking-up-to-nature/  This selection is a little long winded, but an entertaining read on ““Cultural work”—the idea that everyday actions, artifacts and entertainments reinforce (or challenge) deep cultural values, institutions, assumptions and expectations,” if you have the time!

What (else) to Bring?

Dress is casual.  You may need a raincoat or umbrella in the case of light rain.  Please bring a water bottle. 

SSC Stipends

SSC adjunct faculty are eligible for a $200 stipend to attend the workshop.  If you need a form, please email Stefanie at ssmith2@starkstate.edu.

Additional Information

Additional information including a full workshop agenda, workshop resources, readings, etc… is available on the digital library under “Sustainability”, “Curriculum”, “Nimishillen Project”.  You may also access it through the direct link HERE.

Questions?  Please contact Stefanie Smith at ssmith2@starkstate.edu.

Thank you for registering for the

3^rd Annual Nimishillen Project’s Sustainability Across the Curriculum Workshop! 

We look forward to seeing you soon!

~The 2013 NP SAC Planning Team:  Angie Alder-Smith, Chanda Coblentz,

Nicole Herrera, Jody Levitt, Bill McCort and Stefanie Smith

Goal:  A two day professional development experience designed to introduce and inspire, explore and apply, and identify possibilities for incorporating the lens of sustainability in your classroom.

Special Guest Expert: Jennifer Cirillo, Director of Professional Development, Sustainable Schools Project – Shelburne Farms, Vermont

Day One Canton Club – Downtown Canton:

Day Two Sippo Lake Park - Perry Township:

*This is a high energy, activity based workshop that will require participants to take a walking tour and engage with nature through a physical activity such as hiking or canoeing.  Continental breakfast and lunch will be provided for all participants.  Each participant will receive a resource manual for implementation of Education for Sustainability in their own classroom.  This workshop will include multiple location events (in Stark County), transportation is the responsibility of each participant.  

Workshop provided with generous support from the Herbert W. Hoover Foundation, Stark Parks and Stark State College.

Completed registration forms may be emailed to ssmith2@starkstate.edu.

Stipends are available for SSC Adjunct Faculty to attend the workshop and for all SSC Faculty who successfully integrate sustainability into a course module.  Please review the documents carefully for details.

It’s All Connected:

A Comprehensive Guide to Global Issues and Sustainable Solutions

Benjamin Wheeler, Gilda Wheeler, Wendy Church (Facing the Future, 2005)

Disciplinary Associations Network for Sustainability (DANS) includes lists of resources to incorporate sustainability into classes for anthropology, biology, business, chemistry, communication, design, drama, engineering, English and creative writing, environmental science, the humanities, law, math, physics, psychology, religion, sociology as well as cross discipline classes.

The Sustainability Education and Economic Development (SEED) Center has a wiki of curricula on solar, wind, alternative fuels, geothermal, green building, energy efficiency, sustainable ag, food, transportation/ fuels, general clean tech, sustainability education and others.

The Science Education Resource Center (SERC) has a library of teaching materials to incorporate sustainability within your classrooms as well as a large body of information for two year college instructors.