Global Green USA kicks off “Go Green Week” at Gentilly Terrace Elementary with announcement of school as a Green Seed School

School to receive $75,000 for green upgrades

April 16, 2009 – New Orleans – Gentilly Terrace Elementary School, a pre-K through 8th grade school that sustained significant flood damage after the storm and has been re-opened since fall of 2007, will hold a school wide assembly on Thursday, April 16 at 10 a.m. to announce their partnership with Global Green USA which is granting $75,000 to make Gentilly Terrace the fourth Green Seed School in New Orleans.

This groundbreaking alliance between Global Green USA and local schools including Gentilly Terrace, who are situated in areas still saturated with widespread rebuilding of homes and businesses, will play a crucial role in the green re-development of the city. Students who attend Green Seed Schools have the unique opportunity of exposure to the firsthand benefits and latest technologies of green building and practices, and thus are able to share their knowledge with their parents and neighbors who can also incorporate going green into their rebuilding and lives.

Thursdays’ announcement will preface the school’s “Go Green Week,” which officially begins on Earth Day and will include eco-centric activities like switching traditional light bulbs with energy-saving compact fluorescents. The winners of a school-wide “Green New Orleans” themed art contest will also be announced and awarded “green prizes” including a solar and wind powered radio, a solar powered toy frog and a radiometer powered by solar heat or a light bulb. All students will receive a certificate of completion, a Global Green USA pin, a list of 10 easy tips for living green, and a letter about the Build it Back Green program which is aimed toward citizens of all income levels to provide education and resources regarding easy, affordable and cost-effective ways to go green.

The school-wide event will be held outside in the paved schoolyard and will include remarks from community, education and government leaders and representatives including Gentilly Terrace Elementary School Principal Charlotte Tillman, Chief Operating Officer of the Capital One-UNO Charter School Network Dr. Vera Triplett, , Global Green USA New Orleans Director Beth Galante, New Orleans City Council President Jacquelyn Clarkson, Recovery School District representative Ramsey Green, Deborah J. Langhoff, representing Councilmember-at-large Arnie Fielkow, President of Gentilly Terrace Neighborhood Association Norm Whitley, New Beginnings Schools Foundation President Hugh Hamilton, and the President of Gentilly Terrace Elementary Student Council.

The Green Seed Schools process begins with an in-depth assessment of the school facility to determine how the money will be best leveraged to yield the highest energy savings and most significantly reduce carbon emissions. Based on the specific needs of Gentilly Terrace Elementary, the $75,000 will fund the purchase and installation of light sensors in classrooms, solar window shading and treatments and insulating hot water tanks, all of which will improve air quality, reduce energy costs and minimize the elementary school’s carbon footprint. 

The Green Seed Schools initiative has already granted thousands of dollars to three other schools in the city to purchase and install cutting-edge green technologies to maximize air-quality, student performance and efficiency at the schools. Green Seed Schools also enjoy significantly reduced energy bills which allow for allocation of funds toward other more worthy causes. 

WHEN: Thursday, April 16, 2009, 10:00 a.m.

WHERE: Gentilly Terrace Elementary School, 4720 Painters Street, New Orleans, La. 70122

SPEAKERS:
Principal Charlotte Tillman, Gentilly Terrace Elementary School
Dr. Vera Triplett, Capital One – UNO Charter School Network
Beth Galante, Global Green USA, New Orleans
Councilmember Jacquelyn Brechtel Clarkson, New Orleans City Council
Ramsey Green, Recovery School District
Deborah J. Langhoff, Representative for Councilmember-at-large Arnie Fielkow
Norman Whitley, Gentilly Terrace Neighborhood Association
Hugh Hamilton, New Beginnings Schools Foundation
Student Council President, Gentilly Terrace Elementary Student Council

About Global Green's Green Schools Initiative
Global Green USA’s Green Seed Schools program grants thousands of dollars to New Orleans schools to update their facilities with the latest in water and energy conservation technology. The first Green Seed School, A.P. Tureaud Elementary, will save $24,561 annually because of the conversion. This 35% utility reduction saves nearly 250,000 tons of carbon emissions per year. The second Green Seed School, International School of Louisiana, will receive projected annual cost savings of $20,000. The third school, named in January, the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Charter School of the Lower 9th ward received $70,000 in funding and technical assistance to become a Green Seed School.

CONTACT: Jeanne Nathan, 504.218.4807, nathan@creativeindustryusa.com