I wanted to help the kids learn about alternative energy sources, and more importantly, why we need to use renewable energy and how hard it can be to make that change.  With so much energy all around us, we can harness and use almost anything to power our lives, even our own bodies.  The bicycle in these pictures is hooked up to a generator powered by the kids’ pedaling.  And of course, any good lesson needs some reinforcement.  Fortunately, we got enough power from the kids to make delicious fruit smoothies.  We used the energy in us to create food, which gave us more energy for the day.  This is an energy cycle I’d like to be a part of, and I think the kids had fun too.

Cheers,

Jonathon Feinberg

US Coordinator, Sviva Israel

This years Eco Connection has started off with lots of exciting workshops.  Joint Poster Signing, Friendship Bracelet Exchange program and the Cradle to Cradle  workshops.  Soon our friends in New Jersey and Delaware will receive our bracelets – can’t wait till they see them!!!

התחלנו את השנה עם הרבה סדנאות כולל יצירת צמידי אחדות ממוחזרים. בקרוב החברים שלנו בניו ג’רסי יקבלו אותם ויחזירו לנו צמידים שהם הכינו

Guidelines:

1)     The winning design will be printed in white on the front of a green T-shirt.

2)     Create your design in monochrome (black design on a white background).

3)     You can draw your design by hand, or create it on the computer, but it MUST be saved as either:

a) High resolution image file (jpeg, tiff or gif)
b) WORD document – A4 or Letter size

4)     Send your entry to Sviva Israel by email to Tshirt@svivaisrael.org

5)     Be sure to include your full name, school, grade, Eco Connection teacher and e-mail address with your entry.

6)     Entries must be submitted by November 10, 2010.

Tips:

• The winning T-shirt is for the USA and Israel. You can use Hebrew and English in your design.
• Keep it simple – big, bold designs are usually better than tiny words and pictures.

Rules:

1)        The contest is open to any student, in the USA or Israel, participating in the Arad-Tamar-New Jersey-Delaware Eco Connection 2010-11.

2)        The T-Shirt design should be your own original artwork and not include copyrighted materials.  You can use royalty-free clipart, or create your own pictures.

3)        All entries will be displayed online in a Sviva Israel website.

4)        The winning entry will be selected by a panel of judges chosen by Sviva Israel.

5)        Sviva Israel reserves the right to adapt the winning design, if necessary. The selected design or image may be reworked to prepare it for printing on the T-Shirt.

6)        All entries become the property of Sviva Israel and Sviva Israel may reproduce in any fashion, including multimedia and electronic imaging, all or any portion of the design, giving credit to the artist.

7)        Sviva Israel is not responsible for lost, late, incomplete, damaged, illegible, or misdirected contest entries, or for any error,

human, technical or otherwise, which may occur in the processing of the contest entries.

8)         Entries received after the contest deadline of November 10th, 2010 will be disqualified.

Receiving the award are : Carmi Wisemon - Director of Sviva Israel, Stanley Stone- Executive Vice President of the Central Federation of New Jersey ,representing the U.S. side of the Arad-Tamar/New Jersey-Delaware Partenrship 2000, Nili Avarhami -Director of the Arad-Tamar/New Jersey-Delaware Partnership 2000 with Ofra Betzalel Netanel and Yardena Hymann.

Thank you to all of the students, teachers, principals, volunteers, Federation, Jewish Agency and Sviva Israel staff that helped make the Eco Connection project such a success. Your success in creating a vibrant global Jewish environmental community were recognized by the Jewish Agency.

Click here to read the report online.

Check out your school's Ecological Footprint in the Eco Connection report!

For the past year, eighth-graders from the Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Monmouth County in Marlboro and a group of their peers in Israel have been working together on a long-distance environmental awareness program.

On a trip to Israel April 9-22, the students finally got to meet face-to-face, getting together in a supermarket in the desert town of Arad to monitor products for their eco-friendliness… 

Click to read the full article at the NJJN site

Schechter students Melanie Werthan and Alex Baron, center, at the Arad supermarket.

Under the guidance of New Jersey Otzma volunteer, Mollie Cherson, the 7th and 8th grade girls created a globe and flowers and added their handprints, to teach that in order to keep Israel beautiful, it’s up to each of us to take care of the environment.

The collage was presented to an Arad Kindergarten, to the delight of the children.

Israel is Blooming -Ulpanat Arad

Bar, David & Tohar you did a great job presenting this song.

Do you want to save the world today?
So listen to what I’ve got to say:

Hey you the politicians stop the
Competitions and make revolutions!

All of us together, we can’t do it alone!

Use the R.R.R reduce, recycle, reuse it’s very simple.
That’s what you have to choose.

Recycle: don’t throw it away!
Reuse: use it on another day!
And when you reduce, less you have to pay…

Make a better environment, so you
Can enjoy your retirement.

The world is like your family or a friend.
He is taking care of you so you need to take care of him…

Use the R.R.R reduce, recycle, reuse it’s very simple.
That’s what you have to choose