For their environment-related project, Roots and Shoots members agreed to learn more about the world’s coral reefs by visiting the Shedd Aquarium’s Caribbean, Rocky, and Wild Reef exhibits in April. Members developed a greater understanding of the symbiotic relationships between reef dwellers and humans, the effects of human activity on coral reefs, and ways that humans are working to preserve reef habitats.  By combining the data gathered during the field trip with data gathered through individual research, Roots and Shoots members are hoping to launch a project that will have a positive impact on global efforts to sustain the coral reefs of the world’s aquatic biomes.

Click below for the agenda for the March regular meeting.

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Below is the link to the agenda for today's meeting.

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In February, the Roots and Shoots Club is sponsoring an all school pet food drive to benefit a local pet food pantry. The project is called Operation RUFFF (Raising Awareness for Furry Friends.)

Animals are ofter the forgotten victims of a weak economy. When humans are suffering financially, they are often forced to make choices between their own needs and those of their pets. They can afford pet food or their own food and medications, but not both. For this reason, the population of shelter animals increases during a down economy. The pet food pantry provides free food to people in need, allowing them to keep their animals.

This video explains the impact of the weak economy on pet owners.

Pets and the Economy

We are lucky to have a number of pet food shelters in the Chicago area that can help people keep their pets even when their owners are struggling financially. When people keep their pets, not only do the people and their animals benefit, but the number of abandoned pets needing homes is reduced.

Please bring in canned and dry pet food all during the month of February to help these people and their animal companions. Collections bins have been placed in each advisory.

Thank you for your contributions!

We will have our first 2011 -2012 school year meeting of the Marie Murphy Roots and Shoots Club on Friday, September 2nd at 3:30 in Ms. Stewart's room, #288. This meeting is for RETURNING MEMBERS ONLY. We will be planning for our presentations to the sixth grade, which introduces them to Roots and Shoots. New members, and those curious to see what Roots and Shoots is all about, are invited to join us on Friday, September 16th at 3:30 in the Dr. Porto Community Center. At that meeting, we will begin to brainstorm project ideas for the year. We are looking forward to another great year of service to animals, the environment, and the human community.

Over the course of this past school year, the Marie Murphy Roots & Shoots Club has participated in a conservation project know as "On The Edge" -- a Jane Goodall Institute initiative to bring attention to the plight of endangered species. Our club chose to focus on the conservation and promotion of public awareness of the peregrine falcon. The peregrine population had been wiped out in Illinois, but were recently reintroduced to the area. They are now listed as a threatened species.

On May 31st, 2011, Roots & Shoots Club members continued their participation by visiting the Evanston Public Library to witness the annual banding of peregrine falcons by the Midwest Peregrine Society.  Indigenous to locations laden with cliffs, peregrines in the Midwest have learned to adapt to urban and suburban environs by nesting on the ledges of tall buildings and skyscrapers.  Such is the case with a family of peregrines who have made a third floor ledge of the Evanston Public Library their Spring and Summer home.

With the ever-vigilant parent birds -- Squawker and Nona -- looking on, ornithologist Mary Hennen and her team carefully gathered, examined, banded, then replaced the four offspring -- Wilbur, Lincoln, Dewey, and Rosalind -- into their nest.

With well over 100 people in attendance (including students, adults, and camera crews from NBC Channel 5 and ABC Channel 7), the Evanston Public Library did a tremendous job of including the public in this important initiative.  Kudos to Marie Murphy's Roots & Shoots students for their participation in this endeavor, and for their continued involvement in innovative service learning projects!

You can view the young chicks live on the Evanston Public Library's Falconcam.

See if you can spot members of our Marie Murphy Roots and Shoots Club in this video celebrating the 20th anniversary of Roots and Shoots. (Hint: Watch for the "NO Idling Zone" sign which was installed as a part of our Global Warming Project.)

Our year is winding down and our activities are winding up. Working with Student Council, Snowflake Council and Dr. Reed, we helped raise nearly $5000 to go to Partners in Health in Haiti! That's amazing. However, we've gotten a bit behind on some of the other projects we had planned.

So don't slow down just yet. Look at today's agenda for upcoming events and activities.

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Come to our meeting Wednesday, March 3rd to continue work on our project to help the people of Haiti. Our big fund raiser, a school-wide Read-a-Thon is scheduled for March 17th. There is lots of work to do between now and then!

We had an outstanding day of learning at our Friday, February 5th Regular Meeting. The goal of the meeting was to choose a charity to benefit from our various fundraisers for relief work in Haiti. Mr. Katz, our 8th grade Social Studies teacher, helped us evaluate various charities providing relief to the Haitian people. We researched the charities, compared them, and discussed the differences among them. As you can see from the attached table (which we completed during the meeting), two charities stood out: Partners in Health and Americares. In the end, we chose Partners in Health because of their stronger ratings from the organizations that assess charities. As we reflected on what we accomplished, we were surprised at what we learned about the various charities. We realized that just because a charity has a lot of name recognition doesn't mean they make the best use of the money we donate. In the future, we will carefully assess charities before making a contribution. And now we know how to do that! THANKS, MR. KATZ!

To learn about the process we used and the results, click here:Charity--selecting & rating

Our next meeting is Friday, February 12th. It will be a working meeting to plan for the upcoming fundraisers.