Baldi Middle School

PHILADELPHIA SCHOOL DISTRICT
8801 Verree Road, Philadelphia, PA 19115

Earth Apple Awards 2002-2003 1st Place, Middle Schools

Students and teachers at the Baldi Middle School carried out innovative and successful projects in the 2002-2003 school year. They were extremely active within their school and the outside community. Individuality and group work were encouraged among students throughout the school year.

Students displayed their creative talent through participation in Science Fairs. Baldi Middle School won various awards in the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science, Carver, and Delaware Valley Science Fair. They also created educational displays on the environment and/or energy in their classrooms and the school. Their talent was also observed in the “Baldi Night Live,” a play that the students scripted and enacted. This focused on important concepts such as energy transfers, and “use and abuse” of energy.

Baldi Middle School students were encouraged to learn more about the current situation of energy efficiency and conservation facing schools and homes. They carried this out by helping conduct a “walkthrough check” of their school to identify problem areas and providing suggestions for improvement. They also developed and administered surveys that dealt with energy awareness at homes and the tribulations associated with it.

Dynamics between students were also encouraged through “Pen Pals.” The eighth grade class discovered ideas related to energy conservation and wrote letters to fifth graders suggesting ways to conserve energy over the summer. Besides this, students also worked as a group on community projects including being involved in a neighborhood environmental community service project - restoring the Pennypack Park in Philadelphia 's Fairmount Park . </p>