Join The Challenge
Want to start a 30-day Challenge at your school, camp, or Girl Scout troop? Looking for an engaging, educational event that will help the Earth? If so, follow the steps below.
- Download these helpful documents.
- Bookmark this kick-off slide show.
- Bookmark these on-line movies.
1 - Get a group together to help plan this project.
2 - Talk to your principle, teachers, Girl Scouts troop leader, adult adviser, etc. about The Challenge. Show them your plan. Get permission to proceed.
3 - Finalize who is participating and pick a starting date.
4 - Schedule a 20-minute kick-off meeting for all involved to teach them what to do using the resources from this site.
5 - Build a catalog storage bin for to drop canceled catalogs into. Find a carpenter or helpful parent to help with this step. Be prepared to expand your bin if your group is really into the project! Or you can simply reuse copy paper boxes to store your catalogs, if so here are some labels for them. Print out parent letters and math sheets (above), and get your bin in a safe, visible place.
6 - Have your kick-off meeting! If a few adults and kids cancel catalogs live by speakerphone, it will be a hit! Show the introduction slide show and movies. Get your group pumped up for this month of helping the environment.
7 - Send participants home excited and with the parent letter. Remind kids to only “opt-out” or cancel catalogs that their parents don’t want anymore. Canceling can happen at home using www.CatalogChoice.org or by phone. Finally, participants bring canceled catalogs back to your bin to drop into their growing piles.
8 - Have the participants write poems or essays about saving trees and other resources. You can have a math lesson using the downloadable math sheet. Participants could write a song or make movies!
9 - Keep the work and energy flowing throughout the month. Some friendly competition between grades or Girl Scout Troops can help, but encourage kids to understand that we’re all on the same team with this important work.
10 - Please send in photos of your piles to tedwellscatablog@gmail.com. Also, remember to send in your group name, location, the number of catalogs canceled, and the number of children participating. I will post all results on this blog and will help pick a “winner” that may appear on NBC’s TODAY SHOW! The end-date or finish line has not yet been determined. We will start the second annual Catalog Canceling Challenge on November 1st, 2008, but feel free to do one before then, too!
Good luck, Ted
