Shutdown Postpones Ames High Washington DC Trip UPDATE

By Kathy Hanson

Director of School, Community and Media Relations

Ames Community School District

Due to the current circumstances in Washington D.C. caused by the government shutdown, Ames High School teacher Mike Todd and his students will be postponing the trip to D.C. that was scheduled for Monday through Thursday of next week, Todd said.

“Most of the meetings we scheduled such as with the. U.S. Department of Agriculture, senators, congressman, etc., and some of the events that the Lexicon of Sustainability folks have been planning like the reception on Capitol Hill, would not be able to take place because of the government shutdown,” he said.

“The Lexicon of Sustainability folks are working extremely hard to reschedule everything and we'll let you know when we have another date for the trip,” Todd said.

EARLIER STORY

Ames High School environmental science teacher Mike Todd says he and five students still plan to head to Washington D.C. on Oct 7 despite the federal government shutdown. 

They will exhibit information art as participants in the Lexicon of Sustainability’s Project Localize, a multimedia project seeking to help people understand the basic terms and principles that define sustainability.

“If the government is still shut down when we get there on Monday, we won't be able to do many of the things the students have planned, like meeting with the senators and congressmen,” Todd said.

A meeting at the U.S. Department of Agriculture building and an event that is scheduled in the Capitol Hill meeting room that many policymakers were invited to attend could be off the itinerary, as well, he said

EARLIER STORY

Ames High School senior Elena Ingram is going to Washington, D.C. next week with an ambitious message.

“Change is possible,” she said. “I learned that firsthand, and I want people to know what that change is and what that change can do.”

The kind of change Ingram is talking about involves helping people realize how important it is to know where their food comes from, she said. She and about 75 other students in award-winning environmental science teacher Mike Todd’s class at Ames High School last year participated in a project that documented their local food system. They shared what they learned with The Lexicon of Sustainability, a multimedia project seeking to help people understand the basic terms and principles that define sustainability.

The information art they created will be on display Oct. 7 through Nov. 9, 2013 at the Washington D.C. Smithsonian Metro Station beneath the U.S. Department of Agriculture building. Ingram and four other students: Ania Chamberlin, Tessa Musa, Cassie Kramer, and Will Weber, will be in the nation’s capital from Oct. 7 through Oct. 10.

“The students will interact with our nations congressmen and senators, non-profit and policy groups, government agencies such as the USDA, and will even get a chance to teach high school students from Washington D.C. how to create informational artworks about their local food system,” Todd said.

Ingram said she hopes the exhibit inspires everyone to take small steps toward sustainability. But, she said, being willing to change has higher stakes for people who have the power to influence government policy.

“During the trip to Washington, I hope I can get a member of congress excited about sustainability and want to focus on the Farm Bill,” Ingram said.

Todd, whose efforts to engage his students in learning environmental science earned him the 2013 Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators, said he’s gratified to know his students are learning at the “transformational level.”

“It’s always my goal to make sure students have the tools to make decisions that change their lives for the better,” he said.

Ingram said participating in Project Localize helped her make a decision about her future.

“I realize that I want to be a farmer— and not just any type of farmer, but a sustainable one,” she said. “I’m a senior, and now is the time people want to know what I'm going to do with my life. I can tell them with 100 percent certainty what I want to do… and it's a great feeling.”

For more information about Project Localize, visits its website: http://www.lexiconofsustainability.com/localize/.