Environmental resource comes to Unity College

UNITY – An online resource for environmental educators and schoolteachers started by Jayni Chase, wife of comedian and actor Chevy Chase, is now part of Unity College.

College officials believe the center, though it exists on the Web only, will link Unity staff and students to the wider environmental community and raise the school’s national profile as an environmental institution.

Jayni Chase launched the Center for Environmental Education in 1990 in California, Cindy Thomashow, the center’s director, said Thursday. Thomashow is the wife of Mitchell Thomashow, president of Unity College.

In its early days, the center was a library of environmental curriculum material for teachers. Chase would send out printed material to educators on request, free of charge, as long as they pledged to send it back.

In the mid-1990s, the Chases moved from California to Bedford, N.Y., and wanted help running the center.

“She was looking for someone to take it over,” Thomashow said, and approached the couple, both of whom were at Antioch College. Cindy Thomashow took over as director, and four years ago, the center dropped hard-copy material in favor of Web-based resources.

Along with collecting curriculum resources, the center – now called the Center for Environmental Education Online – reviewed material, so teachers would know in advance whether it was appropriate for their needs. Graduate students at Antioch reviewed the material, Thomashow said.

Even with that added benefit, the center’s resources remain available at no cost.

“Everything’s free. That was her bottom line,” she said of Chase.

In addition to K-12 schools using the material, Thomashow said, the center gets frequent requests from environmental education centers, such as those at nature preserves and parks.

“National parks use it a lot,” she said.

Two years ago, the center added three areas to its focus: education on climate change, providing information to help schools become “green,” and offering ways for schools to buy and serve healthful and locally grown food.

Thomashow and Chase have attended training sessions provided by former Vice President Al Gore to help them gather material schools might use to teach about global climate change issues.

A portion of the Web site answers the question, “How do you green your school?” Thomashow said helping schools become energy-efficient, use renewable resources and reduce their “carbon footprint” is important to Chase.

“In 1995, Jayni wrote a book on it, called ‘A Blueprint for a Green School,'” Thomashow reported. Though the Thomashows’ recent move to Unity College is largely why the center now is located in Maine, she said Chase is impressed with the college’s commitment to being a sustainable campus.

Another pet issue for Chase is getting healthful food into public schools, Thomashow said. The women are convinced that if schools change the way they purchase food, communities will follow. The center provides resources to show administrators the benefits of buying food grown locally, and buying food that does not contribute to childhood obesity and diabetes.

“That section is really important to Jayni,” Thomashow said.

Though the center will remain an online resource, Thomashow expects to hire a former graduate student from Antioch College to work with her two days a week on the Web site, and probably will hire four Unity students through the college’s work-study program.

“Unity is really embracing this,” she said, and expects it will “give students a chance to be connected to the [national environmental] network.”

Chevy Chase is using his connections to raise funds for the center, including auctioning off a lunch with him and former President Clinton on eBay. The bids are now at $41,000, Thomashow said.

Other perks up for bid are a place at the Sept. 17 premier of Ben Stiller’s new film, “The Heartbreak Kid”; playing tennis with Chris Evert; and a day on the set with actress Cameron Diaz.

On Tuesday, Sept. 18, Chevy Chase will appear on Martha Stewart’s TV show to prepare a “carbon-neutral lunch,” Thomashow said, and promote the benefit auctions.

For more information on the Web, visit www.ceeonline.org and www.charitybuzz.com