Our Friends at Sotomayor y Terrazas; Jerez de los Caballeros

Dear friends,
      This is a recent post from our friends at Sotomayor Y Terrazas School in Jerez de los Caballeros, Extremadura, Spain.

      At present we are still collaborating and hope to meet again next year. In the meantime, this is their most recent post. We share fond memories with them.

      http://sotomayoryterrazasbilingualsection.blogspot.com.es/2016/04/texas-houston-proyecto-extremadura.html


Enjoy!

Ms. R. Aguilar

Earth Day 2016

           “Over the next five years, as Earth Day moves closer to its 50th anniversary, we’re calling on you to help us achieve one of our most ambitious goals yet —we’re planting 7.8 billion trees and we’re starting now.

            Trees will be the first of five major goals we are undertaking in honor of the five-year countdown to our 50th anniversary. On their own and together, these initiatives will make a significant and measurable impact on the Earth and will serve as the foundation of a cleaner, healthier and more sustainable planet for all.”

Quote from: http://www.earthday.org/

Earth day is April 22, 2016. Earth Day is the anniversary of the modern environmental movement of 1970.  The idea of Earth day was created by Gaylord Nelson in 1969 after the Santa Barbara, California oil spill and inspired by the student movements of the times. People were becoming more aware of water, air and other types of pollution. Nelson believed if he fueled the emerging environmental rage, the government would start to recognize neglect of the Earth a more serious matter. It was decided that there should be a day to recognize the Earth, the pollution, and to teach people about the environment. April 22, 1970 became the ‘set day’ because it generally happened to fall between spring break and final exams. On this day 20 million people went to seminars and had meetings in parks and other places to demonstrate how to maintain a healthy environment.

As the 50-year anniversary approaches on in the year 2020, an aspiring goal has set the bar very high for humanity and Mother Earth. The objective is to have 7.8 billion, Yes! 7.8 billion trees planted. No one person can do this alone. However, if every person plants at least one or two trees, we will well surpass our goal. I will plant one tree and tell a friend. A friend will plant one tree and tell another friend, causing a chain reaction. 7.4 billion People plus live on this planet. It is our job to take action to save the earth. This would also be a fun class or school project. Students could take field trips to parks or a fundraiser could be conducted to pay for a larger growing area on school grounds.

            Several individuals might ask why this is a reasonable plan, but they might not be taking into consideration how much of the air that we breathe could be shortening the life expectancy of each generation, or how much of the water we drink could be contaminated with chemicals that will circulate in our bloodstream for years. Yes, this isn’t a solution to these problems, but we all have to start someplace to improve our environment. Eventually, taking care of the Earth will become a habit. Planting trees isn’t the only way to celebrate earth day. You could pick up litter you see in the street, or even start at home by conserving water and electricity or even to produce something better from recycled items, which would otherwise go to the trash.

            Earth day is all about taking care of the planet we live on. If we don’t who will? If we take care of the earth, we could prevent global warming from getting worse or even stop it, we could lower the cost of environmental expenses too! So let’s take care of the earth or else it will expire way before time.

Written by: Grace Okoro

Eight Grade/Spanish Student

DIFFERENT COUNTRIES; SAME PROJECTS

Poster at the Jesuit School

      Today, the Jesuit San Jose School in Villafranca de los Barros of Extremadura, Spain had their 13^th International Day of Creativity and Innovation by inviting over 50 schools from Spain and Portugal to their campus. For about 4,000 students and 250 educators, it was a day of leisure while learning about the best practices of the school.

      One of those projects that our students are involved in is practicing English and Spanish while also learning about the culture and history of both countries.

      At the invitation of Mr. Mariano Parra, English teacher of Colegio San Jose, my students were able to meet with their pen pals via Skype for about an hour.

      These are some pictures of the students interacting with their e-friends.

                         

                                   

    Pershing Students

     It was a happy, memorable time for all. We hope to meet in person, sometime in the near future.

R. Aguilar

CORK: AN ENVIRONMENTAL SPLENDOR

    

    A great and magnificent phenomenon of the Mediterranean Basin, is the cork tree; Quercus Suber L. Cork trees are ecological marvels that are found in the western Mediterranean; the majority of them are in the countries of Portugal and Spain.

     Cork trees have been around for millions of years and one tree can live over 200 years. A few of their uses began in 3000 BC where they was used to seal amphorae. They were also used in floating rafts around 400 BC in the Tigress River and used in newer applications such as cork paper in 1880’s Germany.

     Cork trees in Spain can be found in DEHESAS. A DEHESA is a multifunctional area of land known as an agro-silvo-pastoral system in Spain that integrates pastureland not only used for grazing, but also provides a variety of foods and livestock production, and is an important habitat for a variety of animals.

     Dehesas in Spain can be found in Extremadura. The trees that are found in this area are Cork and Holm Oaks; the significant being the cork tree for the conservation of biodiversity. Many animals (fauna) and flora are depended of it and can be found in and around cork forests.

      Cork forests are part of a perfectly-balanced ecosystem. The endangered Iberian Lynx (the feline most threatened in the world) and the Iberian Eagle make their home and survive around these trees.

Due to its importance, the WORLDWIDEFUND has classified the Quercus Suber as a Priority Species.

http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/cork_oak/

 “WWF is focusing efforts on a select group of priority species that are especially important, either for their ecosystem...

·       Species forming a key element of the food chain

·       Species which help the stability or regeneration of habitats

·       Species demonstrating broader conservation needs
...or for people

·       Species important for the health and livelihoods of local communities

·       Species exploited commercially

·       Species that are important cultural icons.”

Other notable facts are that:

·      They have adapted to survive in the harsh summer droughts in these areas.

·        Its bark is elastic, impermeable, light and the only one that regenerates after being stripped from the tree, making the tree itself sustainable.

·      Cork can be harvested only after the tree is 25 years old. After that, by law, can only be harvested every 9 years or so.

·      It has the ability to absorb carbon dioxide and clean the air. A stripped tree can absorb 5 times more carbon dioxide.

·      Cork is a natural insulator and is fire retardant.

·      Cork is 100% recyclable and reusable.

·      Cork bottle stoppers are the best for preserving wines. However, cork is also used in furniture, floors, windmills and even in NASA’s space shuttles and aeronautics.

·      The cork tree is also being threatened by climate change.

                                                                                          Cork Surfboard

                Cork Purse

Proyecto Extremadura hopes that we can continue planting cork trees in Burguillos del Cerro and other areas of Extremadura, and hopefully into Portugal.

Below is a video with more information on the amazing cork tree. It is from a company in Portugal. Hence, the Portuguese MONTADOS are the equivalent of the Spanish DEHESAS.

Proyecto Extremadura