Tiny tiny Houses Now

Spearheaded a collaborative effort to secure line item passage of Congress, resulting in the funding of a international renewable energy education center called the Solar Now Project housed in Beverly, MA Established and directed Solar Now, Inc., a 501-c3 non-profit specializing in environmental education Conducted teacher/student day & week long educational workshops emphasizing environmental curriculum Responsible for hiring and supervising personnel and college interns Extensive grant writing and fund raising experience Board member and Advisor Featured on Voice of America, which was broadcast world wide Interviewed numerous times on National Public Radio

The Tiny tiny Houses Now program is a curriculum and associated scholastic competition designed for the middle school learner. The curriculum provides interdisciplinary, project-based learning modules. Each lesson has been written using the learning standards identified in the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks. What makes this program unequaled in its ability to address these issues is, in part, its use of a STEAM education curriculum. However, the focus beyond the classroom is what really makes this program uniquely able to fulfill these needs. Throughout the course of their lessons students are required to engage with their local political bodies to determine what zoning laws govern the use of tiny houses within their jurisdiction, if any. Through this process we hope to instill an interest in civic engagement starting from the local level moving up to state and federal government. The students will gain valuable real life lessons through their participation.. Furthermore,once the competition has been established and formalized the winning group of students will have their model tiny house reviewed by a team of architects and then built, in real life. This winning life-size model will be awarded to a homeless individual, veteran or FEMA victim. Currently with all of the covid 19 economic hardships facing so many individuals and families addressing these needs in our classroom couldn’t be more relevant to real life applications.

Awarded membership in the Pi Lambda Theta National Honor Society Presented with “Outstanding Teacher” award in 1989 and 1990 Recipient of E.P.A. Presidential Commendation from President George H.W. Bush Received “Teacher Venture” award in 1990 from Paradise Valley Unified School District Received a National Environmental “E”chievement Award in 1995, sponsored by E-Town, a National Public Radio program Published many news articles in various National news journals Received a Distinguished Alumni Service Award Recipient in 2007, presented by the University Of Massachusetts

Boston University, Boston, MA 1984 MS, Early Childhood Education; Massachusetts Teaching Certification Involved in graduate level exchange program comparing educational systems in the U.S. and U.S.S.R. Traveled to Moscow, Leningrad, and Kiev as a guest of the Soviet government University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 1979 BS, Community Service Involved in an exchange program at the University of Hawaii from 1977 to 1978

Who wrote the Tiny tiny Houses Now curriculum? Education Now 2.0 has created an original curriculum with an exceedingly talented group of educators. This accomplished team of educators includes Melissa Bilentschuk, a “Masters in the Middle” award-winner. Ted Chambers, a beloved Boston Public School teacher. David Dalton, a former Principal and current college administrator. Daryl Dunbar, a highly regarded math and science teacher and carpenter as well as Jan MacDonald, an advanced placement high school mathematics teacher.They, along with other educational professionals, collaborated over an 18 month period to develop this STEAM educational program.