Clean, Green and Healthy Schools Regional Highlights showcases exceptional school environmental health projects within each of EPA’s ten regions.

EPA Region 8 includes Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming; and tribes.

On this page:

• 2014
• 2013

2014 Highlights

Partnering to Produce Webinars with a Global Impact

In 2013, EPA Regions 8 and 10 began teaming up to produce the Sensible Steps webinar series, which is based on the nationally recognized Sensible Steps to Healthier School Environments Guide developed by Region 8 in 2012. The purpose of the series is to introduce manageable, low- or no-cost steps communities can take to improve the health of their school environments. From May 2013 to April 2014, 11 one-hour webinar episodes, each focusing on a unique topic related to clean, green, and healthy schools, were produced and broadcasted. Federal, state, or local experts discussed topics like integrated pest management, chemical safety, mold and moisture control, energy efficiency, and reducing PCB exposure and shared their own experiences and solutions to the issue. The audience, representing 21 tribes, four foreign countries, and all 50 states, consisted primarily of district personnel, facility and environmental managers, and school staff and administrators, all looking to improve the environmental health of their schools.

Once a topic was selected, the regions recruited an EPA Healthy Schools coordinator to serve as that webinar’s producer. The producer then reached out to other EPA programming personnel and school district employees with knowledge on the topic to be featured in the webinar. Each speaker brought with them a network of potentially interested participants from their communities who were invited to attend the webinar, expanding the audience the project could reach.

Regions 8 and 10 also worked with state partners in the region, such as the health departments and departments of Education in Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming, and federal agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), to produce the series. For instance, the "Prevention of and Response to Mercury Spills in Schools" webinar features Sue Casteel, an ATSDR environmental health scientist. Casteel shared valuable facts and advice on mercury and highlighted ATSDR’s "Don’t Mess with Mercury" website as an additional tool for schools.

Nearly 44% of participants provided feedback through formal evaluations and other responses. From the comments gathered, the Sensible Steps webinar series was perceived overall as a great resource to gain insight on important environmental health topics for schools. Of those who attended, 10% requested additional, direct assistance from the EPA on topics like indoor air quality improvement, mold and moisture control, energy efficiency, and mercury contamination. Ten webinar episodes have been recorded and captioned to continue to serve as a resource for schools. For more information, click here to view the webinar series.

2013 Highlights

Collaborating to Reach School Stakeholders on a National Level

The Sensible Steps to Healthier School Environments guide was developed in Region 8 and distributed on a national basis. It contains a wide variety of information about school environmental health topics, and has been widely recognized as a useful school environmental health resource by school stakeholders nationwide. Based on the positive reception to the print and electronic versions, Region 8 and Region 10 partnered  to create the Sensible Steps webinar series. The webinars are 60-minute sessions each dedicated to a different school environmental health topic; past webinars have focused on subjects such as Environmental Health Assessments, Indoor Air Quality, Integrated Pest Management, Chemical Management and Energy Efficiency. Each webinar features an EPA subject matter expert who discusses current updates on new findings and regulatory issues, as well as school speakers who share their success stories. The webinars focus on low- and no-cost actions that schools can take to improve their environment. Eight Sensible Steps webinars were originally planned but due to their success, there have been requests to add more topics; the Centers for Disease Control and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry have asked to present on mercury, and other outside partners have requested to present on PCBs. The series is currently scheduled to run through February, 2014 and all completed webinars are archived for future reference.

What originally began as a partnership between Region 10 and Region 8 has been leveraged to reach school stakeholders on a national level. There have been over 2,400 webinar registrants and 1,200 participants, reaching people in all 50 states, more than 20 different tribes and three foreign countries. The audience has grown with each webinar, and feedback from participants has been highly favorable. The webinar series has fostered collaboration amongst school health practitioners and other EPA regions, and several webinar participants have become guest speakers in later sessions. The Sensible Steps webinar series has become a successful tool to engage school audiences, share school environmental health information, affect positive school environmental health outcomes and promote collaboration between regions and stakeholders.