So far this school year, GreenTown Los Altos has supported and participated in several Walk or Wheel! (WoW!) events at local schools, working with PTA representatives to encourage students to walk or bike to school instead of arriving by car. WoW! events help remind kids and their families about the benefits of WoW!ing (walking or wheeling) to school, how to do so safely, and just how fun it can be! There are lots of reasons to WoW! to school and here are just a few: It's really good for the planet.  Transportation, primarily in fossil-fuel powered cars, accounts for more than half of Los Altos' and Los Altos Hills' greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Walking or biking to school directly contributes to reducing our communities' impacts on climate change. Plus, it results in fewer toxic air emissions in the parking drop-off areas of our schools and in our communities.  It reduces traffic around schools. Parents notice this on WoW! days, and it makes it safer for our kids to bike and walk. That's a win-win. It's good for the body and mind.  Biking and walking to school considerably increases concentration during school hours, according to a Danish study  of nearly 20,000 students. And it's fun, too! Walking and biking are simply fun ways to get to school and connect with friends and family. Plus, Los Altos' flat geography and mild climate make it ideal for walking and biking all year round. Our programs to encourage walking and biking have had a significant impact on student behavior. The number of students using alternative modes for school has increased considerably since we started this work in 2009. Most schools now have a WoW! (or Traffic Safety) coordinator on the PTA and share GreenTown's vision of more kids walking and biking to school. And it's paying dividends with older students, too. Over the years, more and more bike racks have been added at Los Altos High School owing to an increase in student demand.  Here's a snapshot of the elementary schools we are working with. Please email us at info@greentownlosaltos.org to let us know if you'd like to connect and build a WoW! program at your school. Gardner Bullis Elementary 's WoW! Co-Chairs, Nick and Melissa French, do an amazing job engaging kids in walking and biking at their WoW! events. These high-energy events, replete with a finish line, a treats table, and, of course, the GreenTown blender bike, result in kids that are truly thrilled to have walked or biked to school. Participation in these events is over the top with some classrooms boasting more than 90% of kids walking and biking to school. Oak Avenue Elementary School 's Principal Nikita Shah rolls up her shirtsleeves, along with several parent volunteers, to get the kids excited about WoW!ing to school. Students from one grade have the privilege of tallying which grade participated the most during Oak's WoW! days. On our most recent visit to Oak, the cold January day didn't stop the intrepid students from biking or walking, although they appreciated the hot cocoa that GreenTown brought that day! GreenTown also works with Almond Elementary, which regularly holds two WoW! events - one on Walk to School Day in October and the other around Bike to School Day in May. For Almond's Walk to School Day WoW!, GreenTown brought out the blender bike and the Almond Eagle mascot took pictures with the kids. One Almond parent commented that there are noticeably fewer cars on WoW! days. More kids biking and walking means less traffic congestion at school, and less traffic congestion means greater safety for our kids! Bullis Charter School runs a monthly WoW! event at each campus. GreenTown supplies them with stickers and pencils to incentivize kids who walk or bike to school, and they consistently count each student who WoW!s to school.  Springer Elementary  is just launching its WoW! program, spearheaded by GreenTown's newest Board member, Madhuri Davidson. We're looking forward to getting Springer students excited about walking and biking this Spring! Learn more about the WoW! program If you would like to learn more about the WoW! program and how to make it work at your school, contact us at info@greentownlosaltos.org .

Please join us in welcoming Laura Teksler and Madhuri Davidson to the GreenTown board. We are excited to have them as part of our team and look forward to their expertise and contribution to our community and efforts! Laura Teksler Laura first became involved with GreenTown as the Almond parent lead for the Walk or Wheel (WoW) program over a decade ago. She is a life-long environmentalist and lover of the outdoors who has dedicated her paid and volunteer careers to sustainability efforts. Recently through her work on the Los Altos Environmental Commission and Acterra she has become an advocate for home electrification. Madhuri Davidson Madhuri has been a volunteer in many of GreenTown's conservation projects. Recently, she has taken on a pivotal role, working alongside Jana to maintain, update, and clean up our membership database. Madhuri is a Living Classroom Docent at Springer Elementary where her two children are students. She is also working with GreenTown and the City to revive the WoW program and Safe Routes to School education program at Springer Elementary!

Angelo DeGiuli, a long-time volunteer for local environmental causes, was awarded this year's Environmental Hero Award at the annual GreenTown Los Altos Fundraiser and Celebration on Friday October 4th at the Los Altos History Museum. Lauded for his enduring environmental volunteerism that spans over a decade with GreenTown, Angelo, along with his wife, Nuchi, have been consistent, hands on contributors to numerous GreenTown programs. In the early days, Angelo was active in GreenTown's Zero Waste Program reducing plastic straw use from downtown merchants. Today, he manages the Party-pack Loaner Program which offers reusable party packs residents can borrow to reduce the waste of single use products. Angelo is a frequent trash pick-up volunteer at the 280/Magdalena interchange adopted by GreenTown in the "Adopt-A-Highway" program. Highway Clean Up Lead, Kim Jelfs, observed she has "never seen someone so cheerful when picking up someone else's garbage." Angelo is involved in GreenTown's conservation efforts by having helped establish and maintain the Woodland Library native garden and participates in multiple creek clean ups a year. Recently, Angelo was instrumental in Citizen's Climate Lobby working with GreenTown Los Altos to form the Electrification Collaboration, a program designed to accelerate heat pump water heater adoption in Los Altos. Said DeGiuli of the honor, "I am truly honored and humbled. When I was a child, my mama, as we say in Italy, often reminded me that nature is the best thing we have in life. It was given to us so we can appreciate it and care for it. I've simply taken the chance given to me by great environmentalists who came before me to lend a helping hand." GreenTown's Celebration also featured two speakers: Sandra McGonagle, LASD Superintendent profiling the integrated envrionment lessons the district's students from K-8 experience along their education journey and various sustainability efforts made by the District. Aanya Dhruv, a student climate activist at Nueva Schooolk, enthusiastically described an envrionmental curriculum she developed for youth that is being used across many schools in the region and beyond. The Celebration was attended by more than 85 people including Mayor Jonathan Weinberg, Vice Mayor Pete Dalley, City Council Candidate Larry Lang and numerous other community leaders. If you missed this year's event, hope you'll join us next year!

Home: Welcome You're Invited! Arbor Day Celebration Join us as we celerate reaching the goal of planting 500 Trees in our community. April 25th, 4pm at Lincoln Park Learn more! Read About Tree No. 500 2025 Summer Internships Application is now Open! Learn More Apply Here! Make your Next Party ECO-FRIENDLY Looking to borrow Reusable Party Packs from GreenTown Los Altos? Learn More UPCOMING EVENTS Fri, Apr 25 Arbor Day Celebration / Learn more Apr 25, 2025, 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM Lincoln Park, Los Altos, 199 University Ave, Los Altos, CA 94022, USA Join us as we celebrate planting 500 TREES in our community Share Sun, May 04 Living Electric Fair 2025 / Details May 04, 2025, 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM Los Altos, State St, Los Altos, CA 94022, USA Living Electric is healthy, efficient, renewable and FUN! Join us for this family-friendly community event and find out how you can live electric in 2025! Share LATEST NEWS & ARTICLES Subscribe WoW!ing Our Way to a Greener Future Margie Suozzo Welcome New Board Members! suresh56 Our 2024 Environmental Hero: Angelo DeGiuli Connie Miller The Last Straw Ava Azar Gas Blower Progress Linda Ziff Maybe Your New Best Friend? A Heat Pump Connie Miller CONNECT WITH US SEARCH THE SITE

GET INVOLVED Volunteer Opportunities Abound... There are lots of opportunities to volunteer with GreenTown Los Altos, whether you just want to contribute to a single project, work with us for a few hours on a single day, or make a longer term commitment. Below are some of our current volunteer openings. To volunteer, email us. Email Us volunteer@greentownlosaltos.org Email Us info@greentownlosaltos.org Internships for Students Application Open for the 2025 Summer Internships! See details and application below Every summer GreenTown invites a cohort of college and high school (junior & senior) students to participate in our structured and guided intern program. They contribute to our projects while having a fulfilling and enriching experience. Email us if you are interested. MEET OUR 2024 Summer Interns MEET OUR 2023 Summer Interns MEET OUR 2022 Summer Interns MEET OUR 2021 Summer Interns MEET OUR 2020 Summer Interns Email Us internship@greentownlosaltos.org Email Us info@greentownlosaltos.org JOIN US WE ARE LOOKING FOR ... Volunteer-Intern Openings BACKGROUND The Walk or Wheel! (WoW!) Program encourages biking, walking and carpooling to school. We've been working with schools since 2009. WoW!ing to school means fewer single passenger car trips, cleaner air, lower carbon emissions and more fun! With kids back in school, we're ready to help ramp up WoW! activity. Will you be our next champion? GreenTown provides support to school volunteers to work with students to embrace, educate and empower them to think “Walk or Wheel!” . BENEFITS Positively impacts kids’ well-being Reduces vehicle miles, pollution and carbon emissions Boosts kids’ confidence and fosters bonding with peers Encourages a healthy, fit lifestyle Reduces local school traffic, improving kids’ safety BICYCLE SAFETY EDUCATION The City of Los Altos is working to build a more sustainable bicycle and pedestrian safety education program in local schools. Visit Los Altos' Safe Routes to School page for more information. Options for good bike safety education include: School Assemblies for Elementary Schools Hands-on Bike Rodeos for 3rd and 4th Graders Drive that Bike Classes for Junior High Raising Safe Cyclists for all Parents Bicycle Safety Brochure for Parents & Students STUDENT TRAVEL MODES GreenTown also works with the Los Altos and Cupertino School Districts and Bullis Charter School to survey Los Altos/Hills’ student travel modes two to three times during the year. Findings include: More students WoW! to school in upper grades: approx. 40% of 6th graders; more than 60% of 7th and 8th graders. Junior High top the charts: approx. 65% of Blach and 45% of Egan students WoW! to school. Elementary Schools with greater WoW! student populations have high parent involvement and active WoW! programs. Fewer students WoW! to/from elementary schools with attendance areas on the other side of a major thoroughfare (e.g., Foothill or El Camino). Blach Intermediate consistently has the highest WoW! rates. WALKING SCHOOL BUS A Walking School Bus is a great way to encourage a healthy and environmentally friendly way of getting to school. This type of program is perfect for younger children who need supervision. It can be easily organized by parents and take place once a week, a couple times a week, or even everyday! Steps for Starting Simple: Families in the same neighborhood decide to walk together to and from school. A route is designed and tested by adults for safety. Don’t forget to record how much time the entire route takes. Refer to the list of maps above to determine the best route for your walking school bus. The group decides how often to walk together. Consistent walking school buses are often the most successful. Create a phone list to ensure that all children have emergency contact numbers. Let the Walking School Bus begin! Get Started with this planning guide! BICYCLE TRAIN Similar to the Walking School Bus concept, a Bicycle Train is a group of neighbors that ride their bikes together to and from school. This program involves more planning and training since children must understand bicycle safety and how to ride on a road. Basic Considerations: Bicycle trains are best suited for older elementary children. We recommend that you start out by providing your children with a basic understanding of the rules of the road and bicycle safety. Practice as a group and have several parents on hand to help demonstrate. Every child must wear a bicycle helmet. Check to make sure that your child’s bicycle is working properly and is an appropriate size. More adult supervision is needed than for Walking School Buses. Consider having one adult for every three to six children. See Bicycling to School Together: A Bike Train Planning Guide for an example of steps to implementing a bicycle train in your neighborhood. BACKGROUND The Walk or Wheel! (WoW!) Program encourages biking, walking and carpooling to school. We've been working with schools since 2009. WoW!ing to school means fewer single passenger car trips, cleaner air, lower carbon emissions and more fun! With kids back in school, we're ready to help ramp up WoW! activity. Will you be our next champion? GreenTown provides support to school volunteers to work with students to embrace, educate and empower them to think “Walk or Wheel!” . BENEFITS Positively impacts kids’ well-being Reduces vehicle miles, pollution and carbon emissions Boosts kids’ confidence and fosters bonding with peers Encourages a healthy, fit lifestyle Reduces local school traffic, improving kids’ safety BICYCLE SAFETY EDUCATION The City of Los Altos is working to build a more sustainable bicycle and pedestrian safety education program in local schools. Visit Los Altos' Safe Routes to School page for more information. Options for good bike safety education include: School Assemblies for Elementary Schools Hands-on Bike Rodeos for 3rd and 4th Graders Drive that Bike Classes for Junior High Raising Safe Cyclists for all Parents Bicycle Safety Brochure for Parents & Students STUDENT TRAVEL MODES GreenTown also works with the Los Altos and Cupertino School Districts and Bullis Charter School to survey Los Altos/Hills’ student travel modes two to three times during the year. Findings include: More students WoW! to school in upper grades: approx. 40% of 6th graders; more than 60% of 7th and 8th graders. Junior High top the charts: approx. 65% of Blach and 45% of Egan students WoW! to school. Elementary Schools with greater WoW! student populations have high parent involvement and active WoW! programs. Fewer students WoW! to/from elementary schools with attendance areas on the other side of a major thoroughfare (e.g., Foothill or El Camino). Blach Intermediate consistently has the highest WoW! rates. WALKING SCHOOL BUS A Walking School Bus is a great way to encourage a healthy and environmentally friendly way of getting to school. This type of program is perfect for younger children who need supervision. It can be easily organized by parents and take place once a week, a couple times a week, or even everyday! Steps for Starting Simple: Families in the same neighborhood decide to walk together to and from school. A route is designed and tested by adults for safety. Don’t forget to record how much time the entire route takes. Refer to the list of maps above to determine the best route for your walking school bus. The group decides how often to walk together. Consistent walking school buses are often the most successful. Create a phone list to ensure that all children have emergency contact numbers. Let the Walking School Bus begin! Get Started with this planning guide! BICYCLE TRAIN Similar to the Walking School Bus concept, a Bicycle Train is a group of neighbors that ride their bikes together to and from school. This program involves more planning and training since children must understand bicycle safety and how to ride on a road. Basic Considerations: Bicycle trains are best suited for older elementary children. We recommend that you start out by providing your children with a basic understanding of the rules of the road and bicycle safety. Practice as a group and have several parents on hand to help demonstrate. Every child must wear a bicycle helmet. Check to make sure that your child’s bicycle is working properly and is an appropriate size. More adult supervision is needed than for Walking School Buses. Consider having one adult for every three to six children. See Bicycling to School Together: A Bike Train Planning Guide for an example of steps to implementing a bicycle train in your neighborhood.

Building Community for Electrification Code Red Series March 18, 12 - 1 PM via Zoom Register Here Home: Welcome LATEST NEWS & ARTICLES GreenTown Blog | Subscribe to Newsletter WoW!ing Our Way to a Greener Future Margie Suozzo Feb 6 Welcome New Board Members! suresh56 Jan 31 Our 2024 Environmental Hero: Angelo DeGiuli Connie Miller Oct 16, 2024 The Last Straw Ava Azar Jul 31, 2024 Gas Blower Progress Linda Ziff Jul 30, 2024 Maybe Your New Best Friend? A Heat Pump Connie Miller Jul 30, 2024 UPCOMING EVENTS Event Calendar Arbor Day Celebration Fri, Apr 25 Apr 25, 2025, 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM Lincoln Park, Los Altos, 199 University Ave, Los Altos, CA 94022, USA Join us as we celebrate planting 500 TREES in our community Share Learn more Living Electric Fair 2025 Sun, May 04 May 04, 2025, 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM Los Altos, State St, Los Altos, CA 94022, USA Living Electric is healthy, efficient, renewable and FUN! Join us for this family-friendly community event and find out how you can live electric in 2025! Share Learn More & RSVP CONNECT WITH US SEARCH THE SITE