Parenting’s 2012 Mom Congress Provides Green School Inspiration

Even though by my assessment I was the only non-parent to take the stage at Parenting Magazine’s 2012 Mom Congress Conference, mom delegates from every state in the country welcomed me into their fold with open arms. It was incredibly energizing to meet so many moms who are singularly focused on helping their children succeed at any cost. I met one mother who has to fill out 19 applications a year to be able to send her children to higher performing schools on the other side of the city. I met another mom who started a non-profit to make sure that all of the students in her community had bedtime stories to read with their moms and dads, books that were taking up space on the shelves of her daughters and her daughter’s friends.

Spending a day with these incredible, tenacious mothers convinced me that you’ll never find a more devoted, more outspoken, more determined advocate for your cause than a mom inspired.

I’m looking forward to partnering with members of the Mom Congress and mothers across the world to raise the volume on the importance of transforming our schools into safe, healthy places for their children to learn and thrive in.

That’s why I was thrilled to speak about the Center for Green School’s Green Apple Day of Service to the Parenting audience. The Day of Service will take place on Sept. 29, 2012, and will bring parents, grandparents, students, educators and community leaders together in support of healthy, sustainable schools through service projects in local communities. The Mom Congress Conference was the perfect platform for sending a clear call to action to moms across the country to get involved in improving their children’s learning environments. For more information on the Green Apple Day of Service, please visit mygreenapple.org.

I’m so thankful for the opportunity to be involved with Parenting’s Mom Congress, and thank all the moms involved for making this year’s conference a success!

Rachel Gutter is the director of the Center for Green Schools and is an experienced teacher and green building consultant.