The Route 70 Goddard School Embraces *Earth Hour*

Switch Off Your Lights for One Hour on March 28th

-- The Goddard School for Early Childhood Development, at 255 Route 70, in Toms River, NJ, is happy to announce it has joined the World Wildlife Fund’s 2009 program for *Earth Hour”. Earth Hour is a global call to action about climate change set for March 28th, at 8:30 PM. It is estimated that more than a billion people, in more than 1000 cities around the world, will turn off their lights for one hour in a vote for action on the climate crisis.

The Route 70 Goddard School, http://www.goddardschool.com/Schools/Toms-River-II-NJ/Schools.gspx,
joins the other 320 Goddard Schools nationwide to help spread the message that by working together, each one of us can make a positive impact toward a sustainable future. The Toms River pre-school and kindergarten is actually launching an entire week of activities beginning on March 23rd – and leading up to a big celebration event at 10:00 A.M. on Friday morning, March 27th, the day before the global happening.

"Our Earth Hour initiative is intended as a message of hope and action for our younger generation, and we trust it will send a powerful message about saving energy and the environment. It’s just our way to demonstrate that each one of us can make a difference", says Dana Chibbaro (CQ), owner/operator of the Goddard School near Whitesville Road. "Imagine what we might accomplish, if we all act together".

Through the ensuing week, the children and teachers get to participate in a variety of fun activities, games and lessons to increase their awareness of how energy use and daily activities can affect the future of the planet, and how they can conserve energy in their daily lives. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has even created a website, www.earthhourkids.org, to feature lessons, games and songs that children can download. There is also a section for parents to email state and federal representatives about this initiative.

In preparation for Earth Hour 2009, the teachers at The Goddard School actually integrate the environment into a number of engaging learning activities, including art projects, science lessons, and even into snack time for the children!


Each classroom will nominate an official “Lightning Bug” -- to be responsible for turning out classroom lights when the children exit the room. Children will also create invitations for their parents to join them for the Earth Hour celebration.

Then, on March 27th, The Goddard School observes Earth Hour with its own special event, Stepping Up for the Environment. The teachers and children will create a large banner that the students can decorate with footprints, creating their own little “carbon” footprint to create awareness of Earth Hour 2009. At 10:00 AM, the school will turn off all non-essential lighting for one hour.

So, on March 28th, the rest of us -- housing tenants and homeowners, alike -- can simply turn off our porch lights, or some of our indoor lights for one hour at 8:30 PM. Turning off our television sets and computers would actually contribute to an even greater energy savings during the event!



About Earth Hour and the World Wildelife Fund (WWF):

Earth Hour is a global initiative in which millions of people around the world will cast a vote in favor of action on climate change by turning off their lights for one hour on March 28th, at 8:30 PM local time.

By voting with their light switches, participants will send a powerful, visual message to their leaders demanding immediate action on climate change. WWF is the world’s leading conservation organization, working in 100 countries for nearly half a century.

The WWF is dedicated to delivery of science-based solutions to preserve the diversity and abundance of life on Earth

About The Goddard School:

The Goddard School® for Early Childhood Development is a co-educational pre-school and Kindergarten providing a preparatory education to students of varied religious, social and academic backgrounds.

The Route 70 Goddard School is a family-owned and independently-operated franchise of Goddard Systems, Inc., with headquarters in King of Prussia, PA.

With more than 40,000 children currently enrolled nationwide, The Goddard School is the fastest growing preschool franchise in the United States. Goddard was recently recognized by Entrepreneur magazine as the “#1 Childcare Franchise” for the eighth consecutive year (January 2009).

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