We are happy to announce the winners of the national "Green Your School" contest, funded by the NBC Universal Foundation and in connection with Green is Universal.

The contest, which we launched last spring, challenged eco-conscious high schoolers to submit their school's best green-related projects. After receiving hundreds of thousands of entries from classrooms nationwide, a panel of distinguished judges, including NBC News' Anne Thompson and environmentalist Simran Sethi, selected West Geauga High School in Chesterland, Ohio as the grand prize winner of $5,000. Two runner-up prizes of $2,500 were also awarded to Boston Latin School in Boston, Mass. and Amphitheater High School in Tucson, AZ.

We  would like to extend a huge congratulations to the winning schools and thank all of the students who participated!

The "Green Your School" contest engaged students in conservation projects that improved, restored, or beautified their school's environment. To be eligible, entries had to be student-led and have been started after August 1, 2008. Projects were judged on their environmental impact on the health of the school, sustainability, and the involvment of other students, teachers, administrators and/or the outside community.

Last Spring, we announced the launch of the national "Green Your School" contest, funded by NBC Universal Foundation and in connection with Green is Universal.

The panel has received lots of qualified entries, but there is still time if you haven't submitted yours!

If you're a high school student in the U.S., submit your school's best green-related project for a chance to win a $5,000 grand prize.

The contest is awarding prizes for conservation service projects designed by high school students that improve, restore, beautify and/or conserve their school's environment. Project examples include transforming a school parking lot or yard into a community garden, implementing a recycling or compost program in the school cafeteria, using reusable and recyclable products on campus or establishing a system to reduce water and power usage.

A panel of qualified judges, including NBC News' Anne Thompson and environmentalist Simran Sethi, will award a Grand Prize winner with $5,000 and two First Prize winners with $2,500 each.

The "Green Your School" contest runs from April 1, 2009 until 11:59 p.m. EST on October 9. Entries may be submitted online by visiting www.thesca.org/green-your-school or a registration form may be requested by mail and sent back to SCA headquarters at 689 River Road, P.O. Box 550, Charlestown, New Hampshire 03603. Winning schools will be notified by email, phone or mail by mid-November, 2009.

It's our pleasure to announce the launch of the national "Green Your School" contest, funded by NBC Universal Foundation and in connection with Green is Universal.

If you're a high school student in the U.S., submit your school's best green-related project for a chance to win a $5,000 grand prize.

The contest is awarding prizes for conservation service projects designed by high school students that improve, restore, beautify and/or conserve their school's environment. Project examples include transforming a school parking lot or yard into a community garden, implementing a recycling or compost program in the school cafeteria, using reusable and recyclable products on campus or establishing a system to reduce water and power usage.

A panel of qualified judges, including NBC News' Anne Thompson and environmentalist Simran Sethi, will award a Grand Prize winner with $5,000 and two First Prize winners with $2,500 each.

The "Green Your School" contest runs from April 1, 2009 until 11:59 p.m. EST on October 9. Entries may be submitted online by visiting www.thesca.org/green-your-school or a registration form may be requested by mail and sent back to SCA headquarters at 689 River Road, P.O. Box 550, Charlestown, New Hampshire 03603. Winning schools will be notified by email, phone or mail by mid-November, 2009.

How to prevent scaring yourself and your kids' post-Halloween bash? It's frightening how much sugar our kids consume on October 31st. Instead of giving yours and your neighbor's kids tons of sugar and toxins, have fun with real food.

Halloween is the party season kick-off. If you are planning a Halloween party, let's give something good for our kids to eat. But, what's good to eat? I don't like the idea of giving kids Kit-Kat bars or gummy bears. At the same time, I want to see excitement on kids' faces during Halloween as much as you do. I've put together a list of food that you can decorate the house for your party and serve to all the kids (big and small). Kids can help you create this spooky crafts!

From GreenHalloween.org:

It's really not about the candy. Kids have fun when their parents get involved and have fun themselves. Part of being green is focusing on people instead of things, so try to reduce the amount of 'things' you incorporate into your Halloween by increasing the focus on fun. Here are some ideas for making your Green Halloween fun for your kids and for you:

- Make a big deal of your child's costume - getting dressed, taking pictures, etc.
- Have a neighborhood party and forgo trick-or-treating all together. Ask your child's school to consider making their Halloween celebration green as well.
- Have a charity-themed party. Instead of giving out prizes for games, allow children to pick from a list of charities and make a donation in their name.
- Have a Halloween gratitude party. Deliver handmade cards to your local farmer and take a tour of his/her field. Arrange before hand for each child to bring a mini pumpkin home.
- Talk to your neighbors about what they will be giving away in advance. One option is to trick-or-treat only at homes where you know Green Halloween items will be passed out.
- Show your Green by displaying your own Green Halloween sign and ask your Green Halloween neighbors to do the same. Turn looking for the signs into a hunt for treasures. The Green Halloween sign on your own door will announce to trick-or-treaters that they're in for a great surprise!
- Give kids a full, healthy meal before they go out trick-or-treating so they are not hungry.
- Talk to your kids about what is in candy and why it is not healthy. Ask them to come up with creative, kid and Earth-friendly alternatives that your own family can hand out and feel good about.
- When trick-or-treaters come to your door, shout, "Happy Hallo-green!!!

For more tips and treats on having a Green Halloween, visit GreenHalloween.org.

As kids head back to school, many parents will be scrambling for ideas for easy-bagged lunches. (Below are ideas for you to chew on!) Keep in mind, adequate nutrition is vital to keep your kids' growth and health on track. Children's growing bodies need more nutrients than adults, but their diets shouldn't provide excessive calories and cause them to gain an inappropriate amount of weight.

Overall lunches should consist of, about 50-60% of a child's calories from carbohydrate sources, 25-35% of calories should come from fat, and the rest (10-15% of calories) should come from protein. Just like the diets of all family members, children's diets should include plenty of fruits, vegetables, lean protein sources, low fat dairy products, whole grains and healthy fats.

This year, think outside of the box. Lunch can be more than a sandwich. Have a recipe? Post it below, other parents would love to know!

For most budding imaginations, gardens are a magical place. Curious George expanded my childhood imagination by bringing experiences in new ways through play and research of the world. Now, he is jump starting your children's curiosity and creativity through your garden.

George, The Man with the Yellow Hat, and all their friends will investigate the planet through a variety of escapades with the concepts of recycling, composting, solar power and the weather patterns. Children will learn about the planet, its elements, and the environment. I am back into watching Curious George and telling everyone because children get to see how the earth nurtures them, and in turn it inspires them to nurture the earth. Children have to really love something before they can protect it and serve it so begin cultivating that tiny gardener's curiosity and green thumb now!

Obligatory Back to School Post Warning! But I assure you, this is not the same as all the rest. While you can find tons of info on green school supplies and clothing that you can buy, this one is for the kids and it doesn't cost you anything. You just have to point and click (and offer your positive encouragement, of course!) and the rest is up to them.

The Green Squad - a project of the National Resources Defense Council and the Healthy Schools Network - sets out to educate children about the impact that their schools have on the environment and their health.

Makes sense, right?  We adults spend the majority of our time in our office building, but for most of the year kids will predominantly be at their school.  The site offers a slew of tools like this poster of 3 things to do today, a tour of the Green Squad's virtual school highlighting some key hot spots to check for at their own school along with a progress report for keeping track of their findings along with tools for teachers to involve more of their classmates.

By Mary Beth Gonzalez, iVillage.com

My family reunited over Fourth of July weekend to celebrate Pop-Pop's (my dad) 70^th birthday. Seventeen Pryors from all across the country gathered together at my parent's beautiful home on Sanibel Island on Florida's west coast. My parents, three brothers and their families joined mine for 5 days of eating, laughing, swimming, kayaking, photo taking and story sharing of our past, present and what we each want for our future.

Since we hadn't all been together in over 7 years, the occasion served as an interesting benchmark for how differently we all think about green today versus 7 years ago when I was first starting on my green path. I found that nearly every aspect of our weekend related somehow to our greener values and lifestyles.

By Mary Beth Gonzalez, iVillage.com

Last weekend I brought a Panda, a Gorilla and a Penguin to my brother's house for a visit with his family. Seems kids' marketers frequently name their kid targeted products after animals so kids will love them more, and it seems to work. I was just happy knowing that my gifts were healthy, organic and starting them on their path to green.

The Panda was actually an Ecogear blue organic cotton backpack for Jake, my four year old nephew. The azure blue dye is non-toxic, and it closes with easy to close sustainable wood fasteners. All very cool but his Dad knew that the ultimate stamp of approval was mentioning that Peter Parker (Spiderman) had a backpack just like it. Then Jake knew that the Panda would be perfect for his first trip to day camp next week. You can see in this photo how much he likes it.