Topsy Turvy Bus makes green tour stop in Geneva
Hazon's mobile educational spectacle is traveling from Denver to Connecticut while teaching communities how to rethink cycles of food, energy and time.
If you happen to be on the road this summer anywhere between Colorado and Connecticut, you might be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of a golden-orange school bus traveling upside down along the highway.
The Topsy Turvy Bus (so named in honor of the donation from Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream that made this mobile educational spectacle possible) is indeed real, and will be on a cross-country tour from June 29 to Aug. 4.
The Topsy Turvy Bus is a bio-fueled environmental schoolhouse on wheels that is driven and staffed by Teva educators. Teva - a program of Hazon and is North America's leading Jewish environmental education program - provides pluralistic outdoor, food, and environmental education experiences throughout the Jewish community. Teva works with Jewish day schools, congregational schools, community centers, synagogues, camps, and youth groups.
This bus tour will stop at Pushing the Envelope Farm in Geneva in July.
Starting out in Denver, Colorado, with stops in Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts, the Topsy Turvy Bus will travel to Hazon's Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center in Falls Village, Connecticut, where most Teva programs take place. During the tour, Teva educators will show people around the veggie oil-fueled bus, share their knowledge about all things environmental and Jewish, and engage participants to feel empowered to make change in their everyday lives. This year's tour is the bus's fourth expedition, and in preparation for the upcoming Shmita year (beginning this September, on Rosh Hashana 5775), the Topsy Turvy Bus Tour will engage communities across the country in thinking, learning, and teaching about Shmita and the various cycles that govern and impact our lives.
Commonly translated as the "Sabbatical Year," Shmita literally means "release." Of biblical origin, this is the final year of a shared calendar cycle, when land is left fallow, debts are forgiven, and a host of other agricultural and economic adjustments are made to ensure the maintenance of an equitable, just, and healthy society. The questions about how Shmita actually worked - if it actually worked - are enormous. The possibilities for social change are thrilling.
The Teva educators on the tour will share Shmita-inspired concepts of leadership, commitment to change, and the power of the individual - all integrated with Jewish ideas as they relate to time, energy, and the environment.
"The kids thought the bus and solar oven were 'really cool.' I loved how easily and casually Jewish content was inserted into the environmental message," said a Jewish education director from a stop on the last tour. "The staff was able to adjust the information and activities to our youngest as well as our oldest kids. They were incredible!"
At each stop on the Shmita tour this summer, Teva educators will run programs focused around energy, environmental problem solving, social justice, and Jewish values. Program participants will watch an interactive theater-piece, make smoothies on a bicycle-powered blender, assist worms in turning old food into new soil, and learn firsthand about and on a bio-fueled bus.
The Topsy Turvy Bus will be in the Chicago area from July 10-16.
Prairie Jewish Coalition is hosting Teva's visit of the Topsy Turvy Bus from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday, July 13, at Pushing the Envelope Farm at 1700 Averill Road, Geneva. There is a $10 suggested donation per family or $5 per person. All are welcome. Learn about worm composting, build a solar oven, tour the bus and play with your favorite goats and chickens at this fun festival event.
If you'd like to get more information about the tour, call Lauren Greenberg at (212) 644-2332, Ext. 322 or email lLauren.gGreenberg@hazon.org.