Are We a Contractor or Educator?
The answer is....both! Along my journeys as Director of Education Services for Breaking Ground Education Services, a division of Breaking Ground Contracting, I am struck by the number of people who remark about how unconventional or unusual it is that a construction company is educating others about green building and safety. Each time I hear these remarks, it becomes even MORE clear to me just how much sense it makes that a successful construction company like Breaking Ground Contracting blaze the trail of education in green, sustainable and LEED* building and workplace safety. After all, buildings use the greatest amount of energy...WAY more than our vehicles. So, it stands to reason that a construction company do its part to enlighten its industry to the environmentally sound way of doing business. We don't just believe it, we live it! The foresight of President, Mary Tappouni, began many years ago with her passion for building, nature and the environment. Her vision drives her company, and those of us who have the privilege of working for Breaking Ground Contracting and Breaking Ground Education Services have been infected by her passion for green building and her desire to couple sound building practices with environmental responsibility. It is our mission to educate other contractors, architects, engineers, subcontractors, developers and anyone else who wants to listen and learn, about the ways we can all do our part in building green for the future...the future of our industry, our children and our world.
This book, written for children and adults alike, emphasizes the connections we have with our home, Mother Earth. Our official book launch is Wednesday, November 4th, at the downtown library's Booktique during the Jacksonville ArtWalk.
Me and Green makes a great gift for a child, parent, grandparent or teacher! Think about your holiday gift-giving list and plan ahead. If you would like an autographed copy, contact Catherine at the phone or email above. Keep it green!!
Breaking Ground Education Services is excited about our children's book entitled
Me and Green which is due to be available October 5, 2009. This book is a collaborative effort by Mary Tappouni, Therese Tappouni and Catherine Burkee and is the first in a series of books that will be published for children of all ages!
Me and Green is designed to educate children about their role in keeping our earth happy and healthy, and explores the connections we all have to Earth and each other. Me and Green contains both teacher and parent activities, as well as discussion points, which encourage interaction between parents and their children and teachers and their students. Look for us soon!
Eco Eve has taken Springfield by storm! She was hatched and brought to her home in front of Three Layers Coffee house on the corner of Walnut and 6th Street. Eve is the turtle sponsored by Breaking Ground Contracting as part of the Turtle Trails project benefiting the Child Guidance Center. She sports a solar panel on her back which generates energy to her torch (not seen in photo). Her body artistry was created by local artist Joanelle Mulrain and reflects the sustainable ideals represented by Breaking Ground's philosophy.
Child Guidance Center is a private, nonprofit agency that understands and treats emotional and/or behavioral problems of children. CGC offers an entire spectrum of counseling an
d social services - case management, psychiatric services, in-home family and school-based counseling, crisis response, supervised visitation with parent education classes and full-service school programs. A link about CGC and the Turtle Trails project is included under
Great Green Links on the left, or you can go to
http://www.turtletrails.org/ to get more information.
As many of you already know from my earlier post, Mary Tappouni was selected 2009 Business Person of the Year by the National Small Business Association. As part of the Small Business Week festivities in Washington, D.C., Mary and her mom, Therese Tappouni, were invited to the State Department and were in awe of the history that was before them. The highlight of the trip for Mary was having the opportunity to shake hands with President Obama, a man she admires greatly. I'm not sure she has yet to wash her hand!!! She was giddy with excitement and said it was the greatest honor of her life. The photo above is of Mary and Therese.
Breaking Ground Education Services unveiled its
Faces of Green exhibit to the public for the first time on June 3rd, at Chamblin's Uptown, as part of the Jacksonville Art Walk. The photographs in the exhibit reflect a variety of building construction professionals and community members that have provided their reflections on why green building and green living is important to them.
Faces of Green is a photographic campaign that has been over a year in the making, and is a result of Mary Tappouni's vision to create a community outreach project focusing on the "why" of being green. The exhibit features the photography of...you guessed it, Catherine Burkee. The exhibit will be traveling, so keep your eyes on this blog for future locations!!
This post shows a few photos from the exhibit opening:
