Varnett students featured in 2015 calendar touting diversity and the environment

Produced by Honey Brown Hope Foundation, the calendar cover reads “We Love America Healthy, Clean and Green” and “2015 Diversity Appreciation and Environmental Awareness Calendar.”

Dr. Margaret Stroud, Varnett’s interim superintendent, was in attendance when Houston City Councilman Larry Green acknowledged Varnett for giving importance to the calendar themes.

Also in attendance was Southwest Campus kindergartner Hade Ramirez, whose picture is featured for the month of April. In the picture, she is slightly tilting a basket with a real black bunny inside, surrounded by plastic Easter eggs with streamers in the background.  “Stop Fooling Around with Earth” is written above her picture, which was taken when Hade was a Southwest PreK student last year.

"This is very exciting," said Hade's mother, Deisy Roman, who attended the event with Hade's sisters, Esmeralda and Kristal. "I had no clue that she would be featured in a calendar." Hade, introduced to the audience by Dr. Stroud, said: "I'm happy. I like the colors.

The calendar also contains the images of Southwest 5th graders for the months of July and September. They are pictured at Willow Waterhole Park before they joined others in tossing more than 5,800 wildflowers seeds from the top and side of a slope, launching a new cycle of wildflower growth. The students prepared the seed balls a week before they tossed them. (See story here.)

“The ‘We Love America Healthy, Clean and Green’ calendar is designed to bring attention not only to the problems we are collectively creating, but also to motivate us to collectively forge a sustainable future,” said Tammie Lang Campbell, founder and executive director of the Honey Brown Hope Foundation.

“After all, there is nothing more powerful than the collective action of over 7 billion people working for the betterment of our planet.”

The calendar features environmental tips from Ms. Campbell, an educational glossary of diverse holidays, and environmental photos from The Imani School and Thurgood Marshall High School, in addition to Varnett.

Dr. Stroud thanked Ms. Campbell and Mr. Green for the acknowledgement, adding “As per your calendar theme, we at Varnett are committed to diversity and that commitment is reflected in the makeup of our student body and staff.  Varnett’s teachers also teach students the importance of recycling.

The certificate of recognition presented to Dr. Stroud by Mr. Green read in part: "Council Member Green acknowledges the commitment put forth by Varnett Public School in providing opportunities which will assist all students in making self-directed, realistic and responsible citizens."

Ms. Campbell said 5,000 calendars were published and they will be distributed throughout the Houston area and at special events. The 12 photos were selected from a pool of more than 100 offerings, with judges from FairmountSantrol and Walmart deciding on which ones made the final cut.

In 2013, Varnett photos were for every month of the year. Each year, the Honey Brown Hope Foundation releases the calendars around the time of Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday.