Q: I'm a parent organizer of our elementary school's Earth Day celebration. This year the event falls during testing, so schoolwide activities are difficult to schedule. I want to send home activities, so parents can increase kids' awareness of their obligation to our planet. Any suggestions?

A: When the late Wisconsin Sen. Gaylord Nelson launched the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970, it was called an "environmental teach-in" to raise awareness of the need for cleaner air and water. While the media focused on the day itself, he was more interested in a sustained effort. He wanted local leaders to schedule events that worked for their own schools and communities. That spirit still guides the celebration.

If testing falls on Earth Day (April 22), the folks at the Green Education Foundation have suggested celebrating National Green Week anytime from Feb. 2 through May 2. They provide free learning materials created by top educators and subject-area experts in fields such as green architecture and sustainable energy.

These lessons, projects and activities can be used for whole-school events, individual classrooms, families or youth groups, covering green themes such as Sustainable Transportation, Energy, Gardening, Waste Reduction, Sustainable Water and Green Building. Accompanying each theme you'll find recommended reading suggestions, sustainability tips and a challenge for young learners. Go to greeneducationfoundation.org.

You could combine your Earth Day and Arbor Day (April 24) celebrations. "It's important for kids to learn the important role of trees in our daily lives -- how they provide shade and wind breaks, cool our climate and clean our air -- and what care trees need to thrive," says Iowa garden writer and arborist Luke Miller. "Planting a tree that is suitable for your region offers enduring lessons. Choose a site easily accessible, so kids can water the tree and observe and measure its growth over time."

The Arbor Day Foundation offers a free downloadable Nature Explore Families' Club Kit with field-tested resources designed to help you organize a Families' Club at your school or in your neighborhood. The kit helps connect families with the outdoors and introduces them to a variety of natural spaces in the community. Go to natureexplore.org/families/FamiliesClub.cfm.

Award-winning children's nonfiction author Sandra Markle wants families to know that by participating in these activities, "they are really part of a powerful global movement."

She cites the work of SavingSpecies, which she calls "a great organization with worldwide efforts to save habitat and thus wildlife."

Markle mentions one activity the group is working on: "School groups in Brazil are involved in raising native trees from seeds to saplings and helping with a reforestation project that will help save golden lion tamarins, an endangered monkey." (Follow her research on this project at sandra-markle.blogspot.com.)

In addition, families can add high-quality books with environmental themes to bedtime reading. Ask your librarian for suggestions, or look for titles on these lists: the Green Earth Book Awards (Nature Generation); Growing Good Kids Book Awards (American Horticultural Society); Outstanding Science Trade Books (National Science Teachers Association); Excellence in Science Books (American Association for the Advancement of Science); Green Reads (PBS Parents); and the Riverby Award List of Nature Books for Young Readers (John Burroughs Association).

(Do you have a question about your child's education? Email it to Leanna@aplusadvice.com. Leanna Landsmann is an education writer who began her career as a classroom teacher. She has served on education commissions, visited classrooms in 49 states to observe best practices, and founded Principal for a Day in New York City.)

Q: Our PTO needs more volunteers. You'd think that the chance to contribute to their kids' school would get people through the door, but turnout is stagnant. How do successful PTOs keep volunteers and continue to recruit new ones?

A: The folks at online resource PTO Today know why people raise their hands to give their time and talent -- and why they burn out.

"Studies show that people are motivated to volunteer for six reasons," says Tim Sullivan, president of PTO Today. "Sure, people want to make a difference in other people's lives and to support a particular organization. But personal motivations drive the decision, too. Folks volunteer to learn something new, grow professionally or personally, meet new people and feel better about themselves."

When PTO presidents hang out the "Volunteers Welcome" sign, Sullivan advises showing would-be recruits what's in it for them. Research by Claremont Graduate University psychology professor Allen Omoto finds that the more you align your activities with a volunteer's interests, the more people you'll get and the more productively they'll pitch in.

Sullivan says to keep these recruiting tips in mind:

-- Don't "guilt" people into signing up. Instead, promote how it benefits them. It's more effective to say, "You'll learn new skills, meet new people and get to know your child's teacher better," than, "We need all parents to show up!"

-- Enlist a volunteer coordinator. This person organizes volunteers' time, explains clearly what the task and time commitment is and why it matters.

"Choose a networker who connects experienced volunteers with new ones, makes newbies feel comfortable and lessens the 'social risk' some folks perceive when joining a new group," says Sullivan. "This person invites parents who need to get comfortable before they volunteer to school social events." (If you have non-English speaking parents, make sure to recruit a bilingual coordinator.)

-- Match volunteers' jobs with interests. Sullivan suggests using a Volunteer Interest Survey that allows potential volunteers to decide how they might use their talents and time in ways that will benefit the PTO. (Find a survey template to tailor to your group at PTOtoday.com/magazine.)

"If someone is interested in volunteering because it will help her meet people, assign her to the school's Welcome Committee to orient new families," suggests Sullivan. "If another can only work on your website at night, great!"

-- Have worthwhile work ready. "Nothing kills volunteer spirit like showing up and having nothing to do," warns Sullivan. "Make sure that from day one, your new recruits are engaged in purposeful activities."

-- Broaden your scope. "Sure, parents are your natural constituency, but reach out to seniors, youth groups and persons with disabilities," says Sullivan.

-- Make it easy to stay involved. This might mean providing childcare, offering meals and snacks or giving virtual work arrangements.

-- Remember to reach out. Don't rely on email blasts, fliers in backpacks or Facebook pleas. "Contact folks, one-on-one," says Sullivan. "A Gallup report shows that people are four times more likely to volunteer when someone from the organization personally asks them to come on board." (For more information, go to PTOToday.com.)

(Do you have a question about your child's education? Email it to Leanna@aplusadvice.com. Leanna Landsmann is an education writer who began her career as a classroom teacher. She has served on education commissions, visited classrooms in 49 states to observe best practices, and founded Principal for a Day in New York City.)

Q: Our daughter, a high-school sophomore, is smart but highly emotional, distractible and melts down when things aren't perfect. We're working with her school counselor to help her focus, prioritize and achieve her high expectations. We don't want her on attention-deficit drugs. He suggests that she could benefit from mindfulness training. What is it?

A: Psychologists define mindfulness as the nonjudgmental awareness of experiences in the present moment. Some call it learning how to regulate our inner compass.

While mindfulness techniques such as meditation have been around for thousands of years, in the last few decades scientists have begun to study their effects on our well-being.

Research shows that learning to be mindful can help adults reduce stress, manage pain, shorten migraines, get better sleep and control unproductive emotions. More and more cardiologists encourage heart-surgery patients to learn meditation as part of recovery. Some dietitians add "mindfulness training" to weight-loss programs.

The scientist who brought mindfulness into medicine's mainstream is Jon Kabat-Zinn, professor of medicine emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and founder of its Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society.

Kabat-Zinn's work has inspired educators to include mindfulness training in social-emotional learning curricula.

"Any stressed-out parent who has read Zinn's book, 'Everyday Blessings: The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting' (Hachette, 1998), has thought, 'Kids ought to be learning this stuff in school,'" says New York educator Miriam Kahn. "Teaching a class how to calm themselves with their breath can reduce stress, promote mutual respect and de-escalate discipline problems."

Several studies show the potential benefits of mindfulness practices for students' physical health, psychological well-being, social skills and academic performance, writes Emily Campbell, research assistant for education at the University of California Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center.

One published recently in Developmental Psychology describes how a program called MindUP taught fourth- and fifth-grade students to practice mindfulness. Over a four-month period, they improved their behavior and social skills and even got significantly higher math scores than the control group.

Richmond, California, teacher Jean-Gabrielle Larochette realized that the many minutes he spent getting kids to settle into the school day ate into their precious instructional time.

"We tell kids to be quiet, calm down, stay on task, regulate and make good choices, but we're not teaching them how to do that," he says.

A mindfulness practitioner himself, Larochette taught them the focused breathing techniques he used daily. The results were so compelling that he founded the Mindful Life Project (mindfullifeproject.org) to expand the program to area schools.

A program offered by the nonprofit group Mindful Schools (mindfulschools.org) promotes practices that help students pay attention, build empathy and self-awareness, improve self-control and reduce stress. Research has shown that after six weeks of training, student behavior can improve significantly in those areas and that the gains can be sustained with a few minutes of daily practice.

Will mindfulness training help your daughter? It may be worth a try. If you can't locate a qualified local trainer, find well-recommended resources by Kabat-Zinn at mindfulnesscds.com. Or consider a free eight-week online university course from the Greater Good Science Center called "The Science of Happiness." Enroll at greatergood.berkeley.edu.

(Do you have a question about your child's education? Email it to Leanna@aplusadvice.com. Leanna Landsmann is an education writer who began her career as a classroom teacher. She has served on education commissions, visited classrooms in 49 states to observe best practices, and founded Principal for a Day in New York City.)