‘Green Fair’ participants meet Jane Goodall

DARTMOUTH, MASS. – Tifereth Israel Congregation’s Ziskind School was among 29 educational groups from around the region that participated in a Green Fair held at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth on April 7. Initially, around 200 people were expected, but that number quickly grew to about 1,650 when word got out that world-renowned primatologist Jane Goodall would attend.

The day started with a student exhibition and an opportunity for the students to explain to Goodall and others the concepts behind their projects. 

The Ziskind School students had created “mitzvah strips,” which are strips of recycled paper where people can write down their good deeds. The individual strips were then woven into a chain as long as the Torah scroll. 

“When you do good deeds, you get something good out of it. Now I get to share my good things with everyone here,” said Ella Friedman, a student in the Ziskind School, in New Bedford. “We started small at the school, and presented something big to Jane Goodall.” 

It was easy to see the students’ excitement at meeting Goodall. Not surprisingly, a buzz surrounded the environmentalist throughout the day – students, parents, educators and members of the media listened attentively to her story of how she got where she is today. 

Ella was one of a handful of students selected to ask Goodall a question after her presentation. Another Ziskind student, Julia Rosenberg, wrote an essay that earned her one of eight student spots at the dinner table with Goodall. The students traded ideas with the scientist and helped her celebrate her birthday. 

Joe Tatelbaum, a Dartmouth native, an organizer of the Green Fair, and a longtime friend of Goodall, said she gave up her rest period to spend more time with the students.

Tatelbaum mentioned that several groups planted trees in honor of the event, and three Roots & Shoots groups have been set up in the area. Roots & Shoots is a youth-led initiative that Goodall started to help youths give back to the world through community-based programs. There are Roots & Shoots groups in 141 countries. 

Goodall’s presence at the Green Fair acted as a springboard for environmental consciousness-raising, prompting those present to think critically about ways to carry out the crucial task of nature conservation. 

“One of the things we talk about a lot is that not everybody needs to be Jane Goodall and change the whole world,” Tatelbaum said. “Everyone should make a bunch of little decisions every day. If lots of people make lots of little decisions, that’s what a movement is about, and things change very quickly.”

Goodall said, “If we start thinking about the small choices we make – what we eat, what we wear, what we buy – then people can make better choices.

“What we do matters. Every day.”

The Green Fair was simulcast to UMASS Dartmouth’s dorm rooms, and is now available for viewing on its website, www.umassd.edu/janegoodallevent/videoandsocialmedia.

ARIEL BROTHMAN is a freelance writer who lives in Wrentham, Massachusetts.