 Students from Prospect Sierra School, a 2013 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon School, in El Cerrito, CA, participate in stream studies.
Meet A Few More of the 2016 Honorees!
As schools head off for summer break, now is a great time to take
inspiration from the 2016 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools for
plans in the coming year. View the
honorees and read about their work on Green Strides.
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Poudre
School District, Colorado
Poudre School District (PSD)’s commitment to
sustainability began in 1994 with the formation of an Energy Efficiency Team
and a Green Team. Since then, PSD has
completed 260 energy efficiency projects resulting in a utility savings of over
$2 million. The district adopted a
Sustainability Management System (SMS) in 2006 and has published its annual
Sustainability Report for seven years, highlighting sustainable
accomplishments, innovative practices, and goals
across the district, including resource conservation,
greenhouse gas emissions, sustainable education, transportation, and health and
wellness. PSD oversees a robust Safe
Routes to School program, including walking school buses, walk and bike to
school days, bike safety instruction, and the installation of bike repair
stations at middle and high schools.
Every school has a salad bar, and PSD’s farm to school program has been
in place for five years. Nearly 30
percent of schools have onsite gardens, which are used as outdoor classrooms,
with the growing cycle incorporated into science classes. Elementary students participate in The
Walking Classroom program, in which students take 20-minute walks while
listening to a podcast on science, social studies, or language arts; middle
school students engage in Global Explorers field trips and river watch
activities; and high school teachers incorporate the outdoors into lessons,
including hands-on experiential field trips.
The City of Fort Collins Utilities Department
worked with 36 schools to provide hands-on, curriculum-based classes, programs,
and events for students related to water and energy. Across the district, schools participate in
activities such as River Week, a citywide children’s water festival, Habitat
for Humanity home building, gardening and composting, water ecology studies,
nature hikes, and informational tours of sustainable school facilities. >>>>
 Photovoltaic system at Bethke Elementary School in Poudre County School District.
Capital City Public Charter School,
Washington,
D.C.
Capital City Public Charter School serves 983
students in prekindergarten through 12th grade in one consolidated LEED
Gold-certified building. Seventy-three
percent of students are eligible for free or reduced price lunch, and 85
percent are African-American or Hispanic.
In 2012, Capital City underwent a massive renovation of its 1963
building with sustainable practices in mind.
Prior to the renovations, seventh and eighth graders investigated green
practices with assistance from the Alliance to Save Energy and the U.S. Green
Building Council (USGBC). The students
then created a book with their suggested green designs, and presented their
chosen features to the school’s board of directors. Capital City’s main school garden encompasses
2400 square feet, includes an outdoor classroom, and is adjacent to the high
school entrance for the entire community to see. The grounds also include bioswales and a rain
garden. The school employs a part-time
school garden coordinator, who works with teachers to design curricula that
include resources from the school garden.
The coordinator works with high school students to provide a weekly
school garden market that offers fresh produce from the school garden and a
local farm. Students participate in
hands-on, project-based, authentic learning “expeditions.” From prekindergarten students’ expedition on
herbs to the 11th graders’ Food Justice for All expedition, students are
engaging with natural, local foods, and learning why knowing where your food
comes from has benefits for health, wellness, equity, and local economies. All students must take either Environmental
Science or Urban Ecology to graduate, and an optional outdoor adventure program
includes camping, rock climbing, and hiking.
>>>>
 CCPCS teachers take students outdoors to engage with and study their natural surroundings.
Garmisch
Elementary Middle School,
Bavaria, Germany
At Garmisch Elementary Middle School (GEMS), a
Department of Defense Education Activity School, students designed and
constructed compost bins to collect organic waste. Students also developed a campaign focused on
waste reduction, and conducted a waste audit determining that the amount of
waste going into the regular trash was reduced by 83 percent. Students have designed, constructed, and
planted a garden, using soil generated from their compost. They have been involved in the design of a
new school facility with sustainability features that will improve the
building’s resource efficiency and indoor environment, and will result in cost
savings for the school. Using surveying
equipment, they mapped out the new building site. Classes also have taken on civic projects
around specific environmental issues, such as water conservation and water
quality. The school counselor teaches
weekly classes that target social and emotional well-being and the school nurse
has developed and implemented a healthy lifestyle and nutrition curriculum that
is taught in all classes. Families can
learn more about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle during GEMS’s Spring
Health and Fitness Night. Staff model
healthy living for students by leading active lifestyles; half of the staff
regularly walk or bike to school, 47 percent of the teaching staff serve as
volunteer instructors for the school’s weekly ski program, and 20 percent of
the staff recently competed together in a team endurance race. The Outdoor Education Club provides students
with a chance to promote teambuilding and problem solving skills through
participating in outdoor activities such as hiking, climbing, and
geocaching. As evidenced by a 92 percent
participation rate, the students love the hands-on learning opportunities that
this club provides. >>>>
 Students at Garmisch Elementary Middle School inspect an Audi E-Tron electric car while learning about alternative energy sources.
Selecting Nominees for U.S.
Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools 2017
Are you ready for 2017?! Most participating
states post applications for schools, districts, and postsecondary institutions
each summer with deadlines to submit to them each winter. State authorities’ school, district, and
postsecondary nominations are due to ED by February 1, 2017. In addition to a total of five school
and district nominees, each state may nominate one postsecondary institution
for leadership in all three Pillars. State selection
committees may include state education agencies, state higher education agencies,
governors’ offices, and outside partners. Interested schools, districts,
colleges, universities should contact their state education authorities for
information on how to be considered for nomination in a given state. State education authorities can
contact U.S.
Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools for
more information.
>>>>
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Apply for NPS Challenge
Cost Share Grants by July 1
Grants of $25,000 are available for a range of project
ideas that serve urban communities, engage youth with National Parks, and
connect people to the outdoors. Educational institutions or
not-for-profit organizations are eligible to partner with NPS for work
performed in collaboration with NPS-administered parks, including National
Parks, National Trails, and Wild and Scenic Rivers. >>>>
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Apply for a GreenWorks!
Environmental Education Grant by Sept. 30
Project Learning Tree offers grants up to $1,000
to schools and youth organizations for environmental service-learning projects
that link classroom learning to the real world. Students implement an action
project they help design to green their school or to improve an aspect of their
neighborhood’s environment. The projects
partner students with their whole school, local businesses and/or community
organizations, and provide opportunities for student leadership. >>>>
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June
01, 2016, 6:30-7:30 pm NASA, We’re Out
There: Dwarf Planet Missions (NASA)
June
06, 2016, 4:00-5:00 pm Peering Beneath
Jupiter’s Clouds (NASA)
June
08, 2016, 12-12:30 pm Ask
The Expert (EPA)
June
09, 2016, 1:00-2:30 pm Waste Reduction
in College Residence Halls (CURC)
June
09, 2016, 1:00-2:30 pm Reduce Indoor
Asthma Triggers in Schools (EPA)
June
14, 2016, 2:00-3:00 pm Green Clean
Schools Learn From the Leaders (HSC)
June
15, 2016, 12-12:30 pm Ask The Expert (EPA)
June
15, 2016, 1:00-2:00 pm Colleges Accelerate
Community Deployment of Solar (EPA)
June
16, 2016, 6:00-7:00 pm Modeling Our
Solar System
(NASA)
June
23, 2016, 6:00-7:00 pm Exploring
Strange New Worlds
(NASA)
June
28, 2016, 1:00-2:00 pm Portfolio
Manager 101
(EPA)
June
29, 2016, 12-12:30 pm Ask The Expert (EPA)
June
29, 2016, 1:00-2:00 pm Portfolio
Manager 201
(EPA)
June
30, 2016, 1:00-2:00 pm Portfolio
Manager 301
(EPA)
Nature-Based
Education Summer Institute is June 25 in Farmington, ME
The University of Maine will host a Nature-Based
Education Summer Institute with sessions that are designed to be interactive
and outdoors, for a range of educators working across age levels and settings.
The day features a keynote by David Sobel, locally grown food, and
workshops that will bring participants outside to learn more about how
nature-based education benefits children and adults. >>>>
Educating Children
Outdoors Offers June and July Summer Institutes in Vermont
Educating Children for
the Outdoors offers standards based nature immersion graduate courses for
educators, assistants, aides, and administrators. During the week, a leadership team of
professional nature immersion specialists guides teachers in direct application
of outdoor classroom routines as well as ways to incorporate Next Generation
Science Standards and Common Core State Standards into those routines. >>>>
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The Educator Climate and Conservation Colloquium is July
6-10 in Shepherdstown, WV
Ec3
is a professional development opportunity for educators and sustainability
coordinators offered by the Green Schools Alliance in partnership with the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Conservation Training Center (NCTC). Participants work with national experts;
receive training in sustainability leadership, financing, and assessment; share
ideas and network with colleagues; and participate in NCTC’s unique
conservation programs and fieldwork. >>>>
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The Student Climate
& Conservation Congress is June 26-July 2 in Shepherdstown, WV
The Green Schools
Alliance invites students who have demonstrated leadership in their communities
to participate in the Student Climate & Conservation
Congress. Hosted at the U.S. Fish Wildlife Service’s National
Conservation Training Center, students and educators selected to participate in
the week-long Congress expand their understanding of environmental, social, and
economic interconnections, and create year-long commitments to meet 21st
century challenges. >>>>
The Green Clean Schools Leadership
Institute is July 28-29th in Ellicott City, MD
This training will
bring together leading university and K-12 facility operators in an effort to
grow the green cleaning movement. It
will include hands-on leadership skill training and workshops; expert panels
and discussions on how to create a green cleaning program; an in-depth tour of
an award-winning program; and the opportunity to network with other leaders in
the field. Some scholarships are
available for school representatives. >>>>
Connect with Green Strides
Green Strides: Resources for School Facilities, Health, and
Environment
U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools
Facebook: @EDGreenRibbonSchools
Twitter: @EDGreenRibbon
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