 2018 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools Announced
The 2018 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools (ED-GRS) were announced on May 16. See the list of selectees, a press release, and a report about these schools, districts, and postsecondary institutions that are achieving sustainability gains in facilities and grounds, health and wellness, and environmental literacy. Read this blog highlighting the actions of a few of the 2018 honorees.
If your institution has not already been recognized, now is a great time to begin preparing for the 2019 application cycle by using resources and programs available on Green Strides. Read some common misconceptions about the award dispelled in an evergreen blog by the director and review Frequently Asked Questions on all three award categories. Interested colleges and universities should contact state higher education authorities, while schools and districts should contact state education agencies. Schools, districts, and postsecondary institutions are eligible only if nominated by state authorities. State education authorities can find award criteria and other state implementation guidance on the ED website and should contact U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools for information. >>>>
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Congratulations to the 2018 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools, District Sustainability Awardees, and Postsecondary Sustainability Awardees. View the honorees and read about their work on the Green Strides website and ED awards page.
 University of Rhode Island (URI) has total of 11 university building projects that are LEED certified, three building projects currently in the construction phase are registered for LEED, and all future building projects are expected to achieve a minimum of LEED Silver certification.
The University of Rhode Island, Kingston,
Rhode Island
A
land- and sea-grant university, the University of Rhode Island (URI) entered
into a 12-year, $18 million performance contract with an energy services
company designed to reduce its energy usage through the replacement of lighting
fixtures, windows, and heating and air conditioning systems, as well as
improvements to building energy management control systems. Since 2012, URI's 185-foot
research vessel, R/V Endeavor, began fueling up with refined biodiesel. Campus bottle filling stations divert plastic
water bottles from the landfill; a conversion program collects waste oil from
the dining halls to make biodiesel; a composter collects food waste for on-site
decomposition; and staff, students, researchers, and lab personnel receive
training to improve their knowledge of safe disposal of hazardous chemical and
laboratory waste. The University of Rhode Island’s Watershed Watch program has
been touted as one of the best volunteer water quality monitoring programs in
the country. The Anna Fascitelli Fitness and Wellness Center, a LEED Gold
certified facility, is located in the heart of URI’s residential
area. In addition to a full body circuit
training line, functional and strength training areas, spin bikes, TRX
suspension training, and three group exercise studios, a Wellness Resource Center on
the lower level offers self-guided meditation, a massage chair, Zen board
painting, jigsaw puzzles, and board games.
In dining halls, the “Catch of the Month” seafood is chosen for the menu
based on what’s in season. More than 30 undergraduate and graduate
degrees offered at URI include sustainability as a learning outcome. The
minor in sustainability is offered to students of any major, with an internship
that includes hands-on sustainability experience and a capstone project as
requirements. Students completing the Sustainable Agriculture and Food
Systems program graduate with the skills and knowledge needed to contribute to
the sustainable development, production, harvesting, management, and
utilization of terrestrial and aquatic microorganisms, plants, and animals.
The Green Business program is geared toward students who are interested in
corporate sustainability, energy efficiency, non-profit management, green
marketing, renewable energy, global environmental challenges, environmental
policy, and energy finance. The “Blue
MBA” program is a dual-degree program that merges the Master of Business
Administration with the Master of Oceanography. The Energy Fellows Program offers paid work
experience opportunities to undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in any
academic major or disciplines. >>>>
 In math at Jack London Community Day School (JLCDS), students analyze germination rates, green waste production, and pollinator counts. In science, students study botany, cultivation, propagation, adaptation, and environmental science. Across the curricula at JLCDS, teachers base their lessons on sustainability-related articles from an array of sources.
Jack
London Community Day School, Valley Glen, California
Jack
London Community Day School (JLCDS) is a small high school in the Los Angeles
Unified School
District, serving expelled students, students referred by a school attendance
review board, and other high-risk youths.
At JLCDS, sustainability is not only about the environment, it’s also about
empowering students to redirect their lives and learn to become positive agents
of change through an ethic of environmental citizenship. In 2013, JLCDS
converted an 18,000-square-foot asphalt parking lot campus into a garden.
When the project began, there was not one square-inch of soil. From the
start, the garden has been student-built and maintained. Implicit in
sustainability are the concepts of food justice, wellness, and meeting the
needs of the poor, issues many JLCDS families face. The Peace Garden serves
as a small demonstration of an urban, edible garden for the community. JLCDS practices sustainable, urban
horticulture as a way to meet the needs of the 21st century and manage an
increasingly urban environment. The garden consists of 30 raised beds,
two asphalt cuts, 47 fruit trees, and numerous pots. Vegetables, herbs,
berries and fruits are grown organically and the garden literally bursts
through the fences. JLCDS uses a variety
of innovative, nontoxic pest management strategies that reduce the impact on
the environment and biodiversity. JLCDS cultivates a blend of native plants and heirloom
crops to create a diverse floristic tapestry that nurtures the life above
ground, in mulch, and the soil food web below.
Composting completes the nutrient cycle.
All students participate in health walks, hiking trips, university field
trips, as well as healthy mindset and decision-making workshops. Each
week, mentors provide students with a 60-minute workshop on making healthy
choices. The school participates in California Thursdays, a collaboration
between the Center for Ecoliteracy and a network of public school districts to
serve healthy, freshly prepared school meals made from California-grown
food. The required course of study at JLCDS includes two years of science
plus two years of horticulture, and Jr. Master Gardener certification. EcoClub capitalizes on the “natural leaders”
at JLCDS, which is an apt description of many at-risk students. >>>>
 Oregon Middle School has a greenhouse and a hoop house to involve students in the process of growing the food that supplies the cafeteria with fresh produce about 10 months of the year.
Oregon Middle School, Oregon,
Wisconsin
Oregon
Middle School (OMS) generates 40 percent of its energy from on-site renewable
sources, including geothermal and photovoltaic (PV)/solar electric. Lights are on motion sensors and LEDs. Low-flow plumbing fixtures are used in
bathrooms. In the cafeteria, the school
implemented composting and recycling.
Outside, the school uses dripline garden watering, planted native
landscaping, restored a prairie and forest, and established a food garden and
fruit tree orchard. The outdoor gardens provide produce for summer school
gardening and cooking programs and donations to the local food pantry. During summer school, students grow, sell at
a roadside stand, and cook produce from the garden. No
idling signs in the drop-off and pick-up loop help to encourage better air
quality and reduce fuel use. Teachers of science, health, English, art, and
technical education classes collaborate to advance environmental literacy and
sustainability. Students use the live
data from the school’s solar panel array to see how much energy the school is
generating and using. Engineers from Department of Natural Resources, Madison
Metropolitan Sewerage District, and Dane County Landfill act as guest lecturers
in science and tech classes. Students
use outdoor classrooms in the prairie, forest, and food garden for many
courses. Seventh grade students work on the restoration and expansion of the
school forest and planted over 3,000 trees in the past three years. Since
2003, Oregon Middle School eighth grade students have partnered with the Rotary
Club to support a prairie restoration at a local park. Students remove invasive honeysuckle brush,
build and maintain gravel trails, and plant nearly 2,000 native prairie grasses
and forbs. >>>>
 Participate in National Education Facilities
Cleaning Survey
Cleaning programs are a critical part of schools' and
universities' efforts to provide students and staff with the opportunity to learn
and work in a place that is healthy and safe. As part of a long-term effort, Healthy
Schools Campaign and ISSA, the worldwide cleaning industry
association, are surveying schools and universities across the country to
better understand what they are doing and determine the type of
resources and tools schools need. The survey will take less than 15
minutes to complete and participants will be entered into a drawing. The
deadline to complete the survey is June 15. >>>>
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 Fuel Up to Play 60 School Grants
Fuel Up to Play 60 (FUTP 60), the in-school nutrition and physical activity program offered by the National Dairy Council and the National Football League, is offering grants to schools that want to jump-start healthy changes. FUTP 60 offers grants to individual schools in amounts up to $4,000 a year. The deadline to apply is June 13. Qualifying schools must enroll in FUTP 60, have a registered adviser for the program, and participate in the National School Lunch Program. Some FUTP 60 activities relate directly to food waste and the environment and to sustainability goals such as hunger. >>>>
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 Captain Planet Foundation ecoTech Grants Are Due July 15
EcoTech
Grants are offered to engage children in inquiry-based, STEM-related
projects that leverage technology and/or use nature-based design to address
environmental problems in local communities. EcoTech Grants were created
to combat the notion that students needed to choose between “the screen” or “the
green” and to encourage educators and students to explore the role technology
can play in designing and implementing solutions to some of our most pressing
environmental challenges. They are available as cash grants of up to $2,500,
and support the purchase of materials and other project implementation
expenses. >>>>
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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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 The
Green Strides Webinar Series Continues This
Spring
The Green Strides Webinar Series promotes sessions that
provide free tools to reduce schools' environmental impact and costs; improve
health and wellness; and teach effective environmental education. Consult
the webinar calendar, and submit suggestions of additional free, publically available webinars related to school, district, and postsecondary sustainability to ed.green.ribbon.schools@ed.gov for listing. (Note: All times listed
are EST.)
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May
22, 6:30–7:30 p.m. Solar System and
Beyond: JUNO to Jupiter (NASA)
May
23, 2–3 p.m. 2018 ENERGY STAR Partners of the Year (EPA)
May
23, 3–4 p.m. Qualitative Data to Measure Zero Waste
Efforts
(AASHE)
May
24, 6–7 p.m. Solar System and
Beyond: Exploring New Planets (NASA)
May
30, 3–4 p.m. Grappling with
Climate Uncertainties: MIT’s Resiliency
Approach
(AASHE)
June 5, 6:30–7:30 p.m. Journey to
Mars: BEST Rover & Engineering
Design
(NASA)
June 6, 3–4 p.m. The Decolonization
of Curriculum for a Sustainable Future (AASHE)
June 6, 6–7 p.m. National Marine
Sanctuaries Webinar Series: Dolphin
Tales
(NOAA)
June
12, 1–2 p.m. Engaging
Students with Disabilities in Safe Routes (Safe Routes to
School National Partnership)
June
12, 6:30–7:30 p.m. Journey to
Mars: Rocketry (NASA)
June
14, 1–2 p.m. Middle of Summer Strategies (USDA)
June
20, 1–2 p.m. Preparing for
EPA’s ENERGY STAR Metric Updates (EPA)
June
20, 3–4:30 p.m. Making your Campus a Bee Campus
USA Affiliate
(AASHE)
June is Great
Outdoors Month®: :
a celebration of our parks and waters and the many ways to enjoy them. It's
also a time to reflect on what we can do to preserve America's natural spaces
for the enjoyment of future generations. Looking for ways to get kids
outdoors and active?
Check out these nationwide events: National Trails Day is
June 2, Get Outdoors Day is June 9, and the Great
American Campout is June 23. >>>>
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 Plan a Green Apple Day of Service At Your School This Fall
A Green Apple Day of Service gives parents, teachers, students, companies, and local organizations the opportunity to transform all schools into healthy, safe, and productive learning environments through local service projects. Check out project ideas, pick up helpful event resources, and register your project online. >>>>.
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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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