After my wonderful opportunity to visit Model Green Schools on the East Coast and in the Midwest, I have condensed my observations into a short list of what Model Green Schools are presently doing to move environmental sustainability forward in schools, with their students, and within their communities.  Not every school I visited is doing every aspect of what it means to be a green school, but all are leading the way through their actions and commitments.  Thank you to all the students, teachers, administrators, and staff that made me feel welcome visiting their schools and proudly showing off their effort to make for healthier individuals, spaces, and  a planet now and in the future.  None of this would have happened without the generous funding and gift of time received from the Donaldson Sabbatical Grant.  I hope to encourage and implement with the help of others many of these model green school initiatives within the Blake Community.  Richard Sabaka

• Integrate environmental sustainability into the curriculum everywhere you can.  (Think globally act locally.)
• Get kids outdoors frequently if not daily.
• Develop a sense of place by studying and appreciating the history and natural environment (when available) that surrounds the school.  (Place Based Projects)
• Find a way to be stewards and to improve the aesthetics of the school grounds.  (Service Learning) (There is value in physical work towards a goal.)
• Have students identify and study ways the school could save energy, water, and conserve resources, and then implement some of the identified measures.  (Authentic Learning)
• Embrace new energy saving technologies (solar, wind, geothermal) and have them installed for an educational and for their stated purpose.
• New construction and retrofitting construction should be accomplished with LEED certification.
• Environmental sustainability should be written into the school’s mission statement.
• Healthy schools provide clean air, good drinking water, healthy food, and ample natural light.
• Model green schools form strong partnerships around the concept of sustainability within the school, with other organizations, and with the larger community. (Green Teams)
• Adults model sustainable behaviors and practices they want to see in their students.

River Crest is an elementary school located in Hudson, Wisconsin that serves 558 kindergarten through fifth grade and early childhood special education students.

Sustainability Mission:  “Preparing each student for post-secondary success through a culture of excellence in challenging academics, critical thinking, purposeful collaboration, applied innovation, and global stewardship. River Crest Elementary School promotes sustainable practices and preservation of our natural resources.”

River Crest is the first LEED Gold constructed school in Wisconsin.  The Hudson School District chose a beautiful site on the south end of town including a small natural woodland and grassland.   River Crest planted environmentally friendly native grasses, perennials, and shrubs that do not need additional watering and help to reduce soil erosion. A working dairy farm is visible from the property.  A Discovery Trail was built through the woods by local Eagle Scouts and a bike path surrounds the school serving both the school and local community.  The school has developed a working relationship with Camp St. Croix located just across the highway connected by an underground tunnel to allow safe and easy access to the natural areas of the camp.  The camp makes 400 acres of open prairie, wooded ravines, and pine forest overlooking the St. Croix River available to students within a short walk.

The Hudson School District has a 5 year strategic plan (2008 -2013) called The R3 Mission: to educate, motivate, and practice reducing everyday, reusing everything, and recycling everywhere within the Hudson School District and our community.”  I believe in part that this forward thinking helped River Crest get built as a model green school.  The definition of a “green” school from the U.S. Green Building Council (USBC) reads “ a school building or facility that is conducive to learning while saving, energy, resources and money.  The USBC is the organization that awards LEED Certification.  After new green schools are built they frequently save $100,000 annually through energy conservation, water conservation, and waste reduction.  River Crest is already seeing this type of savings.  Additionally these savings help to conserve natural resources, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and solid waste.  One does not find expensive installations of wind turbines or solar panels at River Crest that can take decades for economic payback, but less costly modifications such as choosing highly efficient devices and materials that save energy and water.  However, I would not suggest that schools not lead the way in use of these newer technologies as well.  Most impressively the school was built for less per square foot than the cost of conventional schools.  Here is that wonderful combination of protecting the planet and saving money at the same time.  It is surprising that all new construction is not done this way.  I can only surmise what is preventing this from happening is the amount of time it takes to research, plan, design, and construct when constantly having to make decisions about what green technologies and features to incorporate.  There may be some additional reluctance to use newer technologies that do not have a long proven track record.

During construction only non-toxic construction materials were used.  This protects the environment, and the students and staff that work and learn there.  “Adhesives, paints, flooring, carpeting, and furniture were all selected based on their low- or no-volatile organic compounds.  In addition, over 20% of River Crest was built using recycled materials (75% of all building waste was reused or recycled).  Over 50% of the wood used in the school came from sources certified by the Forest stewardship Council.  Plus, more than half of the building materials were manufactured within 500 miles of the building site.”  This amount of research and planning certainly adds to the time it takes to build the school building that students and environment benefit from.  I particularly appreciate how local production and purchasing are becoming more and more common in regards to both food and products lowering transportation costs, lowering carbon emissions, and supporting the local economy.

The heating and cooling systems are expected to provide energy savings of 30% yearly.  The windows are designed and produced locally to allow sunlight to stream through while rejecting solar heat.  Different types of Low E-4 glass were selected for the different sides of the building to reduce mechanical heating and cooling.   Cooling and heating systems cycle on and off when people enter or leave the rooms. A large component of the heating and cooling energy savings comes from the energy recovery unit.  This unit captures heat from exhaust air in the winter and absorbs heat from incoming air in the summer.  An installed white colored roof membrane further reduces cooling costs in the summer.

A major factor to schools electricity costs come from lighting.  Because a large amount of natural daylight comes into the building, every classroom has a daylight sensor controlling the amount of lights that are on or off.  Motion sensors turn the lights on an off depending on if the room is occupied.  Water is also being saved by the use of low-flow faucets, dual-flush toilets, and waterless urinals.  Waterless urinals use a unique oil-like liquid to allow urine to pass through but does not allow the water or vapors back up the drain.  This saves an average of 268,00 gallons of water per year.

The community of Hudson supported the vision of a sustainable school and the building of River Crest Elementary.  Signage abounds in the building to educate students and the public to the many green features that have been incorporated.  River Crest continues its mission focusing on environmental target areas that will increase the use of outdoor learning, collaborate more with Camp St. Croix, keep moving forward with their well established composting and recycling efforts, and find more and more ways to integrate sustainability into their curriculum.  Many faculty members, students, and concerned parents are continuing with their support.

Thank you to Travis Barringer, River Crest Principal, for making Dan Trockman, Hayley Trockman, Isaac Trockman, and me feel welcome and for his willingness to share his knowledge and enthusiasm for this model green school.

Garlough Environmental Magnet School

Garlough Environmental Magnet School (GEMS) is a K-4 elementary school located in West St. Paul, Minnesota serving about 300 students. GEMS is part of the West St. Paul-Mendota Heights- Eagan Area Schools.   In fall 2007, Garlough was converted from a neighborhood elementary school to a magnet school with an environmental theme.  Since that time test scores and enrollment have both increased

Sustainability Mission:  “Environmental learning is at the core of everything we do. By using natural experiences, we support and enhance children’s intellectual, social, emotional and physical development. Students explore nature in Garlough Woods and at Dodge Nature Center as they gain a sense of wonder, respect, and care for the natural world.”

When visiting Garlough Elementary School one feels that this school is using nature to do great things with their students.  The school has integrated a green campus, procedures, and curriculum to promote students’ learning about themselves, others, and the environment surrounding them.  Caring for others and the environment seems integrated into their daily routines.  Arriving at the school I saw fourth graders tending gardens, kindergartners playing with outdoor musical instruments, and teachers actively exploring with their students.

Every classroom is colorfully decorated and has a variety of living plants and animals for the students to care for and observe.   The students are responsible for classroom recycling and composting.  Worm composting bins handle the organic material generated in the classroom.   Classroom recyclers and composters are referred to as “rot rangers”. Their lunchroom has switched totally to compostable/biodegradable sugarcane-based trays, drinking containers, and eating utensils.

Hallways are lined with student work that shows what they have been learning about their environment.  They described the concept as COWS (Curriculum on Walls).  The school office contains its own menagerie of live animals.  Upon arrival a squawking parrot, the school secretary, and two principals all greeted me.  One of the principals was Alyea, a fourth grade girl, who was guest principal for the day.

15 outdoor learning stations that enhance the children’s inquiry, observation skills, and appreciation of nature surround their welcoming building.  A tree identification course, a tulip growing area, a butterfly garden, buckthorn- removal studies plot, a peace garden, and a prairie restoration area all take advantage of local plant life.   Students participate in scientific observation and data collection, and then develop projects to build reading, math, science, and technology skills.  The entire building and outdoor campus is wireless.  Students share their collected field observations on tulips and butterflies with classmates across North America in an online project called Journey North.  Just as the outdoors is used as a study area, areas in the woods are set up for creative play and exercise.  Dodge Nature Center, a school partner in developing environmental curriculum, is located just across the street and provides an additional 320-acre outdoor classroom.

In answer to the their own online question “How does our environmental magnet improve student achievement?” their website provides an insightful and informative answer that drives their school’s mission. Their response follows:

“One reason for the national interest in Garlough Magnet School is that a growing body of research documents the detrimental effects for children when they are disconnected from nature, including problems such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and childhood obesity. Richard Louv, the author of “Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder,” cites studies that show children who learn in an outdoor environment score higher in math and science and are more productive. Other studies have provided convincing evidence that the way people feel in pleasing natural environments improves recall of information, creative problem solving, and creativity.

Early experiences with the natural world have been positively linked with the development of imagination and a sense of wonder. “Wonder” is important as a motivator for life-long learning. In the area of human relations, children who experience nature are more likely to have positive feelings about each other. Over one hundred studies of outdoor experiences in the wilderness and natural areas demonstrate that natural outdoor environments produce positive physiological responses in humans, including reduced stress and feelings of well being (White & Stoecklin).

All of these studies show that, beyond a shadow of a doubt, natural experiences support and enhance children’s intellectual, social, emotional and physical development. This growing body of research leads us to believe our environmental magnet will succeed on multiple levels, including improving student achievement now while laying the groundwork for future educational success.”

Thank you to principal Susan Powell for allowing me to visit and tour guiding me through their model environmental school.  To visit their school web page click on the following link:  http://www.garlough.isd197.org/se3bin/clientschool.cgi?schoolname=school174

School of Environmental Studies

The School of Environmental Studies is an interdisciplinary magnet high school located In Apple Valley, Minnesota.  SES serves 400 juniors and seniors from District 196 (Apple Valley, Rosemount, Eagan).  Because of its close partnership and proximity to the Minnesota Zoo, it is sometimes referred to as the Zoo School.  The school opened in 1994.

Sustainability Mission:  “The mission of the School of Environmental Studies is to be a community of leaders learning to enhance the relationship between humans and their environment.”

The school building has a very open architecture designed to accommodate the interdisciplinary curriculum, group work, and maximize extended student-teacher contact time.  There are 4 large open meeting spaces, called houses,  for about 100 students each.  Very few general classroom spaces are found in the building, only science labs and art rooms.  “The house serves as a meeting space, possible divided classroom, work area, and in other functions as needed by the students and staff. Each house is divided into ten pods within the larger room. These ten pods surround the center of the house on three sides. Each pod has desks for the students (typically ten) in that pod. These desks have a writing surface, a lockable drawer and a tackable surface on which to place pictures and such. Along with two large wardrobes, this workspace becomes the student’s home at school. The building has no lockers.”  The day I was there I observed100 junior class students starting their day in one of the houses.  Three teachers talked for about 15 minutes explaining what students were to do for the reminder of the morning.  A small portion of the students would be taking care of some make up work, but most of the students would be working in small groups preparing environmental lessons for visiting elementary students.  Student groups could choose where they worked including outside on the school grounds.  An area in the house was designated for groups that were requesting more teacher help or felt that they were falling behind and in need if more assistance.  Generally groups were confident, self directed, responsible and on task.  Three additional teachers from another house dropped by to provide additional assistance for the working groups.  The relationship between students and faculty seemed casual, respectful, and productive.

“SES is known for its innovative, interdisciplinary, and experiential curriculum.  Thematic Studies also referred to as “House”, combines English, environmental science, and social studies into a three-hour long daily class, which is team-taught.  These courses are connected by broad themes related to essential understanding of the environment and related issues.   As students work to gain understanding of the themes, they complete projects and assignments the lead to relevant, real word assessment of their progress.”  The students I talked with appreciated being more responsible for their own learning, the emphasis placed on environmental themes, and being free to choose their workspace.  For some students it was a difficult transition having less rigid due dates, less formal instruction, and more choice on how to fulfill certain requirements.  In many ways the students were becoming independent engaged learners.  The remainder of the day was for more traditional instruction in classes of about 20 students.  These required and elective classes were for math, foreign language, science, and art instruction.   Being partnered with the Zoo allowed two unique electives to be offered: animal care and veterinarian technology.  Mentorship programs were also available in a variety of subjects including aviation and forensics.  To view their thematic studies curriculum guide follow the provided link.  http://www.district196.org/ses/curr/curriculum.html

Certainly a favorite among many students attending SES was their option to choose between various field experiences.  These intensive theme courses occur once every trimester for a seven-day period.  All other courses are discontinued allowing SES students to study one subject in-depth.   Students chose between local, national, and international teacher led study opportunities or independent study. Content varies greatly and spans items as diverse as wilderness first aid certification and eco-architecture.  These field experiences are at additional expense to the students.  One group had just returned from a trip to Honduras studying its biodiversity.  Another student group had seen 5 plays at local theaters and would be writing reviews of the plays.   Scholarship money was made available to make the field trips more affordable.

SES maintains strong partnerships with a variety of public, private, and non-profit organizations.  I was impressed with how the animal care class had worked with the MN Zoo to enrich the habit of the animals to keep the animal environments stimulating.  There are also many one-to-one mentorship available opportunities based on student interest and potential career choices.  One partnership with Dakota Electric has built a demonstration wind turbine and solar cell array to monitor and explain electricity production from renewable sources.

Students frequently can be found outside during classes, lunch, and doing service projects. “Students participate in pond studies, animal studies, winter survival activities, internet projects and many other experiences that get them outside, into the community or on the Internet, often working with people outside of the school setting.  Assessments are often simulations of real-world experiences.”  SES draws students that are committed to the environment, looking for more independent learning, and desiring a less structured environment.  Students maintain portfolios throughout their two years answering big thematic questions as they develop their presentation and analytical skills.  Every senior has a capstone project that they design and implement that combines elements of service and the environment.  It is clear that SES emphasizes individual responsibility, stewardship of the environment, and learning beyond the classroom walls.

Thank you to Nathan Nelson, school counselor, and the students of SES for making my visit enjoyable and informative.

Watertown Mayer Elementary School

Watertown Mayer Elementary is a public elementary school located 30 miles west of Minneapolis, Minnesota.  The school district built a Silver Leed certified building to house approximately 600 students grades one through five. The new building opened in the fall of 2007.

Sustainability Mission:  “Our mission at Watertown-Mayer Elementary School is to enlighten our students’, staffs’, and community members’ lives through the educational opportunities that our unique sustainable building design offers in hopes that we will all learn ways of living “green” and work together to protect our environmental future.”

The new elementary school is a beautifully designed and constructed to enhance student learning, to keep children safe and healthy, and to promote education about environmental sustainability.  The site chosen for the school’s construction is about 2 miles east of downtown Watertown.  Within close walking distance from the school are ponds, marshes, Oak Lake, a wooded section, cornfields, and a major state bike trail (Luce Line).  Adjacent to the building are prairie restoration areas for enhanced beauty and study.  It is clear that the school has chosen a site that allows the study of a large variety of habitats and ecosystems.  Additional land surrounding the school has been purchased recently to develop and then maintain as a park.  Congratulations to the community and school district for such forward thinking.  Visually a rural, environmentally rich surrounding will be maintained for school and public use for many years.

Bike trails were constructed and linked to the Luce Line trail to encourage biking to school.  The day I was there the bike rack in front of the school was filled with student bikes and additionally a number of students walked to school.  Although the building has a large gymnasium, one physical education class was out jogging around the grounds.  The large playground heavily used during their required outdoor daily recess was lined with recycled chewed up tires.  This provided a soft landing spot from a recycled material.   Additionally constructed playfields were available to students.  I would encourage any school that has a nearby wooded section to also use this as an additional playground/recess space.  I particularly like the idea of having long sticks available to built forts and shelters such as I observed at the Willow School.  Fort building may also be done as an engineering challenge as a part of a classroom learning activity.

Every grade level has incorporated sustainability into their curriculum.  Sustainability acts as a lens for reviewing the curriculum they have chosen in the past and will choose in the future.   The availability and variety of surrounding outdoor environments is helping in this process.  Already the nearby Oak Lake has been incorporated into the WMES curriculum as a study area.   It appears the major challenge to incorporating more sustainability curriculum is the ever-present mandatory state standards.  In selecting curriculum teachers look first to these standards and then see how new learning activities might fit.   I was very impressed with how the 5^th grade in particular was incorporating learning about environmental sustainability to align with the standards.  Dedicated teachers accomplished this incorporation when the alignment fits but is not forced.   To view the schools grade level sustainability curriculum and alignment with standards follow the provided link. http://www.wm.k12.mn.us/se3bin/clientgenie.cgi?butName=WMES%20Sustainability%20Curriculum&cId=&permission=3&username=

To walk into the building one immediately appreciates the openness, light, and color adorning the interior spaces.  Grade levels have different associated ecosystems that are the basis for the selected color scheme and decoration of their area.  This brings in the beautiful outdoors found surrounding their school to their indoor spaces. The interior concept for their elementary school was developed to “reflect the nature that surrounds the communities of Watertown and Mayer. The concepts of River, Prairie, Farmlands, Wetlands and Woodlands are the design inspiration.”  Even the outside of the building was designed to reflect the appearance of small town mainstreet.

In the construction of the building local materials and resources were utilized to support local communities and reduce the energy and environmental costs associated with long distance transport costs.  For example, the sand used for the creation of glass windows comes only 380 miles south of Watertown in the state of Iowa.  To meet Silver Leed certification, building materials chosen were environmentally friendly.  The use of recycled aluminum. Glulam (glue laminated timber) beams, certified wood products, and low VOC products can be found throughout the building.  Energy saving devices such as occupancy sensors, compact fluorescent light fixtures, geothermal wells, sunshades, and high efficiency heat exchangers are all saving the school money, energy, and lowering their carbon footprint.   To support their sustainability mission and educational mission kid friendly signage abounds that explains the building green features and their purpose.  To see a wonderful virtual tour of the building follow this link. 

Thank you to Donna Steuernagel, 5^th grade teacher, for her time and such a wonderful tour.