San Domenico student Sarah Theiner with Nancy Metzger and Shelley Flint, directors of sustainability and service learning , respectively
No surprise to parents: More often than not it's their kids who have the inside scoop on the everyday, practical steps needed to help heal the planet.
Throughout the county, schools are creating both the curriculum and the setting for inspiring a new generation of Earth champions, with in-class instruction augmented by outside "walk-the-talk" actions: Solar systems energize both Bacich Elementary School in Kentfield and White Hill Middle School in Fairfax.
The Ross Valley School District says White Hill generates enough energy through the use of its solar system to "cut down an average of 2,255 pounds of carbon dioxide pollution per week." The Kentfield School District recently received a $5,000 grant from Pacific Gas and Electric Co. for a rooftop solar project at Kent Middle School, which, combined with Bacich's system, gives the district a chance of being the first and only public district in the state to be 100 percent solar generated.
"It's an important time for students," says Joe Stewart, who teaches environmental science at Redwood High School and advises that the best inspiration for students "is learning about nature and their role in it," not dwelling on the bad news. Climate change "affects everyone," says Stewart. "It's exciting for them to see that there is an opportunity for the global community to come together with a common goal." Among the community groups he credits with helping school efforts: Next Generation (www.gonextgeneration.org) in San Anselmo and its Marin Green Schools Program.
Solar panels at Manor Middle School, Fairfax
Green Schools of Home
Bringing Earth's message home was very much in evidence at the fourth annual Green Your School Conference for Adults and Youth in October, hosted by San Domenico School and spearheaded by student Sarah Theiner and the school's directors of service learning and sustainability, Nancy Metzger and Shelley Flint, respectively.
The small, independent day and boarding school located just north of San Anselmo in Sleepy Hollow is an ideal place to talk green shop: It has had a sustainability director for over a decade and works to integrate environmental principles both inside the classroom and on its campus, where over 3,000 pounds of food waste are diverted annually to the school's 1-acre organic garden.
Surrounded by majestic oaks, San Domenico's garden - boasting chickens, compost bins, a straw-walled tool shed, and an outdoor kitchen, as well as fruit trees and a myriad of vegetables - is a hands-on teaching tool. During the year, students plant and harvest the bounty, and learn math and science too, by weighing and tabulating the produce and compost the garden generates.
San Domenico is one of three schools nationally to receive the Leading Edge honor for environmental sustainability from the National Association of Independent Schools. Flint says the sustainability focus in schools is only natural: "We are now faced with challenging environmental, economic, and societal needs. It is our responsibility as educators to provide our students with the tools they need to survive in an unstable world." Visit www.sandomenico.org.
Curb Appeal
Keeping carbon dioxide at bay is the goal of the Curb Your Carbon program now part of the activities at 20 local schools. An effort supported by the Marin Community Foundation, Cool the Earth, the Marin Conservation Corps, and Strategic Energy Innovations, the program helps students - and their parents - learn about energy-saving actions that translate into cutting CO2 emissions.
Actions such as replacing lightbulbs and embracing the "no-waste lunch" challenge (food and drinks in reusable containers; bringing uneaten food home) are translated into how much CO2 they reduce - with the results tabulated as part of the national program, Cancel a Car: 12,000 pounds of CO2 saved by the various actions equals "canceling" one car for a year. So far this school year, kids in Marin have canceled 60 cars.
Results by participating schools, and all the carbon-cutting tips, are available at www.curbyourcarbonmarin.org.
Water Watchers
Marin schools have long worked with the Bay Institute and its STRAW Project (Students and Teachers Restoring a Watershed). The project works with teachers, students, restoration specialists, and other community members to plan and implement watershed studies and restoration projects in both Marin and Sonoma counties. See www.bay.org.
Since creeks run close to or through many Marin campuses, their restoration has long been a staple of school-based environmental programs and activities. Examples are the restoration work taken on by students at Sir Francis Drake High School on Sleepy Hollow Creek; Redwood High School students on Larkspur Creek; White Hill Middle School students on Fairfax Creek; and Bacich Elementary students on Laurel Grove Creek.
Earth Cycle
Gardens and recycling programs are a mainstay of early environmental stewardship training. For example, the Mary E. Silveira Elementary School in San Rafael has a school garden and a lunch recycling program that includes a worm bin and composting of leftover lunch.
From energy-saving activities to habitat restoration to recycling, students under the guidance of teacher Laura Honda at Manor Elementary School in Fairfax have won award after award, including the Golden Apple from the Alliance to Save Energy, for their sustainability efforts. The school has an active Green Team that currently is working on backyard habitat restoration.
