The Obama Administration honored 78 schools, including eight public charter schools, yesterday as the first ever U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools. These schools came from 29 different states and the District of Columbia, and all represent a commitment to providing healthy, sustainable, and earth-friendly learning environments.
The Green Ribbon Schools program was developed in 2011 by Secretary Arne Duncan with the support of the Environmental Protection Agency and the White House Council on Environmental Quality. The program recognizes schools for energy and resource conservation, maintaining toxin-free, healthy learning environments, and providing high-quality environmental education on topics like sustainability. This year’s Green Ribbon Schools encouraged students to reduce waste. Kindergarteners attending the Learning Gate Community School, a public charter school in Florida, created a Waste Free Lunch program. Other recognized public charter schools took advantage of natural resources, such as The STAR School in Arizona , which generates 100 percent of its power from solar and wind generation. And Green Ribbon Schools that didn’t have plentiful access to natural resources created their own. Students at Environmental Charter High School in California worked with permaculture experts to create a natural stream that now runs through the urban campus. An impressive 70 out of the 78 winners have gardens on-site, 17 are EPA Energy Star Schools, and all winners produce 100 percent environmentally literate graduates. Yesterday’s award ceremony, which was attended by senior Administration officials including U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, White House CEQ Chair Nancy Sutley, EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, and U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin, recognized these achievements with a plaque and a banner. The wide diversity of location and student population among winning schools demonstrates that all schools have the ability to provide greener, healthier environments and education to their students. Congratulations to all Green Ribbon School winners! We look forward to seeing next year’s innovative practices. Applications for 2013-2014 will be due this winter and with 14 states having already indicated their intent to nominate schools, the time to learn about greener schools and this award is now! You can learn more about how to become a Green Ribbon School by registering for the NAPCS Green Charter School Workshop, a series of pre-conference sessions being held on June 19th in Minneapolis as part of the National Charter Schools Conference. Image credit: www.greenribbonschools.org
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