County schools are all green

Calvert first in state to have 100 percent green schools

Friday, June 4, 2010

Before test scores have been released, Calvert County Public Schools are already at the top of the state in one area.

Calvert County is now the first county in Maryland to have 100 percent of its public schools be certified "Green Schools."

According to a release from Calvert County Public Schools, "Maryland Green Schools are those schools that demonstrate a commitment to the environment through their practices and instructional programs."

Michelle Daubon, the green school coordinator with CHESPAX —the environmental education program for the Calvert County Public School system headquartered at Kings Landing Park in Huntingtown — Northern and Southern middle schools and Barstow and Mutual elementary schools were the county's final schools to become certified.

The Calvert Career Center, Daubon said, will eventually become a certified "Green Center."

"But all of their students already go to different schools," Daubon explained.

She said that the Maryland Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education, or MAEOE, has been certifying Green Schools across the state since 1998, and that Calvert's first official Green Schools were Beach and Huntingtown elementary schools, though the process initially moved slowly.

However, three years ago Daubon said the school system applied for a grant from the Chesapeake Bay Trust to create a fulltime job to solely work on getting other schools certified.

To become certified, she said a school should teach issues that might include solid waste reduction; energy conservation; habitat restoration; and water pollution prevention; as well as provide outdoor learning structures, a healthy learning environment and responsible transportation.

"You have to show that you teach these kinds of practices in the curriculum," Daubon said, continuing that MAEOE "wants it to reach out to all aspects so people know [environmentally friendly practices] can be done at their home as well as their schools."

She said while schools receive a flag and state recognition but no additional funding for becoming certified, "Really it's the process that's so fulfilling; it's the kids that are out there planting in the gardens."

Daubon also added that the green certification process has strengthened the partnership between CHESPAX and the individual schools.

"That's been a great relationship," she said, continuing that now each school has its own green school coordinator.

Science teacher Bryan Kelsey has this position at the just-certified Northern Middle School in Owings, where he said a 103-page Power Point presentation was put together for the Green School application.

"That took a lot of time; students did a lot of that," he said, adding that many staff members were shocked by the enthusiasm expressed by students.

The 42-member Northern Middle "Green Club" recycles all paper around the building; manages the recycling of cans and bottles in the school cafeteria; created posters on water and energy conservation; planted a garden; and sold "It's Easy Being Green" T-shirts for the school's Earth Day celebration, Kelsey said.

"I think compared to other schools, people are shocked about how many people are involved," he said. "I just think more students are becoming more conscience of the environment and they want to help any way they can."

Barstow Elementary School's green coordinator, Leslie Irvin-Thorne, said that students kept coming up to her and asking "have you heard yet?" when the school was going through the certification process this year.

Many of these students, she said, are part of the school's "Green Team," made up of about 25 second through fifth graders.

Irvin-Thorne, a Title 1 teacher at Barstow, said the club meets twice a month, manages recycling for all the classrooms and does art projects created out of reused materials.

Her larger vision, however, involves applying for a grant with Dominion for "The Barstow Echo Hub," which would include an amphitheater, a pavilion and a community garden.

Irvin-Thorne said that if she receives the grant, she plans on inviting First Lady Michelle Obama for the ground-breaking of the garden.

"We are busy, but it's fun," Irvin-Thorne said.

Now that all schools are certified, Daubon said a new CHESPAX goal is "making the school grounds even more of a learning hub from the outside."

She said her organization is applying for various grants, particularly involving the new Calvert Middle School, expected to be complete next month.

"Now we're going to bring the community in to understand how these Green School concepts apply to us, hopefully, every day," she said, adding that when it comes to Calvert County students, "They're doing it on their own now; that's our hope."

lbuck@somdnews.com