Social Responsibility in Practice in Schools

Campanelli Elementary School's Class 206 Celebrates America Recycles Day 2011
With Earth Day approaching, Campanelli Elementary School's Room 206 shares a project they made for America Recycles Day, a short video that explains how the students and teachers reuse in Room 206 at Campanelli Elementary. All of the students participated and gave it their best effort. Note that these are only some of the ways Room 206 reuses.  The students were excited to share their project with district leaders who care about "going green".  Thank you, ASBO Member, Ric King,
Controller/Director of Facilities for Schaumburg School District 54 in Schaumburg , Illinois for sharing this creative and innovative project with ASBO International.


ED Launches "Green Ribbon" Program To Promote School Sustainability Efforts
THE Journal (4/27, Nagel) reports that ED is launching "a new program to recognize schools for their sustainability efforts. The Green Ribbon Schools program--being administered by ED and supported by the US Environmental Protection Agency and the White House Council on Environmental Quality--will be modeled on the Blue Ribbon Schools program (also administered by ED). But instead of focusing on academic achievement, the program will recognize schools for 'energy conservation, creating healthy learning spaces, and teaching environmental literacy,' according to information released by the department Tuesday." The piece quotes a statement from Education Secretary Arne Duncan saying, "Preparing our children to be good environmental citizens is some of the most important work any of us can do."


USA Today Pans Food Lobby For Seeking To Influence School Menus
An editorial in USA Today (4/12) notes that the Adams 14 school district, in a "low-income industrial suburb" of Denver, has switched from school lunches featuring "chicken nuggets or a breaded chicken sandwich on a white-bread bun, french fries or Tater Tots, and a salad of iceberg lettuce and carrot shavings that came out of a bag" to vegetables, whole grains, an fresh salads and fruit. "Chocolate milk and fried potatoes have been banished. Most remarkably, the district, in a low-income industrial suburb, is feeding its 7,630 students for about the same money it spent last year. While Adams and scores of other districts across the nation are proving that innovative thinking and strategies can improve school menus, the powers that be in Washington are waging food fights."


SR Member Spotlight: Barb Nissel
Here's how one ASBO member led a social responsibility revolution at her district.

Do any of your New Year’s resolutions involve better eating habits? Making smart nutritional choices is ingrained in Barb Nissel, the food service supervisor for Great Valley School District (GVSD) in Malvern, Pennsylvania.

Barb taught in a neighboring school district before switching gears to run a restaurant for eight years. In 1988 she decided to put her combined knowledge and skills to work when she took on the food service supervisor position in GVSD. “We made some nutritional changes in the school food program when I started,” Barb says. “Our goal was to ensure that people were very aware of good nutrition.”

For the past two decades, a food service advisory committee comprised of parents has regularly launched nutrition projects that benefit district schools. In the fall of 2008, the committee, working hand-in-hand with students, faculty, and community members, spearheaded efforts for a district-wide garden project.

Barb explains that the project blossomed after GVSD registered to participate in PA Preferred, a program run by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. One program aspect focused on buying Pennsylvania products, but GVSD had difficulty finding local produce for use in school breakfast and lunch programs. So they decided to grow their own.

An acre of land at Kathryn D. Markley Elementary School was selected as the site for the garden, which was a collaborative community effort. An eight-foot-high deer fence was constructed around the land, which was rototilled by a local farmer who also provided advice on what and when to plant.

Elementary through high school students and their families, Scouts, as well as businesspeople and other individuals came out to an Adopt a Seedling event last March, committing themselves to nurturing tiny versions of future cucumbers, tomatoes, eggplants, beans, watermelon, cantaloupe, pumpkins, lettuce, peppers, and herbs. The seedlings were transplanted to the garden in May, and many community members provided help with weeding and harvesting. All garden produce is used to prepare meals for the district’s 4,500 students as well as for students in 13 charter, private, and parochial schools in the surrounding area.

Check out the video.

California District Unveils State-Of-The-Art Plug-In Hybrid School Bus
The Los Angeles Times reports that the Ventura (CA) Unified School District "on Tuesday unveiled a $200,000, state-of-the-art, plug-in hybrid electric school bus, the first in Southern California. The bus will start hauling students this week and replaces a polluting, 1977 model." The bus is "powered by a lithium ion battery pack and is expected to improve fuel economy by up to 30 percent and reduce emissions by up to 40 percent over a conventional gasoline-powered school bus." 

Students Against Global Abuse (SAGA)
SAGA is an environmental activist group organized in 1989 at ASBO International’s local high school, Herndon High. The group not only recycles the high school’s wastes where possible, but also that of local businesses, schools, and community members - including ASBO International. Student and teacher volunteers pick up, sort, bundle, and deliver white office paper to a nearby recycling center. SAGA then receives between 1.5 cents to 6.5 cents per pound of paper from the recycling center. Since 1989, SAGA has raised more than $250,000 through their recycling efforts. Profits are used to give scholarships to graduating SAGA seniors and to further invest in the program’s environmental activism.

District Aims To Save Millions By Turning Off Lights, Unplugging Appliances
The Las Vegas Sun reports that "Clark County School District made a frantic push to turn off every possible light, appliance and air conditioner at its hundreds of nine-month campuses, shutting them down entirely for the month of July." Last year, "such conservation efforts helped the district shave $9.4 million off its energy bill," and by unplugging appliances the district expects to save "another $250,000 over the summer." Last October, "the district shared $700,000 in rebates with 307 schools that had trimmed energy costs by at least 10 percent over the prior year." None of the top three campuses that saved the most money "had modernization work done that would have contributed to improved energy efficiency. The savings were the result of a combination of 'all the little things everyone can be doing,'" said Energy Manager Dick Cuppett.

Arizona ASBO Changes the World – One Pair at a Time
Arizona ASBO held its first service project, participating in Soles4Souls, a charity that donates shoes for those in need. They collected more than 130 pairs of shoes and $100 to pay for the shipping. “This cause was close to home for Arizona ASBO because one of the direct beneficiaries is the Navajo and Hopi Indian Reservations in our state,” said David Peterson, president of Arizona ASBO. Find out how your district or organization can help Soles4Souls meet its mission to impact as many lives as possible with the gift of shoes.

Fifteen Percent Of Elementary School Made From Recycled Materials.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports that "at Gearld Wright Elementary School, 'green' isn't just a trendy buzzword. Caring for the environment colors everything that happens at this West Valley City school," whose building "recently became LEED-certified." Because "ninety percent of the" building "has an outside view...less electricity is needed to keep it bright." Furthermore, "fifteen percent of the building was made from recycled materials," and the inside of the building "is full of 'low-emitting materials,' says Principal Marilyn Laughlin, noting the carpet and paint don't give off toxins, a benefit for asthmatic students in particular."

Got SR? We want to hear about it. Email your district's SR programs to ASBO's Lisa Sparrow.