{"id":6535,"date":"2014-05-05T18:19:34","date_gmt":"2014-05-06T01:19:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lesliedinaberg.com\/wordpress\/?p=6535"},"modified":"2014-05-05T09:21:33","modified_gmt":"2014-05-05T16:21:33","slug":"growing-green-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lesliedinaberg.com\/wordpress\/?p=6535","title":{"rendered":"Growing Green Schools"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Laguna<\/a>

Laguna Blanca Coastal Clean Up, courtesy photo<\/p><\/div>\n

Inspiring students\u2014and their families\u2014to think globally and act locally, schools have become a vital incubator for environmental stewardship.<\/p>\n

Students in Santa Barbara High’s Green Academy<\/b><\/a> learn about green biology, environmental science and chemistry, but they also get their hands dirty by maintaining a large production garden, complete with row crops, native plant insectary, fruit trees, grapevines, chickens and bees. They also deliver regular orders of greens to the school cafeteria and take food home to enjoy with their families. Plus they provide native and edible plants to support thoughtful landscaping on campus.<\/p>\n

Environmental awareness is woven into the curriculum at Laguna Blanca School<\/b><\/a>. Captaining our local California Cleanup Day last fall, they helped clean up Miramar\/Hammonds Beach and Hope Ranch Beach and collected a total of 65 pounds of trash and more than eight pounds of recycling. In addition to the daily discipline of an environmentally conscious curriculum, composting, recycling and using eco-friendly products, the school also celebrates Earth Day in a big way with their own festival, community service projects and even student-produced environmental short films.<\/p>\n

As part of an architecture unit on developing the “perfect” school, students at The Knox School of Santa Barbara<\/b><\/a> research “green” architecture and look into the future for energy sources beyond fossil fuels, ultimately constructing their own plans for green buildings.<\/p>\n

At Midland School<\/b><\/a>, boarding school students combine rigorous academics with a simple self-reliant lifestyle, close to nature, that emphasizes a connection to the environment and teaches students to be good stewards of the earth. For example, with the solar panel program, 10th graders have installed photovoltaic arrays every year since 2003\u2014now more than 25% of the campus is powered by these arrays.<\/p>\n

The outdoor education program at Santa Barbara Middle School<\/b> <\/a>offers a unique approach that takes students and staff on rigorous expeditions in the wilderness\u2014with self-discovery in mind. These “trips” are learning adventures that take students by bike, boot or boat on journeys where they learn about pushing through personal boundaries while building communities.<\/p>\n

\"Water<\/a>

Water Filling Stations are at schools throughout Santa Barbara<\/p><\/div>\n

At Cathedral Oaks Nursery School<\/b><\/a>, an official Green Care Provider School, teaching children to live a green lifestyle is one of the main components of the school’s philosophy, with a garden program that provides snack-time treats fresh from their own fields, grown from seedlings sprouted in the school’s greenhouse.<\/p>\n

Sprout Up!<\/b><\/a>, a nonprofit youth-to-youth environmental education program that was founded at UCSB, sends college students into first- and second-grade classrooms at elementary schools to teach children vital concepts in environmental science and sustainability. Among the schools participating are Monroe, Adams and Isla Vista Elementary Schools.<\/p>\n

Also a nonprofit, Lets’ Grow!<\/b><\/a> (formerly the School Gardens Program funded by Orfalea Foundation), has installed or enhanced 35 school gardens in the county, including a recent one at McKinley Elementary School<\/b><\/a>.<\/p>\n

These are but a few of the exciting and positive developments on the local green school front. Stay tuned\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2013Leslie Dinaberg<\/p>\n

Originally published in the Spring 2014 issue of\u00a0Santa Barbara SEASONS Magazine<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

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