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The Green Scene Newsletter
Issue #8
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Last year our District was awarded a
GOLD ranking in sustainability from the Florida Green School Network--the
only school district in Florida to achieve this in 2016. This year, we are ready for another amazing year of going green across the District!
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District Resources for Going Green
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Want to become a more sustainable school, but don't know where to start? Call us! The Environmental & Conservation Services Department (ECS) can help your school develop a School Sustainability Plan, as per Wellness Promotion Policy 2.035.
A School Sustainability Plan focuses on the following topics:
- Outdoor and Environmental Education
- Energy and Water Conservation
- Waste Reduction and Recycling
- Environmentally Preferable Purchasing
- Green Transportation
- Healthy Learning Environments
- Recognition and Awards
For more information or to set up a meeting, call ECS at PX 45154.
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Are You a Green Champion?
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This year, ECS is rolling out a new program called Green Champions. Each school principal will be asked to designate an employee who will act as the Green Champion. Green Champions are school staff who are passionate about teaching environmental awareness and have the leadership skills needed to incite change in sustainable practices within their school. Green Champions shall lead school sustainability activities via a green team and serve as the point of contact for sustainability related communication for the ECS Department.
Principals, please email
lisa.toy@palmbeachschools.org, or call PX 27602 to designate your school's Green Champion.
The first five schools to designate a Green Champion will receive a 30-gallon recycling bin!
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Need Help Earning Green Schools Recognition?
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The Green Schools Ambassador Program provides hands-on assistance to schools that would like to “go green” as new participants in FAU Pine Jog Environmental Education Center’s established Green Schools Recognition Program, developed in partnership with SDPBC.
Funded by a grant from the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties, the Ambassador Program provides new green school participants with “Ambassadors,” experienced mentors who have a passion for helping schools develop environmentally sustainable practices to achieve their green school goals. Ambassadors work with their school’s “Green Team” to research, plan, and document all of their green activities during the year in order to apply for Green Schools Recognition in the spring and to qualify for special awards.
If your school would like to participate in the Green Schools Ambassador Program this year, please contact FAU Pine Jog Environmental Education Center's Program Coordinator: Lauren Butcher at 561-686-6600 or lbutcher2013@fau.edu.
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Join the Recycling Challenge
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Do you want to win prizes AND engage students in reducing reusing, and recycling? Join thousands of schools across the country to compete in Keep America Beautiful's Recycle Bowl!
Your school could become our next State Recycling Champ--
click HERE to compete in Recycle Bowl!
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International Coastal Cleanup: Sept. 16th
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During the 2016 International Coastal Cleanup, volunteers cleaned up over 18 MILLION pounds of litter from beaches worldwide. What an impact on our oceans! This year's cleanup will be on Saturday, September 16th, don't miss out!
Interested in signing your school up to participate? To pre-register for a cleanup near you, visit
Keep Palm Beach County Beautiful's website. Community service hours will be given and free t-shirts are available while supplies last.
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Boca Raton High School Builds Aquaponics Project in Peru
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*This article was written in collaboration with Dr. Rachel Wellman , Biogeochemist and Teacher at Boca High School.
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Students at Boca Raton High School were busy this summer building an aquaponics system in Puerto Maldonado, located in the Peruvian Amazon. The project stemmed from a nonprofit organization started by Boca Raton High School students, John Schuttler and Tess Flemma. The mission of their organization, Our Planet Inc., is to provide youth volunteer experiences that implement effective environmental sustainability initiatives. After the success of Boca High's own aquaponics system, the students sought to take their STEM knowledge of aquaponics and build a similar system using Peruvian materials with funds raised through Our Planet Inc. and Boca High.
Accompanied by Dr. Rachel Wellman, Boca Raton High School's teacher sponsor for the project, the team collaborated with Peruvian non-profit, ARCAmazon, whose mission is to conserve rain forest ecosystems while providing research and education opportunities in Peru.
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ARCAmazon has an education center in Puerto Maldonado , where the team spent two and a half weeks engineering the new aquaponics system. Along the way, students learned about the relationship between water quality and nutrient cycling. The team also took the time to educate the local community so that the system would be sustained long-term.
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Aquaponics is a way of farming that utilizes water without soil and is one method of sustainable agriculture. In an aquaponics system, waste from fish are used to supply nutrients, creating a closed system for growing plants without the need for soil. This farming practice helps to offset deforestation of natural resources, like tropical rain forests that take hundreds or thousands of years to grow.
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School District Hosts Garden Workshop
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School Food Services hosted its first ever
Back to School Garden Workshop over the summer. Over a hundred attendees participated in the event. Session topics included Garden Design and Planning, Hydroponics, Container Gardening, Composting and the District's Farm to School Program.
For a full agenda, click HERE.
Schools are encouraged to register their school garden for the upcoming school year. Each school with a registered garden will receive a banner! A bulletin will be published to all Principals at the end of August with the link to register school gardens. Have a question about developing a new garden, or maintaining an existing one? Check out the updated
School Garden Development Guide! Still have questions? Contact School-Based Wellness Coordinator, Jeannine Rizzo:
Jeannine.rizzo@palmbeachschools.org.
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District Environmental Restoration Project
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Environmental & Conservation Services (ECS) is in the final phase of a unique 3-year restoration project to revive a degraded Florida pine-flatwoods habitat at Pierce Hammock Elementary School. This upland habitat is now the 9th site in the District to become a designated preserve area.
ECS is partnering with Palm Beach County's Department of Environmental Resources Management (ERM) to remove exotic and invasive species and plant Florida natives in order to restore the area's natural habitat.
The new preserve will also serve as a donor site through ERM's mitigation program. This means
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that construction activities that have occurred elsewhere in the county are able to credit their tree canopy loss by replanting native plants and trees on District property.
Schools with preserves are encouraged to use them as outdoor learning environments. To learn about the District's other wetland and upland preserves located on school properties, visit:
www.palmbeachschools.org/ecs/wetlands.
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Resource Depot's Great Green Clean Out
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At the end of last school year, nine District schools partnered with Resource Depot to donate gently used classroom items that might have otherwise ended up in the trash. Thank you to the schools listed below for collecting
9,539 pounds of donated materials!
- Pine Jog Elementary
- Timber Trace Elementary
- Palmetto Elementary
- Calusa Elementary
- Indian Pines Elementary
- Jupiter Middle
- Boca Raton High
- Equestrian Trails Elementary
- Acreage Pines Elementary
Resource Depot
believes that we can all become more conscious of what we throw away and the potential left in our waste. Their goal is to give reusable materials a second life through creative reuse projects, educational programs and a marketplace that is open to the public. For more information about how your school can partner with Resource Depot, please email Chelsea Odum at:
education@resourcedepot.net.
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FREE Educational Programs at Solid Waste Authority
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Mark your calendar! The Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach County (SWA) will begin scheduling field trip experiences on September 4th for the 2017-2018 school year. SWA field trips help students to gain an understanding of the importance of reducing waste. Or, let SWA come to you! Classroom lessons for K-12 can also be scheduled beginning September 4th.
Click HERE to learn more about SWA's educational programs.
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Opportunities for Grants and Awards
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Deadline: Open until 40 applications are received
Deadline: September 30th, 2017
Deadline: September 30th, 2017
Deadline: October 1st, 2017
Deadline: October 1st, 2017
Recycle Bowl: K-12 School Recycling Competition
Register by: October 13th, 2017
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