Published: February 14, 2008 09:19 am      

Turning the school green

Fairview, others take stab at conservation

WESTWOOD — Fairview eighth-graders have been poking their noses into every corner of their campus, asking questions about energy usage, recycling, safety and health. Then they’re developing plans to use less energy, do more recycling and improve safety and health.

It’s all part of Kentucky Green & Healthy Schools, a new program to promote conservation and healthy lives.

Fairview is one of three schools in the region involved; the other two are Fallsburg Elementary in Lawrence County and Lakeside Elementary in Elliott County.

The goal is to get students, teachers, administrators and, hopefully, the rest of the community working together, said eighth-grade science teacher Alysa Miller.

To make it work, the students take inventories in nine areas, such as energy usage, indoor air quality, solid waste management and green spaces.

For instance, after nosing around for information about how waste is handled at Fairview, the students filled out a four-page questionnaire that serves as a snapshot of what happens to waste at Fairview.

Then they put their heads together to develop ways to reduce, reuse, recycle and otherwise make waste handling more efficient and environment-friendly.

They’ll put together a detailed plan, complete with mechanisms for measuring how well it works.

Students Heather Williams and Ashlen Rogers came up with one idea to switch from disposable foam trays in the lunchroom to reusable ones. “If we got plastic ones, we could reuse them,” Rogers said.

The inventories make the plans possible, Williams said. “We use them to get to know things about our school we didn’t know before.”

Aside from its altruistic aims, the project has a strong academic component, Miller said.

The science they’re learning dovetails with core content so she can use the project during lessons about ecosystems, water and air quality, energy transfer and more.

The school potentially can reap fringe benefits in efficiency and energy savings. And the students like that.

“This makes our school better if we don’t waste so much,” said Tim Jackson. “And we’ll build better habits in the future.”

And saving money on energy could free up funds for books and other supplies, said Tanner Rymer.

The project has benefits outside school, said Carli Holbrook. “We can help save the community.”

In fact, engaging the community is an integral facet of the program, Miller said. When students are infected with enthusiasm, they spread it to their families.

And from there it keeps going.

Schools in the program are required to complete one improvement project per inventory. If they complete all nine, they become eligible to be a model school and mentor other schools and the community.

MIKE JAMES can be reached at mjames@dailyindependent.com or at (606) 326-2652.