Franklin Sherman Elementary sixth-grader Alex Verina enjoys the outdoor classroom the school recently built.
“We have more hours outside to improve our learning and thinking,” said Alex.
Franklin Sherman students now spend about 60 minutes learning outside each week and Alex gives a first-hand account of National Wildlife Federation research. “Students who are given the opportunity to directly engage in outdoor education and experiential learning have been able to significantly increase their capacity for learning,” according to the National Wildlife Federation, which honored the school.
Franklin Sherman, in McLean, earned the Eco-Schools USA Green Flag Award for its environmental efforts and initiatives.
“We’ve been working towards this award for several years,” said principal Kathleen Quigley. “The process to earn the award is quite rigorous.”
“This is a great honor for our school and for our students,” said assistant principal Josh DeSmyter. “They take pride in what they are doing.”
STUDENTS RUN the Panda Paw Recycling station with numerous containers to separate different types of materials for recycling.
Their efforts have reduced the amount of trash it generates by 1,746.9 pounds.
“It’s all student-driven and it’s embedded in our school culture,” said DeSmyter. “They implemented a recycling station in our cafeteria at first. … Now it is habit and they hold each other accountable.”
All students participate in the green team.
“It’s important to us to develop their leadership capacity,” said Quigley.
Teachers Sara Dubnoff and Jamie Leitch say they get invigorated by witnessing the excitement of their students in their environmental conservation efforts.
The school has reduced the electricity use by 29,188 kilowatts.
“That’s enough energy to power 82 42-inch plasma TVs for a whole year,” said Quigley.
Students hold each other, and teachers, accountable for turning off classroom lights when they leave a room.
“It’s really cool to find out our school is one of the schools in the country that has reduced use of electricity and is helping our environment,” said Carly Fleming, a fifth grader
“A major goal of our green team is to develop our students into global citizens and to really develop their awareness of becoming stewards of their environments,” Quigley said. “And so the effort of our school to become a green school is to really help our children understand why we need to take these efforts and what their impact is when we do something here at school how it impacts the community and in a broader sense their world.”
Ella Rose Farivar, fourth-grader, says they have created raised beds where they plant species of flowers and vegetables and learn directly from the environment.
THE SCHOOL plans to have an indoor garden next year.
Students at the school pledge to continue their efforts.
They have a goal of becoming an ECO USA Gold School in the years ahead.
“We’re pushing the envelope,” said Alex.