​SAVE THE PLANET

Summary

At Forest Ridge our school is representative of a Maryland Green School because our goal is to make environmental awareness and activism a way of life for both students and staff, and to carry that message out into the community. It is evident in the formation of the fourth and fifth-grade Green Team Ambassadors who learn about specific topics in environmental protection and sustainability and then prepare presentations, which they deliver to each grade level. It is evident in the staff members who engage in professional development that will help to enrich their instruction. It is evident in the classrooms where teachers are using the environment as a context in which to teach the curriculum. It is evident in the number of organizations and businesses with which we have partnered to assist us in implementing and enhancing our best management practices.

Teachers at every grade level bring environmental instruction into the classroom and the classroom out into the environment. For example, kindergarten utilized the STEM format to have the students use items that would have been thrown in the trash, such as cereal boxes, cans, and cardboard tubes, to create gingerbread men traps. Fourth grade had a field trip to a local organic farm to learn about sustainability and farming practices that are gentle to the Earth. The art teacher had students create a film that used time-lapse photography to demonstrate the amount of trash that is thrown away every day by the cafeteria.

Professional development took several forms, from a whole-staff presentation by Pat Hershey from Less Plastics Please to Green Team members learning about other schools’ Green School efforts. It was always with a focus of how do we improve environmental instruction or how do we take the next step in waste reduction, habitat restoration, or energy and water conservation.

Continuation of the Green School Initiative has allowed us to not only continue activities that were implemented several years ago during the initial application period but build upon those efforts with the cooperation of several partners. Trees were obtained through Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources to plant in an effort to control erosion. A rain garden was installed utilizing the READY program to filter drainage. Our students and staff partner to maintain that rain garden. The new recycling programs were initiated by the PTA, just to name a few. Our partners were tremendous assets in helping to transform classroom instruction into something palpable.

We were overwhelmed with the efforts of our students this year. Although we were all virtual, our Green Team students didn’t miss a beat and continued to lead FRES in numerous activities this year including a community cleanup, a coloring page contest, a staff presentation, newsletter items, and an outdoor classroom day. We are so proud of our students. 

All of Forest Ridge’s efforts in instruction, professional development, and best management practices have raised awareness that it is not only important but also critical that the preservation and protection of our world starts at the individual and community level by means of instruction and example. We hope to build on this so that we can continue to make a difference in not only the Forest Ridge community but also in the students who will carry the message of environmental awareness and protection into the future.