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Success Story: North Bend Elementary School
School District: Snoqualmie Valley
School Location: Snoqualmie
Began participating in the Green Schools Program: September 2008
Level one of the Green Schools Program: Achieved in June 2009
Waste Reduction and Recycling
- North Bend Elementary increased its recycling rate from 30 percent to 45 percent.
- The Green Schools team at North Bend worked hard to teach students about recycling, including how to recycle milk cartons. Students educated their peers about why recycling is important.
- Recycling containers provided by the Green Schools Program were added to the lunchroom for milk cartons, juice boxes, plastic bottles and aluminum cans and to classrooms for mixed recycling.
- School staff placed recycling stickers on classroom and lunchroom recycling containers. Provided by the Green Schools Program, the stickers list what can and cannot be recycled.
- North Bend Elementary has a number of student teams working throughout the school on environmental projects from gardening to litter pick up to recycling education. Principal Jim Frazier strongly supports conservation projects.
- The school implemented a Waste Free Wednesday campaign to encourage students to bring durable and recyclable lunches from home. To share ideas for going “waste free” and to encourage participation, students created skits and presented them in each classroom.
- Involved parents are also a key to North Bend Elementary’s successes in waste reduction and recycling. Parents write articles for the parent newsletter and often serve as monitors in the lunchroom.
Environmental Education
- An increasing number of North Bend Elementary teachers are including environmental education into their curricula. Specifically, teachers are finding connections to environmental stewardship in their “Structures of Life” unit that focuses on systems and the interconnectedness of all things.
- Students conducted experiments outside by digging compost holes and then testing and analyzing the decomposition rates of materials. This activity helped students to see how their choices affect the environment.
- The Groovin Green Team Club uses afternoon recess to conduct litter pick-ups and educate others about keeping the planet clean and healthy.
North Bend Elementary’s plans for 2009-10 include the following:
- Working with the district to eliminate disposable plastic silverware, clam shells and polystyrene bowls
- Continuing Waste Free Wednesday campaigns
- Starting to compost food scraps in the lunchroom
- Reducing energy use
For more information about the school’s conservation achievements and participation in the Green Schools Program, contact:
Meredith Von Trapp, teacher
vontrappm@svsd410.or
Jim Frazier, principal
frazierj@svsd410.org
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