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Success Story: Tahoma Junior High School
School District: Tahoma
School Location: Ravensdale
Began participating in the Green Schools Program: February 2008
Level One of the Green Schools Program: Achieved in March 2010
Level Two of the Green Schools Program: Achieved in May 2010
Level Three of the Green Schools Program: Achieved in May 2011
Waste Reduction and Recycling
- Tahoma Junior High increased its recycling rate from 18 percent to 57 percent.
- To achieve this rate, the school improved classroom recycling, initiated lunchroom can, bottle, and milk carton recycling and began to recycle compostable trays, food scraps and food-soiled paper.
- To change school culture and attitudes about recycling, the student green team has planned and held Earth Week events each year since 2008. Events have included a poster contest, garbage sorting games, and a raffle for Earth friendly tee-shirts. To enter the raffle students had to pledge to recycle as much as possible. These pledges were then posted in the school entrance.
- To promote recycling and composting, students created a video that was shown in all school classrooms.
- Each fall staff has been educated about waste reduction and recycling with a recycling presentation.
- As the lunchroom program got started, staff and parent volunteers helped the student body to properly sort garbage and recyclable materials.
- Recycling containers were added to the lunchroom for milk cartons, juice boxes, plastic bottles and aluminum cans. Stickers listing what can and can’t be recycled were placed on recycling containers throughout the school.
- In 2010-2011 the green team also worked on implementing a “Waste Free” lunch once a month. They created two different videos to promote the event.
- Students were encouraged to use reusable lunch boxes, containers and water bottles by being given a ticket on Waste Free Lunch days if they were “caught” using these items. The ticket was an entry into a drawing for a reusable water bottle.
- Green team students also introduced a “food table” in the lunch room to encourage students to leave unopened packaged foods for others to eat, rather than throwing them away. They created a video to show the school for this project.
- Green team students teamed with drama students to create a video on proper disposal of recyclables, garbage and food waste.
Energy Conservation
- Tahoma Junior High tracked its energy use and costs through a district-provided consultant.
- All staff members were asked to restrict the use of personal heaters, refrigerators and other appliances in offices and classrooms.
- Incandescent bulbs were replaced by Energy Star-rated fluorescent bulbs throughout the school.
- Signs were posted on light switches to encourage staff and students to turn off lights in unoccupied spaces
- Students studied energy use choices in science class and weighed the pros and cons of various energy sources.
- A group of four green team students conducted a monthly energy audit of each classroom and educated staff on ways to reduce energy use.
- Green team students shared energy conservation facts during weekly announcements to encourage staff and students to conserve energy.
- Students shared educational power points at lunch and during tutorial during Earth Week in April and they promoted and encouraged participation in Earth Hour in March.
Water Conservation
- To educate students and staff about water conservation, facts were read each month over the intercom.
- To change school culture and attitudes about water conservation issues, the student green team planned and held Earth Week events in April, with one day devoted to water conservation. Students signed a pledge to select three ways they would conserve water at home. Students also participated in games to answer questions about ways to conserve water.
- Students in Washington State History learned about the importance of water as a resource through their unit “Sounding off on the Puget Sound.” The curriculum included a field trip to Seattle Aquarium, while listening to a guest speaker talk about water conservation pollution while on the ferry.
- In the fall of 2010, students in Washington State History helped plant two rain gardens in the front of the school.
- Students learned about water conservation methods via class visits to the garden to view the educational signs and hear a lecture about how the garden works.
- In ninth grade science class, students completed an in-depth study of the Cedar River Watershed including two field trips to the Cedar River to examine water quality via the sampling of macro-invertebrates and to study water chemistry.
- Tahoma Junior High tracked its water use and costs through a district-provided consultant.
- All staff members were asked to conserve water in their classrooms and to report any leaks to maintenance.
Environmental Education
- Environmental topics were integrated into the school curriculum.
- History students completed a unit on Puget Sound that explored water conservation, Puget Sound stakeholders, and the relationship between energy use choices and environmental impacts.
- Eighth grade science students designed a biosphere that must support three to four people. Considerations include the needs of people, plants and animals and the impacts of each on the environment.
- Ninth grade students studied watershed dynamics and the interaction between personal choices and watershed health.
- The student green team club planned a 2010 Earth Week event that included the topics of energy, water, classroom and lunchroom recycling, and composting.
- The winning logo design from a school-wide recycling competition was printed on tee-shirts that students and staff could purchase.
- School principal Rob Morrow encouraged his staff to practice conservation through staff meeting presentations on conservation topics and reminders about conservation.
For more information about the school’s conservation achievements and participation in the Green Schools Program, contact:
Kim McHenry, teacher
kmchenry@tahomasd.us
Rob Morrow, principal
rmorrow@tahomasd.us
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