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Elementary Class Brings Title of America’s Greenest School to Massachusetts
Last March, a student in Sarah Roberts’
South Shore Public Charter School multi- age class brought in a parenting magazine that mentioned a “green” contest by school bus manufacturer IC Bus. Te class had already been working on several proj- ects to help green the school located in Norwell, Mass., so it seemed like some- thing everyone could get behind. Te class of third and fourth graders had already started a project called “Waste Watchers” that they had received a grant to start. “Our mission was to decrease the amount
of waste in our school,” said Roberts. Te class was
divided into different
teams, with one focused on decreasing fuel usage, which led to increases in carpool- ing and more students riding the school bus. Roberts saw the America’s Greenest School contest as a great way to show ev- eryone what the class had accomplished. For their entry, the students created a mock news broadcast to showcase what the different “green teams” had accom- plished, including recycling stations, a composting area and the veggie van that runs on vegetable oil donated from local restaurants. When it came time to award the class, IC Bus made sure a real local TV news broadcaster was on hand to present it along with a representative from IC Bus. “Tey were thrilled,” said Dena Leuchter,
(877) 284-5400 . www.
tietechinc.com . LEADING THE WAY IN SAFETY PRODUCTS
marketing communications manager for IC Bus. “We announced the winner on live TV, and FOX 25 Boston captured it all on video. Ms. Roberts and her classes were very excited to hear that America’s votes chose them as America’s Greenest School and that they won an IC Bus plug-in hy- brid school bus.” Te class had been talking to the executive
school’s . director about all
the efforts they had made to green the school. Tey soon found out that they received the majority of the almost one million votes cast online at
www.ameri-
casgreenestschool.com. “I had to hold
20 School Transportation News Magazine June 2010 .
back tears. Te kids were cheering and so excited,” said Roberts, who also talked about the ice cream party given to the class in the weeks previous after they were nominated as a finalist. “Te school’s prin- cipal wanted to recognize how special it was just to be a finalist.” IC Bus was expected to also reveal the win-
ner of Canada’s Greenest School near the end of May. Te company decided to create a Ca- nadian version of the competition because it knew the nation’s school children were just as passionate about the environment. “Both American and Canadian school
children have demonstrated a commitment to making their educational experience more eco-friendly, and it starts with riding the bus to school,” said Leuchter. “To see so many students take an active role in these programs is very encouraging. We’re proud of the hard work these students, as well as teachers and parents, are doing on behalf of improving the environment.” For now, Roberts and her third and
fourth graders will do anything but sit on their laurels. “We’re really excited to not feel the
pressure of the label of America’s Greenest School but to use it as motivation to con- tinue what we’ve been doing and to really learn our school skills while also helping the environment,” added Roberts. ■
Teacher Sarah Roberts, Assistant Teacher Bill Tramontana and the winners of this year’s America’s Green School in front of their veggie van.
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