School Stories

Written by St. Mary’s students Hamida Valji and Eurkres Ayi based on interviews with Nicco Royce, Julia Welch, Marshall Welch, Richard Carp, Steve Woolpert, Scott Logan, and Matt Carroll.     While this story is about a college campus, many of the steps undertaken by the college staff and students are applicable to elementary, middle, [...]

Written by St. Mary’s students Hamida Valji and Eurkres Ayi based on interviewing Julia Welch Challenge: Back in 2007 and 2008, Julia Welch of St. Mary’s College saw a lot of interest in sustainability, food and gardening at the school, but no special space on campus geared to learning about these areas. She thought it [...]

Written by Michael Dawson (mdawson@gmail.com) Lisa Evaristo won a Green Award from the City of Lafayette in 2010 for her work with Burton Valley Elementary lunch program and her reduction of the school’s waste. Since that time, Lisa has continued to find new, and sometimes unconventional ways, of bringing the school’s lunch waste closer to [...]

Written by Nanette Heffernan (nanette@heffernanmail.com) with additions by Heidi Plumb. Challenge Tired of seeing all of the disposable baggies, uneaten food, and hot lunch containers hauled to the dumpsters everyday, the Springhill Green Team, a small but growing band of parents and teachers, set a lofty goal of achieving a zero waste lunch on campus.  [...]

Submitted By: Megan Pease (Summer Intern). Story based on interview with Lisa Evaristo (mareale@pacbell.net) Challenge Lisa Evaristo, a mother of three, began working with the Burton Valley hot lunch program ten years ago, motivated by her two passions, kids and food. For the past five years Lisa has been the head of the program, working [...]

Submitted by Barbara Williams (BMaurer999@aol.com) Second grader, Michael Williams ponders this question: “but I’m just a kid . . . what can one kid do to make a difference?” After serious consideration, he comes up with some ideas. Turn off the lights when you leave the room Remind your parents, when they forget their canvas [...]

Submitted By: Kim Curiel (kimcuriel@yahoo.com) – Garden Instructional Specialist Challenge How to begin teaching our kids about basic sustainability concepts in elementary school, to begin preparing their generation for maintaining a sustainable relationship with the environment. Solution Details At Burton Valley Elementary School we have created a Garden Classroom where all 700 children at the [...]

Submitted By: Kevin Feinstein (permacultureme@yahoo.com) – Garden Manager at Merriewood Children’s Center. Challenge 1) How to provide opportunities for children to engage and feel connected to the natural world. 2) How to discover and utilize local foods. There is an amazing amount of food growing right in our own yards and in open spaces that [...]

Submitted By: (choward@acalanes.k12.ca.us) & Janet Thomas (thomas@silcon.com) Challenge With over 1300 students and over 60 teachers, Acalanes High School is like a small city and produces a tremendous amount of waste on a daily basis. The challenge is how to recycle as much as possible. Solution Details For the third year in a row, Acalanes [...]

Submitted By: Janet Thomas (thomas@silcon.com) Challenge How to educate and inspire the next generation so that they are even better equipped to deal with a growing array of environmental and climate challenges. Solution Details At Acalanes High School, Jada Nys teaches about sustainability daily in her Environmental Science classes. This is a course that has been [...]

Submitted By: John Kiefer (“Papa John”) Challenge In the age of cable TV, computers, video games, iPods, and texting, how do we get kids excited about the natural world that surrounds us in Lafayette? This has become more challenging, but is essential if we want them to care about protecting the environment and become good [...]

Written by Sustainable Lafayette, based on interviews with Fred Brill (Superintendent), Stephanie Teichman (School Board), and Bruce Wodhams (Principal of Springhill Elementary). Challenge Back in February 2007, a couple of Springhill parents (including Leon Lee) had the simple urge to “leave some sort of legacy”. They thought that figuring out how to get solar panels [...]