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Schools

Berkshire Elementary Hub of Local Eco-Activity

Treemendous Trees of Maryland program and the Growing Home Campaign helped the school with discount trees for its planting program.

Schools are always important hubs within a community. They serve as centers of education for our children, but often schools also serve as a home base for recreation activities, community meetings and weekend leisure.

At Berkshire Elementary, the school serves as a focal point for environmental awareness and protection as well.

Berkshire first achieved Maryland Green School certification in 2006. A committee of five teachers took on the task of organizing environmental activities and compiling the necessary documentation to complete the green school application.

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Supporting the committee was an Eco-Club, made up of more than 50 students from third and fifth grade and an administration that was eager to provide support. For Sue Grevey, a kindergarten teacher at Berkshire, this was one of the keys to green success.

“If you have the support of the administration, it allows you to do a lot of things around the school,” Grevey said.

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One of the biggest things that students, parents and teachers from Berkshire did around the school was a massive tree-planting campaign. Trees were planted near the banks of Bread and Cheese Creek, providing a buffer zone for the waterway that snakes through the neighborhoods that feed into Berkshire Elementary.

Trees were also placed on a hill on the school’s campus. As the roots of these trees develop, they will provide a powerful, natural remedy for erosion problems.

The school was able to obtain many trees through discount programs such as the Treemendous Trees of Maryland program and the Growing Home Campaign. Without such programs, Grevey wasn’t sure the program would have been so successful.

“A lot of trees were donated at a very discounted price, which helped out a lot,” Grevey said.

In addition to tree planting, the committee from Berkshire worked to increase recycling within the school. In addition to collecting more traditional recyclables such as bottles, cans and paper, students and teachers also help with the collection of ink cartridges, juice pouches and even glue sticks.

To help make students more aware of their individual and collective impact on the environment, the school posted signage near sinks to promote water conservation, near light switches to promote energy conservation, and throughout the school to promote general environmental awareness.

Students and teachers also created a garden on campus, which students work to maintain. The garden is made up of all native plants.

For Grevey, one of the best parts of the Maryland Green School certification process is the impact it has had on the way students think.

“Seeing the way the kids react to it was the most rewarding,” Grevey said.  “There are certain kids that have pride in seeing this done at their school and being involved in it. Seeing the fruits of their work is very rewarding for the students.”

Berkshire Elementary achieved recertification in 2010. The second time around, the documentation process was handled in a way that minimized the amount of paper used.

“This time we did it totally electronically,” Grevey said. “Luckily we had some teachers that were tech savvy.”

As Berkshire Elementary looks toward the future, the committee continues to look for ways to improve not only the school campus, but also the community it serves. Grevey said the school would be entering into a partnership with the Back River Restoration Committee.

Additional activities will continue to focus on keeping Bread and Cheese Creek clean. There are plans for more tree plantings and a storm drain marking campaign as well.

With everything that Berkshire Elementary has already accomplished and plans to do going forward, the school is becoming a hub for environmental awareness and action. That is something not only for the students, parents and teachers to be proud of—but the whole community as well.

The Maryland Green School Awards Program is a unique approach to environmental learning that rewards schools for teaching about environmental issues while incorporating opportunities for professional development, community stewardship, and implementation of environmental best practices.

The program is administered by the Maryland Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education (MAEOE). Schools applying for Maryland Green School certification are required to document environmental activities over a two-year period. Currently, Dundalk is home to seven certified Maryland Green Schools.

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