Reflections on Earth Day: It Takes a Village
It takes more than just teachers to educate our students. Certainly one great teacher can change a life forever, but more often it takes a village. It also takes an ongoing commitment. That’s what’s unique about Project Learning Tree’s GreenSchools! program, and that’s what, despite the apparent skepticism from media and bloggers about whether Earth Day has outlived its usefulness, we were proud to celebrate a model PLT GreenSchool! on Earth Day last Friday.
GreenSchools! is a partnership between the American Forest Foundation’s Project Learning Tree program and the U.S. Forest Service. It provides leadership opportunities for students to conduct a series of investigations and then take action to reduce their school’s environmental footprint. It engages students, teachers, school administrators, maintenance staff, parents and community members in creating a more green and healthy learning environment.
Friday’s event at a District of Columbia elementary school was a shining example of how this public and private partnership currently engaging 800 schools nationwide and involving whole communities, makes a difference in the lives of students.
Despite the rain, 40 people, youth and adults alike, worked side-by-side to build raised-bed gardens, plant vegetables and herbs, and dedicate their school’s new outdoor classroom (recently installed thanks to Home Depot.) The students were officially on spring break, and yet they came back to school especially to get their hands dirty. Even the cold drizzle couldn’t dampen the community’s obvious enthusiasm, and sense of optimism and hope for the future.
That’s why headlines like "Why I'm Not Writing Earth Day Stories on Earth Day" by Todd Woody, the environment editor of Forbes magazine, and other cynicism by the media got us wondering about what’s on the minds of reporters.
After 41 years, what makes a "good" Earth Day story? What makes it worth a reporter’s time to come out on a cold and rainy day with a notepad or even a camera? Why should a reporter – especially a local reporter – care about a bunch of kids digging a garden at an elementary school in Ward 4?
Because it’s not just about Earth Day.
We couldn’t agree more with what Woody’s Forbes article suggests, and as an analysis of other social media and news coverage revealed, the point we should really be making is “Make Every Day Earth Day.”
And that’s just what Project Learning Tree does.
Our celebration was not a flash-in-the pan, one-day event – it wasn’t just for show. For two years now, Barnard Elementary teachers have been receiving ongoing Project Learning Tree professional development in environmental education to teach them the many ways they can get their students outside and active, learning about nature, while also helping them meet D.C. Public Schools learning standards.
The event was just one of several GreenSchools! volunteer community action days...a celebration of a variety of projects the students, teachers, and parents are implementing to green their school. Importantly, these projects are providing real-world, hands-on learning that is exciting and engaging students in all subjects, year in year out. And, it’s giving students a real opportunity to lead.
Fourth grader Toya Tanner, for example, was at the podium introducing Chief Tom Tidwell of the Forest Service. She addressed the crowd of students and adults with poise and passion for her school’s commitment.
“Having partners like AFF and the Forest Service make my work so much easier,” said Barnard Elementary principal Dr. Grace Reid. “They’ve helped us plant trees and gardens, modeled environmental education activities for teachers to use in the outdoors, and trained student-teacher teams to investigate our school’s environmental footprint. My students love doing it all and they feel a sense of pride in what they are doing for their school and their neighborhood.” Students see the positive impact they can have when they work together as a community.
PLT is nearly as old as Earth Day, and we’ll keep on doing what we do every day – providing teachers the tools, training, and resources they need to bring the environment into classrooms, and their students into the environment, with the help of our dedicated partners, like the U.S. Forest Service. After all, it takes a village to raise a child.
As Todd Woody said..."So, Happy Earth Day. Now let’s get back to work."
Photos credit: Vanessa Bullwinkle.
Top: USFS’s Vicki Arthur helps 4th grader Jocelyn Guadardo build a raised-bed garden.
Bottom: 4th grader Toya Tanner presents AFF Trustee Dan Beard with a copy of Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree before introducing Chief Tidwell.
