King County honors local school Earth Heroes

Environmental stewards honored for efforts at April 30 awards ceremony

A school librarian, a P.E. teacher, a principal and a parent volunteer are among those who will be honored as Earth Heroes at School later this month by King County.

The Earth Heroes at School program recognizes outstanding achievement in recycling, energy and resource conservation, plus other projects at their school or beyond to protect our environment.

This year, six teachers, two students, a librarian, a principal, a teacher-custodian team are being recognized, a former King County Council member, plus one parent, five school programs for projects that range from a student-run espresso stand founded on sustainable principles, to comprehensive recycling programs that reduce garbage costs.

“Winners represent all facets of the school community, yet they share something very important in common: A dedication to conservation and to education,” said King County Executive Ron Sims. “Their stewardship achievements deserve our recognition and our thanks.”

Councilmember Dow Constantine will present certificates of achievement at an event to honor the Earth Heroes on April 30 at 4:30 p.m. at the Maplewood Greens Golf Course Banquet Room, 4050 Maple Valley Hwy., Renton.

Many of the winners also participate in the King County Green Schools Program and have made commitments as individual schools or as part of their school district to take specific actions to conserve natural resources and reduce waste.

For more information about the Earth Heroes at School Program, contact Donna Miscolta at donna.miscolta@kingcounty.gov or 206-296-4477.

This year’s winners are:

Teachers

Sherry Edwards, North Hill Elementary School, Des Moines
Edwards led North Hill’s effort to become a King County Green School, and was essential to the launching of the school’s lunchroom recycling program. She coordinated participation of students, PTSA, school and district staff to conduct classroom waste audits, distribute recycling bin and signs, and to use worm bins to compost lunch scraps. She also obtained a grant to purchase T-shirts for teachers to wear each Monday in support of the school’s green efforts.

Heather Mirczak, Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart, Bellevue
Mirczak, a physical education teacher, has dedicated a great deal of time and energy to starting a composting and recycling program. She formed a student group to promote the program, including discouraging the use of disposable bags in favor of reusable bags, and setting up paper reuse stations by printers. Through her efforts, the school has reduced its garbage output by at least two cubic yards per week.

Linda Reiter, Black Diamond Elementary School, Black Diamond
Reiter has been with the Green Team program since its inception in 1993. She has worked continuously with her Green Team students to oversee the school’s recycling program, and has accomplished many other environmental achievements, including setting up worm bins for composting lunch scraps, stenciling storm drains with “no dump’ messages, improving water quality by planting trees to make shade along streams, and promoting education through bulletin boards, posters, assemblies and a book of environmental poems.

Wendy Shol, Bennett Elementary and Sherwood Elementary School, Bellevue
Shol, a Green Team leader since 1993, has helped students with environmental projects at schools in Kent and Bellevue, including butterfly gardens, worm bin composting, recycling programs and water conservation. While at Crestwood Elementary in Kent she founded the Defenders of the Planet Club, which led the successful effort to designate the green darner dragonfly as the Washington state insect. She and her “Eco-Kids” are busy with the Nike Reuse-A-Shoe Program and a Puget Sound “save the whales” project.

John Speiss, Twin Falls Middle School, North Bend
Speiss leads his students in both the Cool School Challenge and the King County Green Schools Program, as they put into practice waste reduction and recycling strategies, improve water and energy conservation, and lower greenhouse gas emissions. He worked closely with custodian Betty Hamilton and with the PTA to ensure an efficient and properly equipped recycling program. He guides the environmental club in educating others about conservation actions through no-print days, waste-free lunch days, and “green tips of the week” for the parent newsletter.

Kristen Wobker, Benjamin Franklin Elementary School, Kirkland
As the leader of the school’s Green Team, Wobker has implemented a variety of programs to encourage reducing, reusing, recycling and rethinking waste among staff and students. Each month there is a focus on one of the four Rs, and Wobker guides her Green Team in creating posters, writing an article for the PTA newsletter and sharing information on the school news broadcast. Students assume leadership roles as they involve parents and community members in actions such as waste-free lunches and a campaign to encourage reuse of shopping bags at the local grocery store.

Students

Cora Byers and Audrey Phillips, Leota Junior High School, Woodinville
These students organized an environmental club and initiated their school’s participation in the Cool Schools Challenge, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and in the King County Green Schools Program, to recycle and conserve natural resources. They led the club in creating a Green Spirit Week, which highlighted a different environmental issue each day, and established a Green Bulletin with information for students on conservation practices. The duo is also creating a recycling center for batteries, cell phones and printer cartridges.

Staff

Meg Handy, Fall City Elementary School, Fall City
Fall City Elementary has achieved many of its goals as a King County Green School under Handy’s leadership. She has lent her energetic efforts to helping improve a lunchroom recycling program, obtain grant funds for solar panels at the school, start and maintain worm bins for composting food scraps, and restore a school garden. As the school librarian, Meg also supports teachers in their classroom lessons on conservation.

Hank Klein and Michael Getty, Challenger Elementary School, Issaquah
Teacher Hank Klein and custodian Michael Getty have established a recycling station in the cafeteria that resulted in a 50 percent reduction in garbage and a 60 percent increase in recycling. Hank formed a student group, Waste Watchers, to monitor the recycling program and promote proper recycling practices to other students. The pair has helped foster a sense of stewardship for the environment and the community.

Pete Misner, Arrowhead Elementary School, Kenmore
Principal Misner was instrumental in bringing the King County Green Schools Program to Arrowhead Elementary. Some of the changes he has helped to bring about include eliminating all Styrofoam lunch trays, placing recycling bins in classrooms and offices, switching from paper to e-mail newsletters, and holding a school-wide clean-up event. Misner attends every Green Team and ensures that both students and staff are knowledgeable about the school’s recycling system.

Programs/Schools

Eastside Prep Impact Center at Eastside Preparatory School, Kirkland
The Eastside Prep Impact Center for Sustainability was created in 2006 as a place for “conscious, deliberate and constructive” interdisciplinary education and actions that take into consideration human impact on the environment. The program consists of classroom study paired with hands-on practice of sustainable actions, such as habitat restoration, soil renewal and a comprehensive recycling program. Partnerships with local government agencies, the University of Washington and the Cascade Land Conservancy give students access to current research and information and increases their own awareness of and commitment to the environment.

The Evergreen School – Intermediate Section, Shoreline
Each year, the fourth- and fifth-graders at The Evergreen School assume the leadership for advancing awareness of conservation practices and personal responsibility to the earth and its resources. Students are organized into stewardship groups responsible for daily jobs, such as worm bin maintenance; collecting, sorting and weighing waste and recyclables; and cleaning the school grounds and interior common spaces. Students also engage in a six-week research project on a conservation theme which culminates in a teaching presentation to the primary students at a conservation carnival.

The Hot Spot at Global Connections High School, SeaTac
This student-run espresso stand, a campus enterprise for the past 12 years, recently changed its business focus to include sustainability. Students researched, identified and selected products, vendors and practices founded on sustainable principles. Over the past year, The Hot Spot has served more than 200 pounds of organic, fair-traded, shade grown coffee and tea, kept more than 3,000 petroleum based cups out of the landfill, and kept the shop clean with safe alternatives to chemical products. Signage, promotional pieces and student salespeople inform every customer of The Hot Spot’s sustainability mission.

Issaquah Middle School , Issaquah
The recycling program at Issaquah Middle School owes its success not to just one or two people, but to dozens of committed staff and students that fine-tuned an existing program in 2006, enhanced it in 2007 and expanded it once again in 2008. The result has been a 66 percent reduction in garbage and a 60 percent increase in recycling, all of which translates to a savings of 42 percent in collection costs. Staff and students developed educational events and materials to promote participation in the program, while the custodial team, principal and assistant principal provided valuable support.

Islander Middle School, Mercer Island
The school’s Gators Go Green environmental club, spearheaded by parent volunteer Kenlyn Emerson, launched a lunchroom waste reduction and recycling program with assistance from the King County Green Schools Program and the invaluable support of head custodian Roger Curtis. Emerson’s involvement also included writing a grant to defray the cost of purchasing durable trays, guiding students in creating an education campaign, and organizing Gators Go Green students to share their expertise with the nearby elementary school. The enthusiasm and hard work of Emerson, the Gators Go Green and the custodial staff have helped the conservation efforts to flourish at the school.

Sustainability Team at Skyview Junior High School, Bothell
Skyview Junior High staff and students have embedded environmental education and actions in the fabric of their school. They developed a recycling and waste monitoring project, which in the past year has increased their recycling rate from 10 percent to 50 percent. Staff developed family sustainability surveys and action plans that highlight the importance of balancing needs with wants. Other accomplishments include a rigorous hazardous waste reduction program and a successful student-led effort to encourage McLendon’s Hardware to accept fluorescent light bulbs for recycling.

Special Award

Bruce Laing, former King County Councilmember
Receiving special recognition this year is Bruce Laing, who served on the King County Council from 1979 to 1995, employing his experience as a professional planner and his personal leadership to develop consensus on growth management, public transit and land use planning in the King County region. During his tenure on the council he also served on the Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority Board (now Sound Transit), on the Executive Board of the Puget Sound Regional Council, and on the Council of the Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle. In 1988, Councilmember Laing foresaw the threats of climate change and joined with fellow Councilmember Ron Sims to propose an “office of global warming.” His legacy continues to this day as a backbone of King County’s work on climate change, social justice, economic development and more.

Related information

Environmental grants and awards

Environmental resources for teachers and students

Earth Heroes at School

King County Solid Waste Division