King County Green Schools Program honors 11 Issaquah School District schools

A total of 77 schools in King County, including 11 schools in the Issaquah School District, completed a program level this spring. The three-level Green Schools Program provides hands-on assistance, recycling containers and signs, and website tools. In addition to the Green Schools Program, King County provides an elementary school assembly program, classroom workshops and support for student green teams.
 
“The Issaquah School District and green teams at each participating school have established a strong culture of conservation,” said Dale Alekel, program manager of the Green Schools Program. “Each school involved its whole school community in learning about the environment and expanding conservation practices.”  Alekel said many participating schools and districts report cuts in operating expenses after maintaining successful waste reduction and recycling programs and reducing energy and water use.

Seven schools in the Issaquah School District completed Level One, which is focused on waste reduction and recycling. Two schools completed Level Two, which is focused on energy conservation, and two schools completed Level Three, which is focused on water conservation. Levels two and three also include maintaining and building upon Level One waste reduction and recycling practices.

The City of Issaquah partnered with King County Green Schools to provide schools with assistance to start food scrap collection.  The City also worked closely with Issaquah Valley Elementary School to pilot eco-leaders, an environmental initiative for fifth grade students. “We are so proud of the efforts of our young citizens to demonstrate resource conservation,” said Ava Frisinger, mayor of the City of Issaquah. “The fifth graders led the school in reducing their lunchroom garbage and they are leaders as Issaquah Environmental Stewards. Fantastic!”

“Thanks to support from King County Green Schools and City of Issaquah, the students and staff at these 11 schools understand why conservation is important and are doing a great job conserving natural resources and dollars,” said John Macartney, Issaquah School District’s resource conservation manager.

Schools that completed Level One are Apollo Elementary School, Cougar Ridge Elementary School, Issaquah High School, Issaquah Valley Elementary School, Pacific Cascade Middle School, Sunny Hills Elementary School, and Sunset Elementary School.

Schools that completed Level Two are Creekside Elementary School and Newcastle Elementary School. Schools that completed Level Three are Issaquah Middle School and Liberty High School.

Newcastle Elementary School’s Level Two efforts included teachers and students working together to post reminders throughout the school about turning off lights, computers, monitors and projectors when not needed.

Students in Newcastle’s after-school program check to ensure that computers and monitors are shut off before the weekend. Staff check that blinds and windows are closed over the weekends and that thermostats are set as low as possible. Energy conservation tips are shared with students and families through classroom newsletters, school newsletters and weekly announcements in the school cafeteria.

Level Three activities at Issaquah Middle School included a workshop for seventh grade science students sponsored by Cascade Water Alliance in which students learned the location of the school in the watershed, where the school’s drinking water comes from and where it ends up after it goes down the drain.

Seventh grade students also measured the flow of faucets in humanities and science classrooms before and after they were refitted with high-efficiency faucet aerators. With support from King County Solid Waste Division and Cedar Grove Composting, the green team constructed and planted an organic garden for which Cascade Water Alliance donated a water-conserving irrigation system.

The green team at Issaquah Middle School tested water at Issaquah Creek, designed and hung posters about water conservation, and broadcast weekly water conservation tips. All students and staff brought reusable water bottles to school on Water Conservation Day, as part of April Earth Week activities.

To learn more about district and school achievements, go to our web page at http://your.kingcounty.gov/solidwaste/greenschools/participants.asp.

For more information about the King County Green Schools Program, visit www.kingcounty.gov/GreenSchools or contact Alekel at dale.alekel@kingcounty.gov.

Related information

King County Green Schools

King County Solid Waste