Bonus checkpoint: Birdhouse habitat!

Recently, a group of South Arbor students tackled a project that satisfies the Environmental Protection category of the Michigan Green School Certification program.

Armed with their library cards and safety goggles, they researched and constructed bluebird houses!

Specifically, eight boys from Scout Pack 495 met at the Ypsilanti District Library one evening and researched birds that are native to our area, what food is available to local birds, and what type of bird houses they prefer.

The boys also considered a spot to eventually mount the birdhouses - near the open field of the schoolyard.  The boys discussed their findings and settled on a bluebird house.

At their next meeting, the boys gathered in one of the parent’s garages and constructed two birdhouses for swallows and blue birds, using wood and power tools.  The boys incorporated some math skills along the way (measuring and adding up the cost of the materials).

They will install them in the schoolyard in the spring of 2013, either on existing fences or on posts that they install themselves, pending principal approval.

Thanks, Scouts, for your contribution to our schoolyard by creating a habitat for birds!

Career Awareness Bonus (jobs related to this post): librarian, carpenter, park ranger

What's this I hear about checkpoints?

The Michigan Green School certification is awarded to schools who complete and show documentation for 10, 15, or 20 checkpoints.  Checkpoints are events, lessons, or programs that have an environmental theme.  The Michigan Green School website outlines specific checkpoints within thematic categories, and also allows for creative projects designed by the school.

So, don't worry, these checkpoints don't involve you getting out of your car and showing appropriate paperwork at the border.  Whew.

These checkpoints are fun, educational, and most importantly, focused on responsible interaction with the natural world.

When this whole green initiative first began at South Arbor, the Green Team brainstormed an impressive list of ideas.  See the presentation first made to the PTO in September, 2012.

May I suggest 10 checkpoints to get us started?
1. Encourage office staff and teachers to be purposeful in creating only double sided documents for printing and copying.
2. Revamp the paper/plastic recycling program and increase awareness about what can and cannot be recycled.
3. Encourage the use of the uniform exchange option.
4. Trash-Free Tuesdays in the lunchroom.  Weigh lunch trash before and after introducing the program.  Get aware!
5. Compost food waste.
6. Present a unit on alternative energy.  (Are any teachers doing this already?)
7. Promote fuel efficiency by discouraging idling in the parking lot, via parent surveys to increase awareness. (Hint: for every 2 minutes of idling, your car uses enough gas to drive 1 mile.)
8. Host an alternative energy presentation or event, such as a Solar Cookout.
9. Plant a themed garden (How about a Butterfly Garden in front of the new building addition?)
10. Implement an animal habitat project (birdhouse, bat house, natural meadow).


Other ideas include:  Upcycling foil wrap based consumables (capri sun), having a school-wide thermostat setting, student-made posters for the hall promoting environmental awareness, reference material visible in the media center, and encourage teachers add links to green sites in their newsletters or on their class websites, planting trees to offset our paper consumption, field trips to landfills or nature preserves, adopting an endangered species, art projects using repurposed items.

The Green Team has recently been able to focus our efforts and identify 10 simple checkpoints.  These specific green efforts are either already underway or easily implemented.  The Green Team is excited to use these checkpoints as a solid starting place and grow in the future to include more visible and comprehensive projects.  As stated in a previous post, it's a process.

Here are the 10 checkpoints for the 2012 - 2013 school year.

1. The school recycles paper. (Mr. Hill oversees this effort.  Thank you, Mr. Hill!)

2. The school has a butterfly garden. (This was completed on Sept 29th, and still needs plant ID labels.  Any volunteers? I have the supplies.)

3.  The school recycles cellular phones. (Student Council is researching security measures and making a collection basket for the Parent Room.)

4. The school recycles batteries. (We just learned that regular batteries are safe to put in the regular trash.  It's the rechargeable batteries that should be recycled.)

5. The school reuses its magazines and newspapers for other projects. (The art classes do this already.  We're looking for other classes to do this also.

6. The school recycles printer cartridges. (The entry fee at the Ann Arbor Recycle Center on Ellsworth and Platt has been waived for South Arbor!  We are looking for a family to take phones, batteries, and ink cartridges monthly.)

7. The school reads books with an environmental theme to elementary students. (The 7th/1st grade reading buddy system could work for this.)

8. The school has adopted an endangered or threatened species and informs others.  (Would the primary hall be interested in this fun project?)

9. The school has a visit by an animal species show or similar presentation.  (We have a fun idea for this for the Intermediate Hall, but are open to other ideas as well!)

10. The school has a Terra Cycling program. (We need to research this and move forward.)

They are also posted outside Mrs. Morad's technology lab.

We're so glad to hear the positive feedback from families about these efforts!  Keep your ideas coming!

Why bother with these green efforts anyway?

The mission of these green efforts is to increase awareness within the South Arbor community of our relationship with the environment and our use of renewable and nonrenewable resources. 

In working toward the Michigan Green School Certificate, these projects create natural spaces as well as teach self-sufficiency.  They also replenish our use of paper and model the use of alternative energy.  Additionally, these projects are engaging and get students moving and active in the outdoors.

We plan to highlight some of these efforts at the morning assemblies. Look for updates here and well as in the weekly parent emails. More importantly, ask your child about recycling practices at school or about gardens popping up around the schoolyard.

Career Awareness Bonus (jobs mentioned in this post): school secretary, energy specialist

South Arbor Goes Green!

In an effort to take wise and responsible actions regarding our relationship to the environment and use of renewable and nonrenewable resources, South Arbor Charter Academy is pleased to be working toward the Michigan Green School Certificate.

In other words, South Arbor is going green!

"Green-er" or "green-ish" might be better terms, because making any kind of lasting change is worth doing slowly.  It's a process, and we are proceeding.

Our principal, Mrs. Bondy, is supportive and encouraging.  Mrs. Morad, a multi-talended teacher whose skills are not limited to either the computer lab or the parking lot, has graciously agreed to serve as the staff leader.

This site serves to get the word out about our green efforts, focus our ideas for upcoming projects, and interact with the South Arbor Community about the green process.

Do you have any ideas to make South Arbor a little bit greener?


Career Awareness Bonus (jobs mentioned in this post): school principal, technology teacher, parking lot/logistics technician.