Keller Elementary, Royal Oak Middle School Receive Top Green Honors

Becoming a certified Michigan Green School isn’t an easy task, which is why Royal Oak public schools Superintendent Tom Moline is thrilled to see and  awarded first and second place respectively for their superior environmental efforts.

Oakland Schools held a ceremony Wednesday morning at its offices in Waterford to applaud the efforts of all 193 Oakland County schools that met the green expectations. Representatives from each school district were asked to attend, and many did, to listen to a series of presenters and share ideas to better incorporate "green" in the school day.

Not only did two Royal Oak schools receive top accolades for their green activities, every school in the district has obtained Green School status.

“Knowing No. 1 and 2 are here in Royal Oak is gratifying,” Moline said. “If we don’t make top 10 next year we are still going to continue with being conservators of our Earth.”

To receive the Green School status, schools have to perform a series of environmentally friendly activities and then apply for the certification by thoroughly detailing the projects they have taken on.  To obtain the minimum requirements to receive the certification, 10 out of the available 20 activities must be completed throughout the school year. There is also Emerald status, in which participating schools can receive if they go past 10 activities and achieve 15 extra points for additional green-related activities. Finally, Evergreen status is presented to participants going above and beyond and receiving an extra 20 points.

At Wednesday's ceremony, it was announced that some things have changed for next year; for example the application process will be entirely online and there are some modifications to the qualifying activities.

Keller Elementary Principal John Houghton credited the fact that Keller has come so far as an International Baccalaureate School as one of the reasons it was able to peg the top Green School slot.

“I certainly am not the only one promoting green,” Houghton said. “Our biggest promoter is the PTA, No. 2 is the teachers and of course the kids; they have ideas and they come to us quite often.”

Recycling is critical at Keller, as it is at the majority of the schools awarded the Green School status. However, recycling programs differ from school to school with what is recycled, how much and how often. According to Houghton, third-grade students at Keller man that portion of the green efforts and are known as the Recycling Rangers. Pam Wilcox, a member of the Keller PTA and Keller Green Team chair, said it is typical for the PTA members representing the green programs throughout the district to get together and bounce ideas off one another.

In fact, Wilcox said one of the more environmentally friendly initiatives Keller has taken on is the idle-free zone outside the school, which other area schools are starting to do as well. At Keller, when parents drop off or pick up their kids, they are not allowed to keep their vehicle engines idling and instead have to turn off their car if they are going to be in place  more than a few seconds.

“Many, many kids come to school via automobile,” Houghton said. “If we ask the parents to turn off their car, then they are not wasting gas and air is more tolerant for kids who suffer from asthma.”

Keller's idle-free zone initiative was acknowledged at the Oakland County Green Schools ceremony Wednesday along with one environmentally friendly solution per school district. Other ideas shared included rain gardens, shoe drives, sports equipment recycle and swap and having green kid awards based on how energy efficient individual students are.

One of the ideas that Northwood Elementary School PTA member Julie Race said she was taking away from Wednesday's program is the thought of recycling electronics. According to Race, who serves on the school's Green Team committee, Northwood has made big strides toward recycling more, but she thinks recycling electronics could be a good avenue next year to obtain a higher Green School status.

This school year, Race took a unique approach at making an impact on the kids by digging through the trash after lunchtime with her fellow Green Team committee members. They divided the garbage into piles — how it should be separated for recycling purposes. They brought the children into the auditorium to see what they had accomplished, thinking the impact would be great on the students. Oddly enough, Race thinks the teachers had a greater reaction to the assembly and started to curb many of their own wasteful habits. 

Northwood also has started an ecology club mid-year and hopes to see that evolve next year, Race said.

“I think starting this at a young age just drives it home for them,” Keller's Wilcox said of the students. “It is second nature to them now, it’s just how the world works. If we start with the students while they’re young, they don’t know any other way but to recycle.” 

Royal Oak schools that received the Michigan Green School certificate and reached Emerald status  (earning an additional 15 points for green projects):

Schools that received the Michigan Green School certificate and reached Evergreen status (earning an additional 20 points for green projects):

For more information on the Michigan Green School program, coordinated by Oakland Schools, visit the Oakland Schools website at www.oakland.k12.mi.us and click on “Michigan Green Schools” in the Educators column.