From Learning to Be… to Learning to Care

Jake Hochschwender of Old Trail School, where being last in line means something.

By Lori Brandt

Nobody likes to be last in line, but at Old Trail School, it’s a particularly important position. On the way to lunch or a special activity, kids leave their classrooms with an assigned student line monitor, whose job is to turn off the lights. The amount of fuel used to produce electricity can have an impact on the planet, so teaching students how to conserve energy is high on this school’s to-do list.

"We are trying to effectively work having compassion for the earth into our classrooms," says Matthew Young, lower school science teacher. "We try to embed the environment into our curriculum in as many ways as possible."

Megan Seaman and fellow Saint Joseph Academy students have a paper recycling drive during spring.

Through academics and hands-on projects, schools are raising awareness of world issues, particularly environmental concerns. The goal is to promote global citizenship by teaching students about caring for others and the challenging issues facing our planet, and to take leadership roles to produce viable solutions to these problems.

With the Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Old Trail’s backyard, science teacher Kristin Spindel says, "We do a lot of learning about how the things we do affect the park, in things we might not even see, like the air."

One of those concerns includes decomposing paper, which can release the potent greenhouse gas methane into the air; therefore, the school is heavily involved in paper recycling. Each class at Old Trail keeps a plastic bin in the room for paper waste, and the sixth graders have the job of collecting the paper from the bins, learning what happens to that paper and the benefits the school receives from recycling the paper.

Paper recycling drive at Saint Joseph.

Recycling is always a subject worth mentioning in the class of Nora Kelly, science teacher at Saint Joseph Academy. She has the responsibility of helping the school promote a community paper recycling drive during spring, with a goal of increasing the amount of paper beyond what they recycled last year by 15 percent.

Kelly is also the faculty adviser to the Environmental Concerns of Students, or ECOS, group, which comprises 50 to 75 students in all grade levels dedicated to becoming informed and involved with the world’s ecological issues. The group is working on a rally to assemble the entire student body and present an information session on the importance of recycling. "These kids are getting the dialogue going," says Kelly. "It’s a matter of getting out of what’s comfortable and understanding the need to be proactive in making the earth a better place."

ECOS officers are continuing their plea for change and taking an active leadership role at Saint Joe’s by sitting in on committee meetings to help bring a wind turbine to their school. Electricity from renewable sources does not contribute to climate change or air pollution, because fuels are not used in the process.Kelly says this is an exciting opportunity for the school to reduce energy use while teaching students about renewable resources outside of the classroom. At the moment, the students watch and discuss the progress of a system placed in the Metroparks that monitors how much wind is being generated. "If it’s feasible, the school will receive a grant to put a wind turbine in," says Kelly.

Hilary Horsman attends Andrews Osborne Academy, where students participate in Challenge 20/20.

The ecosystem is also a popular subject at the Andrews Osborne Academy this year. Over the summer, the school signed on to participate in Challenge 20/20, sponsored by the National Association of Independent Schools. The program, taken from J.F. Rischard’s book, High Noon: 20 Global Problems, 20 Years to Solve Them, brings together US schools with schools in other countries to choose one of the 20 listed global issues, investigate that problem locally, identify solutions and compare findings with their team school.

"Students become active and lifelong learners when they engage in reallife problems," says David Harris, the school’s environmental science teacher. "They become interested in leading discussions to solve these big issues; they just need the chance to do it."

Andrews Osborne chose the topic of biodiversity and ecosystem losses, which Harris describes as a group of organisms interdependent upon each other that gets wiped out or is forced to migrate to a different location. Students are investigating the aquatic, forest and field ecosystems at two local sites where they obtain water and soil samples, and then conduct lab tests to see how different pollutant types interact and relate to each other and affect organisms. They also measure square footage, photograph construction and development, and examine erosion practices.

Andrews Osborne students study how pollutants interact with the environment.

"Students are able to compare a global problem like this with a local problem right in their backyard," Walton says. "We have seen the sale and development of the property behind us and across the street from us, and how it is devastating this habitat for living organisms and animals, and the entire ecosystem. This is on a small scale, but the kids can relate to it and have the challenge of looking at it on a global scale."

Hilary Rheinheimer, a student involved in the challenge, says, "I think it’s interesting that similar problems can be going on in two very far apart countries. I’m looking forward to trying to figure out what is going on, how it affects us, and then making an impact on the world and our communities."

In January, both schools will submit individual and team reports of progress to the National Association of Independent Schools, and then work together the remainder of the year to create a presentation and website to post their findings and solutions to this worldwide problem.

At Hathway Brown, students like Caroline and Kathryn Bashour study environmental issues in the Bahamas and right on campus.

"When they come back from this intense experience, they are energized and want to teach their classmates what they have learned," says Valerie Katz, upper school science teacher.

HB students develop leadership skills through their classes on the island, engaging in opportunities to learn, think and act like scientists. They are exposed to alternative energy options, such as solar and wind power, collecting rainwater and growing their own food to sustain themselves, as well as learning about ecology and marine biology.

Practicing environment friendly alternatives is also common at home for HB students. The upper school’s environmental club, Lorax, looks at issues specific to the school and ways they can make changes. They are currently working on presentations and campaigns to educate the school about why using unsustainable plastic foam bowls and cups is not a good option for the cafeteria or the planet. The goal is to encourage students to purchase reusable mugs, and for the school to decrease plastics use and replace the material with more biodegradable products.

Similarly, TREE – The Recycling and Environmental Education club – in the middle school is working hard to improve the convenience of can and bottle collections so more of these materials will be recycled.These students are also collecting blankets, towels and pet equipment and donating them to a local animal shelter.

"These may not seem like such an obvious environmental activity, but given the attitude of disposability in our culture, any avenue that promotes reuse and recycling helps to make connections for kids," says Brenda May, director of the school’s Invention Lab. She explains that younger students are more self-absorbed, and it’s important to get them out of the habit of thinking about themselves by teaching them how their individual behaviors can have an effect on the wellbeing of their community. "They then can begin to comprehend these problems on a global level."

Focusing on local and global issues is part of an optional environmental seminar taught by Katz in the upper school. Participants work on studentdirected projects with the option to choose from such topics as endangered species, conservation techniques, global warming, water quality issues and alternative energy sources.

"We have to be careful with teenagers because these major issues can seem dire, and we don’t want them to feel helpless," says Katz. "We let them know that there are solutions, and they can take active roles to help as individuals."

Connecting the Classroom to the World
Students are taking active roles to help others

Valentine's Day fund-raiser helps to raise money for the Measles Initiative.

Beginning the school year by viewing American Red Cross videos helps students gain a better understanding of why millions of children in Africa are dying from measles every year and how they can help.

Promoting education of the mind and of the heart is imperative at Gilmour. Students are realizing what it means to be without medicine or money through service learning initiatives and travel, and are discovering ways that they can help.

Through the spirited efforts of the school’s seniors, raising awareness of the measles epidemic has become a priority. The students hang posters and give presentations in classes to get others involved in student-planned fund-raisers. No service hours are involved in these fund-raisers, only a genuine concern for others.The school has raised more than $15,000 for the project since 2003,with no plans of stopping until the campaign comes to an end.

"This initiative brings the school’s mission to life: to teach the students to be people of courage, hope and, of course, action," says Kenny.

A service-learning journey to Honduras each spring offers Gilmour students another opportunity for a lifechanging experience, explains Tiho Teisl, dean of students and Spanish teacher. "This trip gives the students a view of what the rest of the world is about and what it takes to become better members of society."

To help prepare travelers for this mission, discussions about what they will see and the ways they can help, including such topics as the country’s political system or Honduras’ ecosystem, take place beforehand. Donations of personal care items, clothing and tools are collected and brought to the poverty-stricken village of Nuevo Paraiso. Tools become an important necessity for this trip as Gilmour focuses on helping the village with construction.

"We help to build homes, laundry rooms, sidewalks, fences and last year, a fishing pond so the people of the village can grow their own tilapia," Teisl says. He explains that it’s very hard for the students to spend 10 days there, get to know the people and the problems they are facing there, and not want to go back to help them. "Students always want to go back."

Hawken School students study environmental issues and put them into practice.

Hawken School freshman Julie Zeilinger has done everything from shoveling manure to mixing handfuls of live worms into mulch to help establish the school’s organic Circle W Garden. She is part of the garden club committed to serving the community by making some environmental changes. "We have the power to transition from buying chemically sprayed produce from hundreds of miles away to fresh, local produce," she says.

James Newman, upper school history teacher and adviser to the club, explains that the garden news is filtering into the classrooms. He says kids are now starting to think about the distance food must travel to their grocery stores, and that if it came from the school’s garden instead of the grocery store, there would be less pollution from transporting the foods, which would hopefully reduce the environmental impact in their community and on the planet.

But this project goes beyond the students. With a limited budget, the kids look to the community to make the garden a success by receiving donations of wood chips and manure from local businesses, and volunteers to help with maintaining the garden. "It’s a chance for the kids to look outside of themselves, connect with the community and make an impact on the environment," Newman says.

The idea of creating the Circle W Garden was the brainchild of Douglas Katz, chef at Shaker Square’s fire food & drink. As a Hawken alumnus, he wanted to help with a plan to grow food for the cafeteria and the local community, while educating the students about the benefits of eating fresh, local and sustainable food.

Working on the Hawken School project.

The future goals for the garden include getting more students and community members involved in the project to gain a better understanding of the importance of the local farmer, and yielding enough fresh produce for the school’s dining hall and for a community booth, where students and volunteers will sell fresh goods to the public, and donate the money to food banks in the area.

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