Path Found & Something More than a Mural

2018 San Antonio de Areco, Buenos Aires, Argentina

EES N°5, San Antonio de Areco. Students: Yamile, Ayelén, Jimena, Rocío

This Project is a prolongation of last year’s project “Music of Nature” proposed by 1st year students, of this school, at the Caring for Our Watersheds program 2018, and which was embodied in the form of a mural in which the four seasons of the year and nature come together with music and different pictorial styles.

mural student action On this basis, the new Project adds two new initiatives aimed at creating a space of convergence between art and the care of nature within the institution. To achieve this, students proposed, with the help of artists, to create an external classroom around the “Music of Nature” mural, and also, create an art intervention, in part of the school’s main playground, with recycled parts. Both spaces suggest a modern dynamic in its contents, updated throughout the year with pupils’ ideas.

GREEN ROOF

2016, Fairfax, VA, USA

Fairfax, VA, where Lanier Middle School is located, is the site of many new housing developments. After learning about the adverse effects of stormwater runoff on the Potomac River, students became concerned with the increase in impervious surfaces in their community, which inevitably will lead to more urban runoff. Through their research, the students came across the redevelopment of Kamp Washington, which proposes putting gardens or lawns atop high-rise buildings in Fairfax.

The group wanted to incorporate this kind of green infrastructure at their school and received approval to build a model green roof on a shed in their school garden. The green roof will serve as a teaching tool for students and a model for community members. Developers of the Kamp Washington redevelopment project were invited to view the roof upon completion, in hopes that they will implement some of the designs in their project. The students also created a model of the Kamp Washington redevelopment and included suggestions around how it could be more ‘green,’ including solar panels, green roofs, and pervious surfaces. They will present the model to City Council on June 6 and talk through the project and how what they learned can be applied to Kamp Washington. The project will receive about $700 in funding from Nutrien to purchase reinforcement materials for the roof and plants.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

2016, Arlington, VA, USA

The students from Meridian Homeschool Club at St. Michael’s Church in Arlington, VA are literally changing the landscape of their community by educating their congregation about the benefits of native plants. Through their research, the students learned about the benefits of native plants and trees to the intricate ecosystems of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed and the harm caused by invasive plants such as English Ivy.

Anxious to use their new knowledge, the students connected with their church, which was planning a landscaping project, and became involved in the process. They learned how to identify invasive plants and did a removal project on site. They recommended and purchased $250 of native plants, funded by Nutrien. The church matched this amount to double the plants purchased. After assisting with the community planting, the students did a presentation for the congregation to introduce the new garden and talk about the importance of native plants.

After their presentation, several congregation members requested their assistance to create native gardens at their homes. The students plan to make their first home visit in early June

NUTRIENTS IN POTOMAC RIVER

2016, Alexandria, VA, USA

George Washington Middle School in Alexandria, VA found nitrate levels in the Potomac River were twice the normal level, putting organisms in the environment at risk. Upon further research and after surveying members of the community, the students found that the major cause of high phosphate and nitrate levels in the Potomac is improper application of fertilizer.

The students partnered with Greenstreet Gardens, a local garden shop, to educate community members. They created an addendum to an existing Greenstreet Gardens class to include a segment on proper fertilizer usage. They strongly believe that public education is the key to reducing the nitrate levels of the Potomac River, realizing that many people simply use the tool incorrectly. The students are advertising the classes and incentivizing attendance by raffling five mini rain garden starter packs, provided by Greenstreet Gardens. Nutrien will provide $317 for rain garden plants.

CLASSES PLANT GRASSES

2016, Fairfax, VA, USA

Students at Lanier Middle School put a creative twist the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s “Grasses for the Masses” program to connect the concept to the classroom. Students learned that native grasses in the Chesapeake Bay can control and even alleviate toxic chemicals and out-of-balance naturally occurring elements. These grasses play an important role in reversing the Bay’s degradation. Through the Foundation’s program, volunteers grow grasses native to the Bay in their homes for 10-12 weeks with equipment supplied by the Foundation. When the grass is mature, the volunteers meet at a specific location and plant it. The students’ wanted to create an easy way to their peers to take part. By growing the native grasses in science classrooms, the program can be scaled up, increasing the positive impact the program.

Students recruited 7^th grade science teachers to go through the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s free native grasses training program in January, 2017. Every 7^th grade science class at Lanier will be responsible for planting and raising some of the grasses. In May of 2017, the classes will take a field trip to plant the grasses in the Chesapeake Bay. This project will receive $1,500 from Nutrien for the start-up growing kits, which include items such as circulation pumps and heaters.

LIVING WALL AND GREEN AREA

2017, CALGARY, AB, CANADA

In 2017, Ryan Song of Sir Winston Churchill High School placed 4^th overall in the Caring For Our Watersheds competition with their project “Living Wall and Green Area”. Sir Winston Churchill High School was built in 1968 and has undergone very few renovations since then. The school contains very few windows, many of which do not open. Students often complain that the school environment is stifling, uninspiring and that there is poor air quality. In addition, Ryan felt that there was a general lack of environmental awareness among students at this school.

In an effort to combat these issues, and raise awareness about the local watershed, Ryan and the Sir Winston Churchill Earth Club decided to install a portable green wall, and produce information brochures about unsustainable behaviors that have a negative impact on our watershed. The portability of the green wall means that it can be moved to different classrooms within the school, based on the amount of natural light that is seasonally available in sections of the building.

The living wall and green area is maintained by student volunteers that are members of the Eath Club. Through their continued dedication to this project, and involvement with the CFOW program, these students have taken a vested interest in protecting the watershed and providing knowledge to other students about why the green wall is there and the impact our actions have on native plants and animals in our watershed.

Jobs of the Future

2017 Villa Lia, San Antonio de Areco, Buenos Aires, Argentina

EES N°3 of Villa Lia: Students: Samuel, Magdalena, Agustín, Luz

The aim of this project is to establish a serious reflection in the educational community, regarding the early choice of professions that value and contain environmental caring. The project proposes “Villa Lia” as the field of study and its development for the next 20 years, and it emphasizes on the study of sustainable environmental policies and on including youth as necessary actors and participants.

For these, they required more information about actual professional careers related with the environment. The students did not have access to new careers and technologies, so they visited the “Foundation Telefónica” that was presenting the use of 3D printer applied on design, medicine, fashion. The students also visited the Musem CCK that shows art and culture.

AVS XXI

2017, San Andres de Giles, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Sagrada Familia Highschool of San Andrés de Giles: Valeria Manion, Milagros Maciel, Manuela Roldán, Jana Gold

This project proposes thinking and designing a classroom model with the characteristics that 21^st century education spaces should have. The project takes place in a real context in which the school must move from its current facility and has the opportunity to project the new education facility from scratch. The design of this classroom, taken as part of the whole school project, is presented by the 6^th form students as a challenge to incorporate some aspects related to the new methods and learning areas. So,as a starting point, they supplied information of sustainable architecture as well as light, sound quality, energy, the dynamics of classroom shapes and related green areas , with posters around the school; all things that can be applied in the new building.

implementation of AVS XXI

Ecoclub

ecoclub implementation 2017, San Andres de Giles, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Los Robles of San Andrés de Giles: Students: Federico Trombetta, Juan Martín Orionello

This project brings back the idea of creating environmental clubs, presented last year by Sagrada Familia Highschool. The origin of this project derives from the action taken by the 6^th form students of the school that guided and supported research and development of all the projects presented this year in Caring for Our Watershed contest. To keep up with this initiative the proposal was to make it official by giving it a name: ECOCLUB Los Robles.

ecoclub implementation The aim is to create a place for investigation, debates, creative solutions for issues and problems regarding the Areco basin. They make t-shirts with natural dyes for club members and they also create a blog with more information: ecoclucCLR.blogspot.com.ar.

COMPOSTING WITH MUSTARD SEED SCHOOL

2017, Sacramento, California, USA

Composting Mustard Seed School

For her Caring for Our Watersheds project, Clarissa Huerta, of the MET Sacramento High School, wanted to work with students from the Mustard Seed School, a private school established to help meet the needs of homeless children. When Clarissa visited, she noticed they had a garden area, but did not yet have a compost system. Clarissa’s proposal included the addition of a compost bin to the facility, but also a lesson for the students to teach them the environmental benefits of composting and how to use the bin. Clarissa met with different age groups to share about composting, give students practice using and maintaining the bin, and to meet the wiggly worm friends inside that will help decompose the food scraps and provide free, nutrient rich soil to the school’s and shelter’s garden. Clarissa pointed out, that even at a homeless shelter, there is still substantial food waste. The compost bin would also help decrease the amount of food waste sent to the local landfill. Nutrien project funds helped Clarissa purchase the bin and provide supporting materials for the lesson.