King County celebrates the Earth Heroes of local schools

The 2006 Earth Heroes at Schools awards honor environmental stewards

King County Executive Ron Sims will honor students, teachers, school staff and volunteers at the 2006 Earth Heroes at Schools awards ceremony Thursday, May 4. The ceremony will be held at 4:30 p.m. at the Community Center at Mercer View, 8236 SE 24th Street, Mercer Island.

"We recognize Earth Heroes at Schools for their invaluable contributions to protecting and preserving King County's natural environment, and their education of young people about the importance of becoming committed earth stewards," said Sims. "Together we are integrating environmental understanding and protection into the education process."

The Earth Heroes at School Awards honors individual in schools as well as innovative school–based programs that are working hard to maintain the rich integrity of the region and high quality of life. The exceptional people and outstanding projects in King County schools that are making a difference can be models for similar projects in other schools, classrooms and communities.

"I am truly inspired by the passion, innovation and dedication of our local heroes to make environmental preservation a legacy in King County," said Sims. "Each of our honorees is an incredible example after which we should model our own actions. Each Earth Hero at Schools exemplifies the spirit of service by working tirelessly on behalf of our environment," Sims continued. "We are fortunate to have these environmental stewards in our midst."

Awards will be presented to the following Earth Heroes:

Teachers

Kevin Barth, West Seattle High School, Seattle
Mr. Barth was instrumental in establishing the Environmental Science Academy at West Seattle High in the fall of 2002. The academy is an ongoing, learning community that focuses on environmental awareness by exploring western habitats and reconstructing native areas in the Seattle area. Mr. Barth as lead teacher is responsible for coordination of the curriculum, off-campus explorations, fundraising, and project organization.

Darin Detwiler, B.E.S.T. High School, Kirkland
When the environmental science class was discontinued at the school, Mr. Detwiler, a math and science teacher, initiated Stewardship of the Earth a school-wide environmental education project. Adopted by every teacher at the school, the project emphasizes students as stakeholders in the learning process, integrates scientific issues with politics, history, math, literature and film, and strives to minimize waste in and out of the classroom.

Marie Hartford, Henry David Thoreau Elementary School, Kirkland
Ms Hartford's actions have had considerable impact on Thoreau Elementary's recycling program. She initiated bottle, can and milk carton recycling in the cafeteria, continued coordinating the paper recycling program, and introduced the use of reusable lunch trays. Her efforts have resulted in keeping 16 cubic yards of drink containers and 15,000 lunch trays out of the garbage each year.

Kay Moilanen, Hazelwood Elementary School, Newcastle
Ms. Moilanen has been involving her students in environmental projects for over a decade. Her most recent project at Hazelwood Elementary has been a year-long development of a native plant garden. She led her students in the planning and installation of the garden, including a self-guided walking tour and explanatory brochure. Their goal is to increase the use of native plants in the surrounding community.

Susan Moon, Lowell Elementary School, Seattle
Ms. Moon conveys her passion for the environment to her students through planned lessons and projects as well as through everyday conversations. Through her example and her leadership, her students have raised and donated funds to the Cascades Conservation Partnership, campaigned for decreased use of plastic wrapping in the lunchroom, and reduced waste at home and at school.

Maggie Palm, Ilahee Middle School, Federal Way
Seeing a need to boost recycling at Ilahee, Ms. Palm organized a reliable paper collection program as well as one for bottles and cans. She galvanized her students to promote participation throughout the school through skits, and posters and Recycle Week activities. She facilitated the training of a group of middle school students to visit three elementary schools to teach fifth-graders about recycling and resource conservation.

Fred Ritsema, Bow Lake Elementary School, SeaTac
Mr. Ritsema, an English Language Learner teacher, created school's arboretum and founded its environmental club. He obtained approval from the school district, applied for grant funding, and with the Environmental Club, identified and labeled with species information over 80 trees. In addition to caring for the arboretum, which has become an outdoor learning space, the club picks up campus litter and recycles materials from classrooms.

Patricia Shirley, Brookside Elementary School, Lake Forest Park
Ms. Shirley played a key role in incorporating lessons from King County's Hazards on the Homefront program into the fifth-grade curriculum in the Shoreline School District. Ms. Shirley developed inquiry-based lessons about the impact household hazardous products have on the environment. As a result, students across the district now learn about this important topic in a manner that prepares them for the Science WASL test.

Students

Lynn Spishak, Bellevue High School, Bellevue
A member of the school's Earthbound club since ninth grade and its president for the last three years, Ms. Spishak has led the club from a loosely organized group of five or six students to a very active force of twenty. Ms. Spishak has spearheaded cell phone recycling, used battery recycling, and Carpool to School Day at the school. She is currently producing a slide show and video to promote new district recycling policies.

Sara Esrick and the Beginning Level ELL Science Students, Evergreen High School, Seattle
Ms. Esrick and her 24 English Language Learner science students established a school recycling program, conducted outreach and promotion, and modeled a commitment to recycling for the 1,100 students at Evergreen High. Ms. Esrick began with an environmental unit with her students who then participated in the entire process of planning, implementing and promoting successful paper, can and plastic bottle recycling.

Staff

Dave Holbrook, Newcastle Elementary School, Newcastle
As a participant in King County's Green Schools Program, Newcastle Elementary improved its recycling program, a task that was accomplished through the dedication, creativity, and enthusiasm of Mr. Holbrook. He collected data on garbage and recycling amounts and graphed results, set up visuals in the lunchroom to demonstrate proper recycling, and modified equipment as needed to make recycling accessible to all.

Wanda Peters, Waskowitz Outdoor School, North Bend
Ms. Peters has been the lead and inspiration for the composting program at Highline School District's outdoor school. Using six worm bins built by high school students and an Earth Tub, she has ensured that all compostable food waste is kept out of the landfill. The 4,000 students attending the outdoor school each year participate in a Worm Class and reflect on the ways they can bring home the practices they learn at Waskowitz.

Selim Uzuner, Tolt Middle School, Carnation
Mr. Uzuner has led the Riverview School District in recycling for ten years. The recycling club he formed continues to operate as an important element in the school's overall resource conservation program. Mr. Uzuner was instrumental in having the school designated as a King County Green School through his contributions to the school's efforts in energy conservation, environmental purchasing, and environmental curriculum.

Volunteers

Suzanne Bagdon, Briarwood Elementary School, Renton
Ms. Bagdon, a King County Master Recycler Composter (MRC), developed a worm bin curriculum to teach Briarwood students about worms and their role in composting food waste. Her reputation as the school's worm expert reached parents who asked her to hold a composting class for teachers and parents. Ms. Bagdon also wrote a grant to subsidize the purchase and installation of a Biostack large-scale composting unit for the school.

Brenda Running and Patty Davis, Shadow Lake Elementary School, Maple Valley
For five years Ms. Running and Ms. Davis have involved students in campus gardening projects, teaching them how to select plants that support local wildlife, resist pests and have low water needs. Projects have included a butterfly garden, a vegetable patch, an ABC garden which includes a plant from every letter of the alphabet, and the Discover Washington Garden which includes plants of significance to native tribes.

Program/School

Greenhouse and Garden Project, Montlake Elementary School, Seattle
This project teaches students to grow organic food and cultivate native plants for habitat restoration. Planting, growing, and harvesting integrate with every aspect of the Montlake K-5 curriculum. Students share their resources with the community by donating some of their harvest to a local food bank. They will use their knowledge of native plants in a stewardship project in Interlaken Park where they will restore a ravine.

Native Plant Garden, Orca Elementary School, Seattle
The latest addition to this school's long established garden is the Native Plant Garden which contains 26 native species and provides a place where students can observe their growth and development year round. Students' understanding of ecosystems, riparian zones, interdependence, native and exotic plants, and horticultural principles have been deeply enhanced by their involvement in creating and caring for the garden.

Environmental Program, Redmond High School, Redmond
Teachers Mike Town and Mary Marsh and district resource conservation manager Chuck Collins have worked together to make Redmond High School as green as possible. They have included environmental education in students' lives in a variety of ways, including the design of the school, the curriculum, an award-winning environmental club, organic vegetable gardens, a photovoltaic solar energy array, and a significant recycling program.