Going Green & EfS
Acknowledging that The College School was founded on the rich tenants of sustainability and environmentalism, the recent media, political, and education attention paid to "going green" is nothing new to us. As the tag-lines in our Sustainability Signs to the right say, we've been "green since 1963," when the school was founded. Our beliefs and commitment to the issues are rich and with deep roots. Our school works to monitor our progress and growth in our implementation of best ecological and environmental practices throughout our community, curriculum, and grounds. Recycling of paper and commingled goods, a green parking lot with semi-permeable pavers, environmentally responsible construction and maintenance of our grounds, and continued education and integration into our curriculum are all part of The College School going green, or rather staying green.
Education for sustainability (EfS) is another part of being "green" that is woven throughout our curriculum and behaviors. Education for Sustainability is the latest twist on an ancient idea. For ages, elders have instructed children to save some seed corn from the harvest each autumn so that a new crop could be sown in the next growing cycle. This has been EfS, the wisdom imparted so we can continue to reap bountiful harvests from generation to generation. At The College School, we also impart wisdom for children to sow and to harvest in a natural cycle of learning that will sustain them and will sustain their communities in future generations.
EfS is not to be confused with environmental education. It isn't simply that. EfS is more pragmatic as it includes a more complex look at how our relationships with the environment, the economy and our culture are all interconnected in complex ways. A sustainable community has a healthy economy, a healthy, inclusive and equitable culture, and a healthy environment. EfS is essentially the study of how all things are connected. The beauty of EfS in education is that because of its connectivity, it is always relevant. In EfS, we learn through authentic experiences that engage us. Our tinkering with ideas and our sense of our experiences provokes us to experiment with and apply our understanding in meaningful ways.
EfS is authentic. It's engaging. It's playful. EfS allows us to explore and inquire and discover how to keep on going by applying what we know to make our dreams come true for a healthy economy, culture and ecology. It is a new approach to the most ancient tradition of passing wisdom and inspiring innovation from one generation to the next.
As stewards of our environment, we realize the charge to be keen observers, researchers, and agents of collective change. We are always receptive to ideas and proposals for activities from others and welcome new members and suggestions. The concepts
The future is a function of the decisions we make today.
Read The College School's "Green Policy"
