For students, environmental change starts at school

Middle and elementary schools awarded ‘green’ certification for education and conservation efforts

And at Piney Branch Elementary School, students built birdbaths, planted native flowers and studied wildlife in Sligo Creek.

The increased emphasis on environmental education at these schools over the past two years has led to their certification as ‘‘Maryland Green Schools” by the Maryland Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education. The program requires schools to incorporate environmental lessons and make efforts to reduce energy use.

To help them in their efforts, the schools formed partnerships with ‘‘Green Kids,” a grant-funded program run by the Audubon Naturalist Society that sends a naturalist to each school for 100 hours of environmental education. The program even helped the schools receive certification as national wildlife habitats.

Educators say their aim is to get students to think about the environment and the effects of waste while they are still young.

‘‘Especially with the environmental education, I’m hoping it builds lifelong consciousness,” said Dawn Moffitt, a science teacher at East Silver Spring. ‘‘I feel like if you start them really young, then they’ll do it in their lives.”

Inside Moffitt’s classroom, she keeps a leopard gecko, hermit crabs, frogs, fish and other animals for the students.

Outside is the school’s butterfly garden, full of marigolds, milkweed and purple coneflowers planted and maintained by students. Second-grader Andrew Honn said the garden is among his favorite activities at school, and he eagerly explained why butterflies are attracted to milkweed.

‘‘Butterflies like things that have tubes instead of buds because they can put their proboscis in them,” the 8-year-old said, seeming modest in his knowledge of butterfly anatomies.

Moffitt and her students have also helped increase recycling in the school’s cafeteria, which now recycles plastic and foil.

Deirdre O’Connor said her first-grade daughter, Fiona Haverland, has developed a passion for environmental causes as a result. The 7-year-old regularly reminds her mother what is and isn’t recyclable and how their family can best save energy at home. When her mother wanted them to drive to a nearby soccer practice, Fiona insisted they ride bicycles.

‘‘She actually said, ‘Mommy, think of the carbon footprint,’” O’Connor said.

Karen Shilling, a teacher at Takoma Park Middle School who runs the school’s green club, said the activities can be organized in a fun way. At Takoma Park Middle, students held a ‘‘Watch Your Watts” contest in which they gave awards to the classes who left on the least number of lights and computers when their rooms were unoccupied. If teachers turned off their equipment, the students left them chocolates; if teachers forgot, the students left warning tickets.

Piney Branch teacher Rachna Rikhye said the school plants to continue their efforts next year and build on the knowledge the students now have.

Piney Branch Principal Bertram Generlette said becoming a Green School was an honor.

‘‘We want to make kids aware of whatever we can do here at school,” he said. ‘‘It really shows that as a school we care about the environment.”

Green Schools do not receive any monetary awards.

Green School coordinator Carol Thompson said there are more than 200 Green Schools statewide and more apply every year. Schools need to submit binders of their green achievements to be reviewed by a committee.

The Green Kids project, which provides stipends to participating teachers for their extra hours, is trying to expand as well. Ten schools have already graduated from the program, two are in the middle of their two-year cycles and 10 more are starting next year, including New Hampshire Estates, Forest Knolls, Sligo Creek and Stonegate elementary schools, according to project director Lisa Alexander.