by Maddie -

Making Schools More Sustainable

Growing up going to public school, I noticed that our schools were not as sustainable as they could be. Here, I’m going to present some possible ways to make schools greener.

1. Limit Disposables in the Lunchroom

Schools produce a lot of waste, and most of it is in paper/card waste and food waste. When students purchase lunches from there school, not only do they have to throw away whatever food they received but didn’t eat, they also have to throw away disposable trays, silverware, cups, and containers included with their food. If the food was served on reusable trays and plastic products eliminated, students would create less waste in the cafeteria.

2. Encourage Composting

It’s never too early to learn about leading sustainable lifestyles. The benefits of implementing a composting program at schools go beyond just reducing waste. These programs could help to teach children to think about food as more than just what is on their plates.  Composting systems can teach students about the cycle that food goes through, from farms to factories to schools to waste, and, if composting is involved, back into the soil to serve as organic matter. Plus, there are already guides available online that illustrate all the ins and outs of starting these programs.

3. Only Use Paper When Necessary

Obviously, there are some things that require the use of paper. Personally, I find it impossible to do math problems without writing them down. However, this does not mean that teachers need to print out a hundred copies of every single math worksheet. Instead, students can view homework problems in textbooks or online and write them in notebooks, as many students already have notebooks and can, therefore, do the activities on paper without creating unnecessary extra waste. Plus, schools could save money on printer ink and paper. In addition, when students are assigned readings, why print out a copy of something they’re going to throw away as soon as class is done. If students are given online access to reading resources, they can choose to print it out if they desire, which will reduce paper waste. This works particularly well in schools which provide computers, laptops, or tablets to students to ensure they have access to online resources.

4. RECYCLE!!!

If printing out papers and worksheets cannot be avoided, one of the best things schools can do is recycle. Paper, plastics, glass, and metal can all be recycled. There are guides available which show how to set up recycling programs, which also explain some additional benefits, such as reduced costs of waste management.

Similarly to composting, there is lots of opportunity to teach students about the planet and sustainability through recycling programs. Students are taught about pollution, and many of them are told not to litter. By implementing recycling programs, schools could, in turn, teach students about how recycling reduces waste. They could also talk about the recycling process and how things are remade into new products.

Recycling can also encourage student leadership. A recycling club could help to spread the word about recycling and encourage other students to take up the habit. Depending on their age and ability level, students themselves could even collect all of the recycling or organize the recycling program itself. This would provide students with more opportunities which could be listed on resumés or college applications.

5. Water and Lights

This might seem rather obvious, but when the water is left running or the lights left on, it can be wasteful. Because schools are filled with so many people, it is not hard for one of them to forget to turn something off. Therefore, if schools replace regular faucets with ones that turn off automatically, whether they be motion-activated or metering faucets that return to the off position shortly after the user turns them on.

(You know, this kind.)

The same is true for lighting. Firstly, there are some lighting options which are more sustainable than others. The most sustainable, of course, is leaving the lights off. So, if it’s a nice, bright day outside, why not leave those blinds open and let the light shine in? To maximize the effect of natural lighting, stick to light colored walls and surfaces in classrooms. These are the most reflective and are more likely to help that natural light illuminate the whole room. Plus, the nice bright room would create a calmer, positive learning environment for students. When natural light is not possible, there are other good alternatives in terms of sustainable lighting. Additionally, by adding motion detector systems where the lights turn off when motion is not detected, schools can reduce the number of times when the lights are accidentally left on by students.

The trend of automatic appliances reducing wastefulness is not true of toilets. Toilets which flush when they are triggered by motion often cause people to activate the motion sensors accidentally. If the regular old handle flush toilets are used instead of automatic ones, it could probably prevent wasting water through extra unnecessary flushes.

These are just a few of the easiest ways schools can reduce waste.

Of course, there are many more. The first step, in many cases, is simply making students, faculty, and community members aware of the need for greener schools in the first place.

by Maddie -

The Lack of Arts Education in Public Schools

Arts education was never a problem at my school. In fact, I attended an art school and studied creative writing. Aside from that, my school offered visual arts, vocal music, instrumental music, dance, musical theatre, and acting programs of study. However, my high school experience was much different from the grade school experience of most. Arts education is not made a priority in many classrooms nationwide. Schools in urban areas are especially lacking in arts education.

This phenomenon is detrimental to students because arts education has been proven to be beneficial. In adults, participating in art activities can be linked to increased civic engagement and greater social tolerance, so teaching students these skills early can improve the likelihood of continued participation in arts activities down the road. In schools, arts education can improve school climate and empower students with a sense of ownership over their work, just to name a few.

If arts education is so critical, why is it always being cut? Often, the issue comes from funding. Public schools, especially, are notoriously underfunded. Schools are funded in different ways, with public schools receiving funding from federal, state, and local government. Technically, the federal government doesn’t fund public schools. However, states receive grants from the federal government to reach certain set criteria. For arts education, these grants often come from the National Endowment for the Arts or the National Endowment for the Humanities. That said, most funding for public schools comes from the state.

For many states, funding for schools came to a crisis point after the recession.

While improvements have certainly been made since the original setback, and on an overall scale it seems as if funding has returned to pre-recession levels, individual areas still see a significant lack of funding. This can manifest itself in many ways: loss of teaching jobs, decreased pay and benefits, and conversion to four-day school weeks. If budget cuts necessitate the loss of certain classes, fine arts classes are often the first to go.  Subjects such as visual arts, music, theater, and band are often cut before other subjects. This occurs because there are no standardized tests in these subjects. Emphasis has been placed in schools all across America on improving math and English test scores, so arts education has fallen to the wayside. While it is important for American schools to provide adequate schooling in subjects such as math and English, and also that our test scores are comparable to those of other nations to gauge how equipped American students are in general for whatever job or future schooling comes to follow, this should not mean that all instruction in the arts is neglected.

Students rely on their schools. Not only is it the job of schools to teach, but also to provide a safe and comfortable environment while students are enrolled. By including the arts in classrooms, schools can tackle both goals at once: art can be taught to students at all levels and improve the classroom environment, at it has been proven that art provides certain benefits to schools such as lower drop out rates, improved attendance, and a greater understanding of diversity and peer support among students. When schools fail to provide adequate fine arts education, they are doing a disservice to their students. Firstly, there are those students with a passion for the fine arts who are not given an outlet to grow and expand their skill. There are students of lower socioeconomic status who might want to pick up a hobby in the arts but can’t afford private instruction, and failing to provide arts education to these individuals means they may have no other way to learn about their passions. Also, participation in the arts is a means of healthy recreation, so by teaching art to students, schools can help prevent risky or harmful behavior as students age.  Finally, when schools fail to provide arts education, they are failing to provide the best school environment for students.

So, what can be done to combat this phenomenon? Often, funding arts education falls on the shoulders of outside agencies. When schools are not receiving enough funding, nonprofit organizations such as Art Road can attempt to provide adequate art education for students. Nonprofit organizations can contribute to arts education in a variety of ways, from providing more funding to providing the actual classes themselves.

Within schools themselves, there is an opportunity to bring art into the classroom, even in non-art subjects. As Danny Gregory suggests in an article for Phi Delta Kappan, a professional magazine for educators, instead of emphasizing art classes themselves, shifting focus to fostering creativity in school environments can provide the benefits of arts education without disrupting the nationwide emphasis on improving math and English test scores.

Finally, schools can provide the framework for interested students to form clubs and groups surrounding their interest in art if they do not find the arts education programs in place to be enough to fit their own personal needs.