Readington Middle School was recognized by National Wildlife Federation’s Eco-Schools USA program for exceptional achievement in ‘greening’ physical structure and grounds, conserving natural resources and integrating environmental education into curricula.
It is the fifth school so honored in New Jersey with the silver-level award, Eco-Schools USA’s penultimate honor.
The Eco-Schools USA program, which is based on the work of student-driven teams dedicated to issues like recycling and energy conservation using sample materials, background information and teacher advice provided by NWF, claims more than 870 American schools across 47 states so far.
“We at National Wildlife Federation and Eco-Schools USA are proud of the example set by Readington Middle School for New Jersey, other schools, and the country at large,” said Laura Hickey, Senior Director of Eco-Schools USA.
This award demonstrates not only a commitment to sustainability and environmental literacy for students and faculty, but an appreciation that the best, most effective education transcends the classroom and offers a hands-on approach to learning
To win the silver award, Readington Middle School’s students and faculty tackled a host of sustainability initiatives that began with forming an Eco-Action team; auditing facility energy efficiency, waste disposal and other environmental impact areas; and instituting environmental-themed curricula.
These steps led to projects including student squads monitoring classrooms to make sure lights and electronics were turned off and a Green Week where students undertook a recycling challenge in the cafeteria and increased their recycling by more than 300%, all designed to raise environmental and natural awareness, cut waste, increase student engagement and save money for the school.
Because of the recycling and waste reduction initiatives undertaken by Readington Middle School, the National Wildlife Federation awarded a $500 grant through the Wrigley’s Company Foundation’s Litter Less Campaign to expand waste reduction efforts at the school.
National Wildlife Federation was named the stateside host for the international Eco-Schools program in 2008. The original Eco-Schools program is an international network of 41,000 K-12 schools in 53 countries, started in 1994 by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) with support by the European Commission.
It was named by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) as a model initiative for Education for Sustainable Development in 2003. To learn more about Eco-Schools USA.
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