Ignite the Light of Eco-Campus

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     This Eco-Campus cornerstone began in September of 2012. Five girls from the Student Leadership Team at Meiners Oaks School developed ideas and goals focusing on daily environmental activities. On Monday students, teachers, and staff focused on turning off any electricity that they were not using. On Tuesday students and staff were encouraged to bring waste-free lunches. On Wednesday, the school community rode their bikes or walked to school. On Thursday, all were asked to pick up trash through-out the school. Friday was a day of choice, and classrooms were asked to chose one of the four activities  to concentrate on. These weekly, simple focuses were carried over from last years cornerstones. They named their cause "Ignite the Light of Eco-Campus".

     The Student Leadership students then began an advertisement campaign to remind the Meiners Oaks Community to particpate in the daily energy, food waste, pollution and trash reductions. The girls wrote announcements and used the intercom daily to remind everyone what the activity was. This was very effective and went on throughout the month.

      On Wednesdays, Student Leadership sold hot chocolate on the cold mornings to encourage everyone to walk or ride to school. The reward of a warm drink at school was a great incentive and the participation increased on these days. After Fall and Winter the students, staff, teachers, and parents begin to associate a day of the week with the environmental concentration.

     As their leader I met with my student leadership team weekly for 45 minutes. They brought their lunch and we shared ideas, reviewed what was working and not working, to try and improve results. I assigned a "poster advertisement" lesson. They had to identify their Green Ribbon Schools Cornerstone, form a group name, identify 5 group goals for the year, list days and times for their group to meet, list needs and supplies, contact people and rewards. I also added to have their goals and accomplishments with all of Meiners Oaks School and Community Members in mind. This proved to be a valuable lesson and led the direction of the team.

     At the end of January we had a school-wide assembly with posters, skits, and songs. Savannah, Abby, Tayler, Eva, and Stella did a skit about super heroes. They acted as if their day was the best and in the end agreed that all were important and Friday was the best of all because then classes could chose their favorite one. The students loved this clever skit with the super heroes. They also chose a theme song, "We Can Change the World" by Disney's Friends for Change. They handed out lyric sheets, and had the whole school, 320 students, sing to the song. The song playing through the sound system was motivating to everyone!

     The girls went from classroom to classroom on their chosen day to take data. They are observing classrooms turning off their lights, packing waste-free lunches, walking or riding their bikes to school, and picking up trash. The students proudly raise their hands if they have participated that day and want to be counted.

     Some ideas that the girls will continue to enforce are:

     1. Use posters from last years poster contest to help remind students in classrooms. We are going to make color copies of them and distribute them to classes so teachers can post them on the specific day for the specific activity. Mon.-Use Less Electricity, Tues.-Waste-Free Lunch, Wed.-Walk or Ride to School, Thurs.-Pick up Trash, Fri.-Chose on of the four

     2. Continue to collect data and begin to graph results to see if there is any change.

     3. Contact Electric Company to read meter to see if there is less usuage on Mondays.

     4. Send home a flyer about ideas for packing a waste-free lunch on Tuesdays.

     5. Count bikes in the bike rack, tally students walking to school.

     6. Notice a trash free campus

     Begin to observe students, staff, teachers, and parents performing environmental activities on their own during the week. This cornerstone was a Earth Month Challenge Winner in 2012 and the school and staff had prior knowledge of these daily activities.

    The girls had the idea to make a music video with the other student leadership team. They made it to the song "We Can Change the World" that they shared at the assembly. This production was shown at the local movie theater during a school-wide fund raiser. We are now in the process of making copies of the video and sharing it with our Meiners Oaks Community.

 Loyalty, Dedication, and Committment by this team has made this cornerstone successful at Meiners Oaks School. The girls collected some good results on their data-

     -Less Electricity-40%

     -Waste-Free Lunch-30%

     -Walk or Ride to School-50%

     -Whole School Trash Pick-Up-75%

     -Chose one of the four-40%

The girls were proud of their impact they made on the Meiners Oaks Campus.