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 SJCS Green Initiative
Middle School Teacher – Mrs. Carrie Geels
As a Christian educator partnering with families and churches in our community, it is my desire for students to understand, first, the extent of God’s love for them through Jesus, and second, that creation is being restored and each of us is called to be an integral part of that restoration through stewardship and responsibility in consuming less and living simply. As followers of Christ, it is vital to understand not only our connection to creation, but the rest of the world’s connection to it as well. Our daily choices impact the world around us—humans and the rest of creation. I desire for students to be able to connect to every part of God’s creation and to take what they are learning in a classroom to the next level of impacting their families, churches, neighborhoods, community, and ultimately, the world as they grow in the knowledge of who God is and make decisions upon that foundation.
Our students and entire staff have been making efforts to understand what it means to be good stewards of creation. One way these principles are playing out at SJCS is through students’ efforts to reduce the amount of lunch waste that is produced. Each day, middle school students sort their lunch waste into recyclables, compost, or landfill waste. Sixth grade students weigh the recyclables and compost each day and record their data on a chart. At the end of each week, we calculate the total amount of waste we diverted from the landfill. So far this year, we have diverted approximately 225 pounds of waste. Students receive rewards for every 150 lbs. they are able to keep out of the landfill. Throughout this process, sixth grade students are learning how to apply the scientific method to this experiment in order to form scientific questions and hypotheses. They are also learning how to collect and record data and use an Excel spreadsheet to create graphs to analyze the data. Additionally, students are learning about the incredible process and life cycle of how worms and other decomposers turn food scraps into nutrient rich soil to be used as fertilizer to grow more plants. It is rewarding to see the students’ excitement and desire to share what they are learning with their families in order to make efforts at home to be good stewards of creation.
As a broader school community we are embracing this stewardship at events through the utilization of “real” plates and cups. SJCS will also be holding an annual e-waste event each January. Contact the school office for more details on how you can support this effort.
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