2.7: Healthy School Environment

Return to Objective 2: Student-driven Sustainability Practices

What role do pollinators play in the growth of so many delicious ingredients we enjoy during our meals? For our 2019 Green, Healthy, Smart Challenge, students tackled this question and provided a delicious answer. Students researched and learned about the role many different pollinators play in our gardens and prepared recipes featuring ingredients grown on plants that these pollinators help to propagate. Students invited their peers around the school to sample the delicious treats we owe to pollinators.

When students finished work on a cookbook as part of a Green, Healthy, Smart Challenge, they weren't ready to hang up their chef hats just yet, and the Cookbook Club was born. In addition to publishing an annual compendium of recipes from our Seed to Table program, the Cookbook Club collaborates with the student kitchen to continue introducing students throughout the school to new flavors and recipes through tastings and samples. The photos below are from a recent soup tasting; up next on the tasting docket - garlicky kale chips with sea salt!

Students in Upper Elementary learned about sustainable cleaning products. They blended their own vinegar-based solutions and shared their knowledge and products with their peers in Lower Elementary.

To minimize food waste and ensure hungry kids have access to healthy snacks, students create share bowls in their classrooms. Students make any fresh produce or healthy snacks that they do not want to eat available to peers who might feel like a snack.

Students grow plants in the classrooms for observational purposes and to practice plant care, improve indoor air quality, and engage in leaf studies.

In 2019, we inaugurated staff vs student tournaments and sports challenges to promote team-building, camaraderie, fitness, and a little healthy competition. So far, we have enjoyed two basketball games and a cornhole tournament, with plans for more.

For the Chopped Challenge, students experimented with new ingredients and created fresh dishes for their peers to sample, in the hopes of encouraging students to develop a taste for healthy, whole foods, and to give older students an opportunity to showcase culinary talents: