Maryland Green School
The Maryland Green School awards program is a holistic, integrated approach to authentic learning that incorporates local environmental issue investigation and professional development with environmental best management practices and community stewardship. All Maryland schools pre K-12, public and private are eligible. Applications are non-competitive and are accepted each year in the spring. Newly recognized Maryland Green Schools and Maryland Green Centers are announced in late spring." from the MAEOE green schools web page. (From their website)
2019 Application Cover Sheet for Maryland Green School Award
through the Maryland Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education
Summary
The Center for Young Children (CYC) as an academic unit in the College of Education, is a full day lab preschool and kindergarten program for children ages 3 – 6 whose parents are primarily students, staff or faculty located at the University of Maryland, College Park campus. From our demographic profile, CYC has an international student body representing over 25 different countries. For current children and families we wish to pass on our goals, ideas, and methods supporting sustainability to future generations.
It is the policy of the classrooms at the CYC to have two outside play times every day if the weather permits. Each playtime lasts around an hour. Children go out to explore, rain, snow or shine.
Playing outside in the fresh air gives children an opportunity to run, move and enjoy the gardens and environment. Nature has so much to offer. Children observe plants and wildlife in a naturalistic setting. Parents are asked to provide necessary clothing appropriate for the weather.
Our curriculum is based on project work where children do in-depth studies of a topic in the "here and now". All domains are covered within the study topic. Throughout the years many of these topics are nature based or environmental in content, such as trees, birds, seeds and recycling. Each study typically runs six to eight weeks.
As is stated In the University of Maryland’s strategic plan, The University wants to take “responsibility for the future” and so does CYC. The University of Maryland strategic plan states,” We will be a campus that is a model for the sustainability of its environment and we will be a university that seeks solutions to the world’s most challenging and vexing problems”. The CYC has been moving forward to become a model “Green” school as members of the University of Maryland community. We work to assess our usage of water, paper, and food disposal, purchase and replace wasteful equipment and strive to behave in an Eco-friendly way. For the Center for Young Children one of our goals is to have the youngest “Terps” attend a green school and develop lifelong conservation behaviors.
Top Five Accomplishments
1-Recertifying as a Green Flag NWF EcoSchool March 6, 2017-
An audit is conducted with the children helping check for things like drafts around the windows, cracks in the foundation, and weighing trash, compost, and recyclables.
2-Earning the UMD's Platinum Office Award
January 2019- The CYC became the first office on campus to earn the Platinum level Green Office Award.
3- Recycling through Crayola ColorCycle
The Kindergarten class collected all the markers and then estimated how many there were. The final count before sending them to ColorCycle was 266!
4- Trash-Free Tuesdays and Composting
The CYC has had a long going tradition of Trash Free Tuesday and the children weigh and graph the landfill trash made each week.
5- The Many Gardens around the CYC
In addition to a vegetable garden, rain garden, and herb garden, each classroom has a garden outside of their backdoor.
The CYC vegetable garden grows, strawberries, kale, spinach, squash, tomatoes, cucumber, and more.