Learning To Be Green in High School

One of the most important life lessons we can ever teach our children is how to give back to the world. That is what Gloria Latta and her team of environmental

educators at Wheaton Warrenville South High School is doing in Wheaton, Illinois – sharing the future with kids.

Gloria’s kids worked together this year to learn about greening and sustainability in her Environmental Sciences class. From understanding the importance of prairie grasses, to studying the basics of “reduce, reuse, & recycle”, to studying alternate ways to utilize power – all of these things helped these ordinary kids learn a bit more about how our world works.When I recently came to meet the class and see their model green home projects, I was amazed at what they have grasped and retained related to the physical science of sustainability. Their model homes had great features that included self-generating power sources such as solar, wind, and geo-thermal power; water conservation techniques such as rain barrels, permeable paving driveways, native plantings; and chemical fume reduction ideas such as special non-fume paint, low-fume floor-boarding, and carpet made from recycled water bottles. These concepts are a great basic introduction and begs the point that all of us should be looking into how we can better educate our children on the basics of environmental learning. After all, we learn about cleanliness, behavior, and society from our parents – we should also learn about how to take care of the earth from our parents too.

Kudos to Gloria Latta and the WWSHS science team for working to do the right thing for our kids! I hope more high school’s across the nation take on the challenge of educating our most precious resource – our children – on environmental science.

In the photos above you can see a few of the environmental science teams with their awesome “green” houses. I am proud to say one the houses above was made by my daughters team. Can you guess which one is my daughter?

-Shawna Lee Coronado is an author, locally syndicated newspaper columnist, health, and greening expert focused on teaching and living a green lifestyle. She blogs on conservation, greening and health tips at www.gardeningnude.com. Information on her books and other media can be found at www.thecasualgardener.com.

educators at Wheaton Warrenville South High School is doing in Wheaton, Illinois – sharing the future with kids.

Gloria’s kids worked together this year to learn about greening and sustainability in her Environmental Sciences class. From understanding the importance of prairie grasses, to studying the basics of “reduce, reuse, & recycle”, to studying alternate ways to utilize power – all of these things helped these ordinary kids learn a bit more about how our world works.When I recently came to meet the class and see their model green home projects, I was amazed at what they have grasped and retained related to the physical science of sustainability. Their model homes had great features that included self-generating power sources such as solar, wind, and geo-thermal power; water conservation techniques such as rain barrels, permeable paving driveways, native plantings; and chemical fume reduction ideas such as special non-fume paint, low-fume floor-boarding, and carpet made from recycled water bottles. These concepts are a great basic introduction and begs the point that all of us should be looking into how we can better educate our children on the basics of environmental learning. After all, we learn about cleanliness, behavior, and society from our parents – we should also learn about how to take care of the earth from our parents too.

Kudos to Gloria Latta and the WWSHS science team for working to do the right thing for our kids! I hope more high school’s across the nation take on the challenge of educating our most precious resource – our children – on environmental science.

In the photos above you can see a few of the environmental science teams with their awesome “green” houses. I am proud to say one the houses above was made by my daughters team. Can you guess which one is my daughter?

-Shawna Lee Coronado is an author, locally syndicated newspaper columnist, health, and greening expert focused on teaching and living a green lifestyle. She blogs on conservation, greening and health tips at www.gardeningnude.com. Information on her books and other media can be found at www.thecasualgardener.com.