The Greenest Grade

from Seattle Academy 2022 SAAS In Focus Magazine

Logging (In Community Service

CLASS OF 2028

Written by: Emma Glinsmann

6th & 8th Grade Science Teacher With the design of our new upper school underway, Emma Glinsmann’s current 6th graders were tasked with designing green infrastructure to handle stormwater runoff. The 6th-grade class set off investigating urban growth and human impact on the Puget Sound. They learned why it is important for Seattle residents to manage rainwater to effectively protect local coho salmon populations and marine webs. They developed prototype models of green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) — living roofs, bioswales, constructed wetlands, permeable pavement, and rain cisterns — leaving the new upper school design in the capable hands of the class of 2028.

“For me, it was the takeaway that everyone, just about everyone, is contributing even just a little to the harming of the coho salmon. It is horrifying.”

- David Rauser

David’s group made a rain garden integrated with bioswale technology. Essentially, water falls on different plants and dirt; the dirt filters out the other things the water may have picked up; then, it fills up a catch basin so the water can be used later for other purposes.

“I enjoyed the part where we got to design the GSI and make it using glue and other materials. It made me appreciate how things were built a little more, and not take it for granted.”

- Kai Gopal

Kai’s team created a living roof that soaks up water and releases it back into the atmosphere, like sweating, so it cools the building down. It also catches the water that the plants don’t need and works as insulation to keep the building warmer.

“Coho salmon are really important to the Indigenous people, like the Duwamish Tribe. They have a ceremony to honor the coho and ask them to come back. If the coho are all dying, they can’t do that.”

- Kyra Spraggins

Kyra’s team constructed a wetland where stormwater can infiltrate into the ground. The trees soak up the stormwater in their roots, and they transpire it in their leaves. The water gets cleaned and the water vapors are released back into the atmosphere.

“I learned that rain gardens are not just gardens — they are gardens filled with native plants that help collect water. SAAS has rain gardens on 13th Street that I pass walking to the Arts Center.”

- Izabella Litvak

Izabella’s team focused on rain gardens to filter the rain into the ground. This prevents runoff on roofs, in gutters, and in pipes so that runoff doesn’t hurt the coho salmon.

“I learned that it is not just about collecting the water once it is created, but preventing that [water] from hitting the streets.”

- Phoenix Shainin

Phoenix’s team built a living roof by designing a catch basin that can collect rainwater and funnel it into a local pipe system, thereby avoiding pavement and the creation of stormwater.

“For me, it was alerting me to a problem I didn’t know about — the coho are dying — and gave me a new perspective on rain. There are so many things that we can’t ever see that are picked up in surface runoff.”

- Vincent Bastien

Vincent’s team designed a living roof with some drought-tolerant succulents. Extra water collected on the roof goes into a cistern that prevents surface runoff, which is what is killing the coho because of the motor oils and the chemicals on tires.

“Throughout my schooling, I have always learned that salmon are being hurt and they are dying. But I never learned how we are protecting them. Now, every time I see someone pour paint or trash into a storm drain I know that there is something that can prevent the trash from harming the coho.”

- Violet Snodgrass

Violet’s team focused on trash traps. So, when it is raining and there is trash on the street, trash that is washed down into the storm drains gets caught in a net preventing its entry into the ocean, rivers, and streams.