Students Launch New Green School Quest Initiative

By Justin J., Eighth Grade

Written for TCS News, produced by Eighth Grade Language Arts students, December 2022

October 2018. To read the full announcement,

Upper Division Head, Lori Knoblauch, said the kids were special because “I love their adventurous spirits and their willingness to try new things.” She loves her job because she gets to work behind the scenes. “I do a lot of work in the background to make this magic happen. And I get to watch it happen.” Lori loves all of the traditions here but two stand out to her. “I love the Feast and the Wagon Train. However, that’s a school-wide tradition. My favorite Middle School tradition has to be the Eighth Grade graduation.” nally realized what was obvious--of course he’s bored.

Lillian, an eighth grader, said something she thinks is special about TCS is how everyone is brought together and connected. When asked what the most special tradition at The College School is, she said, “Definitely the Thanksgiving Feast and Wagon Train that has been going on for 35 years, and the whole school gets to connect.” Something different about this school is “our big trips that we go on. We went on a trip to North Carolina to study and be scientists in the field.”

The world he functions in is incredibly different than the one in which I grew up. It moves at a lightning pace, and what happens at school must engage students in a way that understands this change in our culture. We don’t have to move more quickly, but we do have to educate students more dynamically. And what does that look like?

Recently, the Eighth Grade class at The College School decided on their initiatives for the Green School Quest, a project-based challenge created by the U.S. Green Building Council. The purpose of the Quest is for groups of students guided by a mentor to create a no- to low-cost sustainable initiative that can be implemented in the school community. John McElwain, Director of Sustainability, LaBarque Campus and Summer Camps, is the mentor for the eighth graders’ Green School Quest. John first heard about the program in 2012 when former faculty member Tim Wood led the initiative at TCS. With advice from Scott McClintock, a current TCS Middle School teacher who did the initiative at his former position in Maplewood Richmond Heights, John brought the Green School Quest back this year as an Eighth Grade Exploratory class.

The students chose two initiatives within the TCS community, the first being foodwaste reduction. This project is focused on reducing food waste from lunch by initially establishing a baseline measurement of the amount of food in the compost bins around the cafeteria. Once the baseline is established, Eighth Grade spokespeople will speak with each grade to educate them about their initiative, encouraging them not to waste food and identifying ways they can limit their food waste. Over subsequent weeks, the students will incrementally weigh the compost, tracking weight over time. To leave a further impact on the other grade levels, the students will share the school’s progress toward lowering the compost weights.

John McElwain, when referring to the lunch program and the food initiative, says “our community was supportive to take something really beneficial to our community and just make it a little bit better for our ecosystem, for our environment, and for our community as a whole.”

Students have to find their own answers. Our students need to be curious, imaginative, and inquisitive. In my first few months here, I’ve seen that approach in action. Our teachers are guides, facilitators, and partners on this path. Much has changed in the past fifty-five years, but the reason this school was founded remains very much the same. n

Brie Alley, the Director of Development and Communications, said “Students at The College School ask questions and can take on anything that comes their way. They are always open to new experiences.” Brie loves that she gets to connect with the students, teachers, and grandparents. “I think it is amazing that students get to learn outside of the classroom because I never got to do anything like that when I was a student.”

TCS is a special, unique school with a hands-on learning environment. Everything from getting to go camping to having field trips almost every week makes it a school like no other.

Milana H., who has been at TCS for 11 years, is one of the spokespeople for the food-waste reduction initiative. She hopes to get the other grades to reduce their levels of waste by encouraging them to do so, possibly by offering a prize for the grade with the least waste. Soon, the eighth graders plan to meet with the staff from the new FLIK lunch program at TCS to put their plans into action. They are also hoping to discuss other methods of reducing their food waste through the initiative.

The students’ second initiative aims to bring plants into classrooms throughout the school. This initiative was chosen to reduce the Co2 levels within classrooms and to create a nicer working environment for students and teachers. The students want to lower Co2 levels in order to reduce the chance of bad health effects caused by the chemical. Eighth graders are choosing plants that have the best Co2-to-oxygen conversion rate to increase their impact. Using recycled plastic containers and compost soil from the school’s garden, the students plan to place plants around the school, starting in the Middle School classrooms. With the addition of a large number of plants around the school, lots of water is required to keep them healthy. Part of the students’ initiative is to set up rain barrels to collect rainwater that will be used to sustainably water the plants. Students will take on the caretaker role and have the job of watering the plants and

Continued on next page