Gr eeN Scho o l

As a Maryland Green School, Glenelg Country School is unique in several ways. We are one of the few independent schools which have attained Green School certification for all of our divisions. GCS is also very fortunate to be located on 87 beautiful acres of rolling Piedmont terrain. the campus includes woodlands, open fields, wetlands, and several ponds. the GCS campus has a number of exceptional specimens of ornamental and native trees. With this setting, it is not hard to imagine GCS as a Maryland Green School. the Green School Committee, composed of faculty, staff, parents and students, started the work of planning the schools Green School certification in 2006. A thorough documentation of our curriculum revealed that we incorporate environmental awareness in subjects as diverse as Science, literature, Music, Art, theater, Mathematics and history! our students became involved in several campus projects including identifying two howard County Champion trees on our Campus, reducing wastes, recycling, energy conservation, and the large project of habitat restoration on campus for the Maryland state insect, the Baltimore Checkerspot butterfly. the Baltimore Checkerspot thrives in open wet meadow habitats such as the one that exists on our campus, but it has experienced significant habitat loss. the Checkerspots host plant, the White turtlehead, is a favorite food of local deer and as the deer population has increased the numbers of plants have decreased. With a lot of hard work, students, parents and faculty have planted hundreds of White turtlehead and milkweed plants which are now thriving at the pond. We have partnered with howard County recreation and Parks and the Baltimore Checkerspot restoration Project (Washington, D.C.) for guidance. Perhaps by 2010, we will be able to introduce Checkerspot caterpillars into our habitat. our pond will then become a living laboratory for our students to observe the life cycle and population growth of this small, but important insect. Another large component to the Green School application is community service. Community service is an integral part of the GCS experience and our students participated in many projects which benefit the local environment. Some of the most recent projects were CivicWorks in Baltimore City, where students and faculty cleared vacant debris strewn lots and planted gardens; the yearly treemendous Maryland tree planting along highway embankments; maintaining a garden at the Whipps Cemetary in ellicott City; and insulating homes for habitat for humanity in Baltimore City. Several of our fourth grade students expressed in the Green School application what the Green School certification means to them. Glenelg Country School has worked very hard to create a modest habitat of white turtleheads and milkweed at our pond. every year we have a Community Planting Day where we help the Monarch Butterfly and the Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly by planting milkweeds and white turtlehead plants. We also help a family of geese grow up safely on our pond. We believe in living green. Start with your home, then school and community. It will grow, like white turtleheads, which we have planted. let it grow, let it grow. With each of these efforts, GCS proudly carries the Maryland Green School title. After all, if GCS cant call itself green then who can? A big congratulations to the Green and White Go Dragons!

the stage at the Maryland Green Schools Awards Ceremony was set with plaques, awards citations and pots of native plants. the theatre at the Community College of Baltimore County was filling with students, faculty and administrators of schools from all over Maryland. the excitement was building. After two years of planning and hard work, twenty four schools were to be honored for attaining Maryland Green School status. In all, a total of seventy five schools were honored this spring at ceremonies across the state. the Maryland Green School Awards Program is

Officially Green

BELOW: Students recycle stage materials for the Performing Arts Department; BELOW, LEFT: Lower School students were encouraged to utilize reusable storage materials instead of plastic bags.

By Debbie Lieberman, Lower School Science Teacher

a comprehensive environmental education initiative administered by the Maryland Association for environmental and outdoor education (MAeoe). to become a Maryland Green School, MAeoe states that schools must: Use their school site and curricular instruction to prepare students to understand and act on current and future environmental challenges facing all Marylanders. Model environmental best management practices (BMPs) in building and landscape design, maintenance, and operation. Build and maintain partnerships with the local community to enhance environmental learning and to design and implement projects and programs that result in a healthier environment. unlike other Green School programs in the nation which often focus only on energy conservation, the Maryland Green Schools program is much more comprehensive. By integrating environmental awareness into the curriculum, school site and community service, and because many of the environmental projects are student led, Maryland Green Schools take a truly holistic approach to environmental stewardship.

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ABOVE: Faculty and students pose with the newly awarded Maryland Green School banner outside the ceremonies. LEFT: Middle School students work on a habitat restoration project for the grounds.

Spiortad an Drgoin

Summer 2009

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