City School students talk environment at education summit
There was no shortage of volunteers when teachers at West Valley City School asked for volunteers to make a presentation at an environmental education summit held in downtown Spokane.
More than a dozen students made videos to be shown at last week’s conference even though they didn’t get a grade or extra credit. “It seemed like a good thing to do,” student Madi McHenry-Kroetch said.
The Environmental Education Association of Washington and the West Valley Outdoor Learning Center joined forces to host the regional E3 Summit, which stands for education, environment and economy.
The videos were each between three and five minutes long and addressed waste management, transportation, schoolyard habitat, organic foods, indoor air quality and energy efficiency. They were well received by the educators, government officials and business representatives in attendance.
Science teacher Matthew Phillipy said that the kids knew about the presentations in advance, but didn’t have time to work on them until only two days before. Filming was done after school one day while much of the work was done the morning of the event. “It’s a good compliment to the kids that they can put together something like that in a morning,” he said.
The students have been studying environmental issues for weeks, so were well prepared for the task. Aspects of the school itself are also environmentally friendly. Recycling is encouraged and the school has a machine to convert fry grease into biodiesel. A greenhouse on the grounds houses plants for sale and others that provide produce for the school’s cafe. A collection of aquariums in the basement houses fish, turtles and reptiles for the students to study.
“We raise trout for Fish and Wildlife and dump them into Liberty Lake,” student Riley Bowles said.
Bowles helped put together a video on transportation advocating the use of biodiesel and no-idling zones outside schools to reduce emissions, plus the use of alternative transportation. “I like to ride my bike, especially in the spring and summer,” he said.
Student Anthony Goodwin helped create a video on schoolyard habitat and what students would like to see outside their classroom walls. His group advocates exercise trails, the use of native plants to reduce water use, rooftop gardens to provide energy efficiency and shaded play areas. They also liked the idea of fish ponds and other features to attract wildlife.
“Look at all the open space out here,” he said. “Why not fill it with something other than dead grass?”
The No. 1 thing the students recommended to help the environment is recycling, with energy efficiency a close second.
“Get more energy efficient kitchen appliances, especially refrigerators because they’re big energy suckers,” Bowles said.