Door County’s Sustainable Classroom

With all the recent discussion about sustainability and environmental issues, it should come as no surprise that schools are doing their part to educate students, teachers, and parents about what can be done to reduce our individual impact on the earth. Friends of Gibraltar (FOG), a network of Gibraltar School district volunteers, is taking it one step further by making sustainability their theme for the 2008/2009 school year.

“For a myriad of reasons, such as the upcoming elections, or Al Gore’s movie An Inconvenient Truth, or all of the books being written about the subject, there’s an awareness about sustainability that wasn’t there before,” says Vinni Chomeau, FOG’s Project Coordinator. “With that awareness comes more resources that we can use to teach students and the community at large about some of these concerns.”

Besides being FOG’s Project Coordinator, Chomeau also has a personal interest in sustainability and conservation issues. She has completed graduate-level courses in Environmental Science at UW-Green Bay in addition to holding a Bachelor of Science degree in Outdoor Education from Northland College and an Environmental Education Certification from Hamline University. Prior to working for Gibraltar Schools, she worked as a conservationist with the Door County Soil & Water Conservation Department.

The intention of the sustainability theme is to engage students in creative solutions to environmental issues and concerns on not only a local level, but also national and international levels.

“The majority of the programs will be devoted to looking at issues that are of concern to Door County, specifically water and energy conservation issues,” says Chomeau. “It’s good for students to see the concerns of their own community, because that’s what can make the connection more personal.”

Chomeau plans to team up with local conservation groups such as the Door County Land Trust, Crossroads at Big Creek, the Ridges Sanctuary, and Sustain Door to create programs for students in grades K-12.

The construction and use of an outdoor classroom in Peninsula State Park in Fall 2008 will be an important component of this program. When finished, the outdoor classroom will be able to accommodate 50 people, with log benches and tables set up to create workspaces.

“These kinds of classrooms don’t just have to be used for naturalist types of programs,” Chomeau says. “We hope to create a tranquil spot where a student will want to do his math homework.”

After the classroom’s construction, there will be programs with naturalists and outdoor educators to kick off the use of the site. The goal of these programs will be to generate curriculum ideas and provide outdoor teaching techniques. Chomeau says that this kind of program is important because “the teacher should feel at ease in the outdoor classroom. There are challenges to teaching outside, and we want to make it enjoyable for everyone involved.”

Another concept being pursued is the creation of outdoor learning areas outside Gibraltar School. “I think if you give a student an opportunity to have ownership in something, the lesson will stay with them far longer than if you just show them,” says Chomeau. Students in different grades will adopt one outside portion of the school and tend to it – one class might tend to a bird feeder, another grade might plant a series of trees around the school and be responsible for their care. Whatever the task, Chomeau says these seemingly small things will lead the students to care more about their own environment.

One group at Gibraltar is already taking ownership in the area around them. This winter, three Gibraltar 5th graders started the “Green Team” after reading a book they received for Christmas about global warming and other environmental issues. “They were really concerned about global warming, and so they spoke with the elementary school principal about some changes that the school might be able to make – using recycled paper and fluorescent light bulbs, unplugging computers when they aren’t being used, even researching bio-diesel buses,” says Chomeau, who serves as the Green Team’s supervisor. The Green Team now consists of 15 students who meet every Friday after school to discuss things they can do to reduce their impact on the earth. The team hopes to organize sustainable programs, projects, and fundraisers to help make Gibraltar “greener.”

Chomeau says that while making changes at the school is not the primary focus of the FOG program, it is the first place students will want to make changes other than at home. “Because the program deals with sustainable solutions, it’s important that the students have a sense of support both at school and at home,” she says. Outreach is also another way for students to obtain this support, and Chomeau encourages collaboration on these programs with any conservation or naturalist organization that is willing to partner. “Any ideas or resources for field trips or volunteer opportunities would be greatly appreciated,” she says. “Again, we want the students to see what opportunities are available in their own backyards.”

What makes the FOG program unique is a healthy dose of artistic and creative expression, and Chomeau says that will not waver with the sustainability theme. “The Hardy Center for the Arts began its Exposure to Creativity program this past fall, and it was a huge success. They are going to continue that this year, and they are working on incorporating sustainability into their program as well. There is a lot of ‘green art’ being created, and it will be fun to expose the students to this different way of creating.”

Even though the majority of the programming is slated for the coming school year, Chomeau, FOG, and the Green Team are already trying to educate the Gibraltar community on sustainable practices. Sustain Door, a local group that promotes sustainability in the Door County region, is holding a Sustainability Fair at Crossroads at Big Creek, in Sturgeon Bay on Sunday, April 20 from noon to 5 pm. The fair will serve as a forum for individuals, businesses, and government to create a local network to foster a sustainable economy, society, and environment in Door County. FOG and the Green Team would like to take a bus full of families to the Sustainability Fair.

As far as the FOG theme, Chomeau is excited about the various projects in the works. “When you create a love for nature, the desire to conserve it is a natural progression. FOG hopes that this theme will increase awareness and empower students with resources for developing solutions to environmental issues.”

Friends of Gibraltar is a member-based organization. Family dues start at just $10, with business memberships available for $20. All dues monies are put toward the creation of school programs like the ones outlined in this article. For more information on Friends of Gibraltar, contact Vinni Chomeau, FOG Project Coordinator, at 920.868.3284, extension #205.