Green in Action Honorary Mention
John Allen Elementary School
Ann Arbor, MI
"We are Evergreen!"
Fourth & Fifth Grades
Our school has maintained its Green School status for the State of Michigan for six years. Each year, we try to improve upon the work we've done before. The students in fourth grade have the opportunity to join our Fourth Grade Pride Team, which focuses on environmental projects. One of our fourth grade teachers, Ryan Bruder, combined his desire to improve student awareness about healthy eating with an expanded school garden project. The fourth graders plant, care for, and harvest fresh vegetables and then use them in various dishes.
One of our fifth grade teachers, Cindy Johengen, teamed up with the University of Michigan's Engineering Department "Woven Wind" program to teach her fifth graders about wind power and wind turbines. They integrated these engineering concepts into reading, writing, science, math and art as the students learned important engineering concepts. After creating smaller models, the project culminated with the building of an actual wind turbine that generates electricity! The fifth graders then taught every class in the school what they learned.
We are thrilled that all of our students are learning to be good stewards of our beautiful planet and that they are recognizing the huge impact each one of us can make.