SRHS Goes Green with the "Green Team"

Shore Regional High School might be home ot the Blue Devils, but they are working on adding color to their resume: green.

Thanks to the Green Team, SRHS has begun the application process to be considered for the Sustainable Jersey for Schools certification. This program is in place for New Jersey public schools that want to go green, conserve resources, and take steps to create a more environmentally-friendly future.

The Green Team for Shore consists of staff members including teachers, paraprofessionals, security, maintenance, and board members. It is co-coordinated by science teacher Mr. Jared Aprahamian and English teacher Mrs. Linda Ensor.

Ensor said Business Administrator Corey Lowell was a big proponent of the district becoming more sustainable, and that began the process. Each school needs to complete a specific number of actions before they can apply, and Shore will find out about their certification in June. In the meantime, the school can continue to complete more actions to earn higher levels of certification.

For example, a Bronze certification means a school earned 150 points. Silver is a total of 350 points. Points can be earned from 17 categories, including “Food and Nutrition,” “Student Learning,” “Energy Efficiency,” and “Green Cleaning.”

“We have some engaged students who feel we should do as much as possible to be green and adopt more earth-friendly habits,” explained Ensor. “One of our most successful actions has been composting, because our students are really involved.”

Aprahamian said his AP and IB Environmental Science classes maintain the school garden and the composting program, but credited students Lizzy Welsh and Abigail Kopec for being instrumental in maintaining the compost program.

“We hope to make people stop for a moment and think about what options are available to them. We put more options in place,” he said.

The school garden, currently in its third year, was started by Aprahamian and grows crops such as sweet potato, Swiss chard, celery, beets, lettuce, kohlrabi, and arugula.

“The cooking classes use food from the garden for cooking,” said Aprahamian. “Next year my plans are to give the food to the cafeteria. They will even offer it as a food giveaway.”

“All the gardening is done through organic processes, so the kids learn about that too,” added Ensor.
Ensor said the Green Team is also trying to increase awareness of healthy habits for faculty and staff. With the composting, Security Officer P.J. O'Connell and some of the students encouraged others to drop orange peels and apple cores in a composting bucket in lunchroom.

“They understand that some items don’t need to be thrown in the trash,” said Ensor. “It’s little but not so little. We also have kids who are much more aware about not using reusable bottles or recycling plastic bottles.”

The Green Team meets every six to eight weeks, and some upcoming plans are to potentially hold a Green Fair, make the parking lot a “no-idling zone,” and work on making Shore an “asthma-friendly” school environment.

The Green Team Members:

1. Susan Moran
2. Carol Burkley
3. Alison Cook
4. Alice Simonson
5. Jennifer Czajkowski
6. Meghan McMahon
7. Corey Lowell
8. Jeff Labush
9. Jeanne Patterson
10. Jared Aprahamian
11. Linda Ensor
12. Marco Oliveira
13. Jackie Burley
14. P. J. O’Connell
15. Ashleigh Pecherski
16. Liam Garrigal