The green scene is expanding at Kiski Area Upper Elementary School in Washington Township.
The Green Team club, composed of 40 fifth and sixth graders committed to promoting sustainability and eco-friendly practices on campus, has a waiting list for membership.
“We had about a dozen members when we first started,” said co-facilitator Michele Thomas. “The kids like that they’re helping take charge at their school.”
The club gathers every Friday during school hours, splitting into groups that collect all recyclable-eligible materials from bins located throughout the school.
“Our area does not have curbside recycling,” Laura Martinka, club co-facilitator, said.
Additional Green Team duties and activities include maintaining a clean campus, planting and maintaining a pollinator garden, recycling, composting and building bird houses.
Thomas and Martinka received a grant in 2016 from the National Sustainability Teachers Academy Scholarship and attended a one-week sustainability workshop at Arizona State University.
Additional grants such as the Toolbox for Education grant covered the cost of providing reusable water bottles to every student and the addition of water bottle filling stations throughout the building.
A total of about $10,000 in grants helped to establish the club in 2016. Per Kiski’s policy, fundraising is not permitted for students in grades K-6.
“Look, a worm” exclaimed sixth grader Bria Stevenson, while weeding Friday in the pollinator garden located in the school’s courtyard.
Stevenson quickly scooped up two worms in the palm of her hand, studied them a few minutes, and returned them to the soil.
“I just like how bright and colorful it is. It makes me feel like home,” Bria said of her time working in the garden.
The pollinator garden was planted by students last year and features veggies such as kale and herbs.
Bee-friendly blooms are abundant, and a nearby greenhouse offers an indoor space for students to garden and work during inclement weather.
“We hope to plant numerous more gardens out here in the courtyard,” said Thomas.
Thomas said the club relies on the generosity of area community members, such as Dave Vargo, owner of Kiski Feed and Garden in Allegheny Township, who donated pollinator plants for the school garden.
Bria, of Washington Township, said she decided to join the Green Team because it would be new for her.
“It’s helping the earth. I like how we can adventure a bit around the school,” she said.
Principal Brian Swartzlander said the club’s popularity with his students isn’t surprising.
“A club like Green Team teaches our students how to be responsible citizens, ” Swartzlander said. “They take ownership in keeping our building clean and operating efficiently.”
Swartzlander said students are involved in planting and maintaining a vegetable garden, collecting and managing recycling bins and dumpsters and plants and trees on campus grounds.
“Their main goal is to show others how you can reduce, reuse and recycle — to conserve our environment for future generations,” Swartzlander said.
The Green Team’s school year culminates in an annual field trip to the Eden Hall Campus of Chatham University. The 400-acre academic community, located in Richland, focuses on sustainable approaches to living.
Donations to The Green Team may be mailed to Kiski Area PTO, c/o The Green Team, 4350 Route 66, Apollo, PA 15613.
