Evergreen Wins National Green Ribbon School Award

At an all-school assembly, Evergreen executive director Susan Gottfried leads a cheer for winning the Green Ribbon School Award.

Staff Reports

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced the first-ever list of Green Ribbon Schools, comprising 78 schools in 29 states and the District of Columbia. Evergreen Community Charter School is one of two schools in North Carolina to win this prestigious award; the other is the American Hebrew Academy in Greensboro.

“Environmental responsibility is part of our mission and is reflected in every aspect of our school – the way we teach, our community outreach, upgrades to our physical plant, and our school culture of energy conservation and environmental awareness,” explained Susan Gottfried, Evergreen’s executive director. “We are honored to be nationally recognized for our efforts.”

Evergreen is widely known for its environmental initiatives including
water quality testing in local streams, running activity buses on
biodiesel, managing parking lot runoff with rain gardens, installing
solar panels, and creating butterfly gardens and an organic community
garden. The charter school recently received a grant from the Glass
Family Foundation to build an outdoor classroom and a climbing wall.

Evergreen environmental education coordinator Terry Deal talks to students about the importance of being a Green Ribbon School.

Evergreen staff and students celebrated winning the award with an
all-school assembly hosted by radio personality and environmental
activist Ned Ryan Doyle. Teachers handed out green ribbons to the
students, and a group of sixth-graders known as the Evergreen Green Team
unrolled a large banner displaying the words,” National Green Ribbon
School.”

The Education Department’s Green Ribbon Schools (ED-GRS)
is a federal recognition program that began in September 2011. Honored
schools exercise a comprehensive approach to creating “green”
environments through reducing environmental impact, promoting health,
and ensuring a high-quality environmental and outdoor education to
prepare students with the 21st century skills and sustainability
concepts needed in the growing global economy.

The 78 honored
schools were chosen from among nearly 100 nominees submitted by 30 state
education agencies, the District of Columbia, and the Bureau of Indian
Education. More than 350 schools completed applications to their state
education agencies. Among the list of winners are 66 public schools
including eight charters, and 12 private schools. The nominees included
43 elementary, 31 middle, and 26 high schools, with around half
representing high-poverty student bodies.

For more information about Evergreen Charter School visit www.evergreenccs.org .