A teacher workshop focuses on environmental education

By Veronica Burns

Instead of the usual kids seated at the small tables in the school library, on November 6 there were six groups of grownups. These were teachers from Botelle Elementary School, taking part in a workshop under the guidance of Principal Timothy Lee. Titled, “Teaching and Living an Environmental Ethic,” the goal was to introduce teachers to a school program that will raise awareness and sensitivity to nature, the environment and issues of conservation.

The workshop was the first cohesive effort towards making Botelle a “green” school, a process that could take up to a year. “This is something that the superintendent and I have talked about,” says Lee, “because it is now more and more considered to be an educator’s responsibility to help kids protect the planet for the future.” Lee also said it was a personal interest of his. “I’m worried about the state of the planet,” he admitted, “but instead of being worried I thought it would be a good idea to do something about it.”

The principal introduced the topic by pointing out the two roles they all shared: living and teaching. “We are actually doing both,” said Lee. “When we talk about living in an environmentally conscious way it means we have to do things, but also teach things.” When it comes to an environmental ethic, Lee said there is a conflicting perspective. “The earth is here to serve us, or we need to care for the earth if it is to sustain us.”  Issues such as consumption vs. conservation were discussed. “Our standard of living is based on consumption,” said Lee, “do we want our children to have the same standard?”

Gathered in groups, the teachers discussed recycling (is Botelle doing enough? Maybe not), depletion of natural resources (how do we help children understand what that means), landfill issues, how to use existing resources in the Norfolk community and finding ways to get children out into the environment (maybe a school garden?). Another part of the workshop involved the teachers going off in pairs to the computers to search for Web sites on specific environmental topics, including preserving habitats, water and energy conservation, school gardens and green classrooms.

Environmentalism is not exactly new territory for the school. The unit on Monarch butterflies, raising and releasing Atlantic salmon and the sixth grade trip to Cape Cod are already traditions in environmental education at Botelle. Earlier this year, aided by a grant from Norfolk’s Energy Task Force, the Norfolk Library hosted a successful exhibition of the students’ artwork on clean energy.

The school is also changing out its light bulbs. The light bulbs in the facility are currently (pun intended) being switched from incandescent to high efficiency Super T8 lighting. New windows will soon be installed, in an effort to make the building not only more energy efficient but, hopefully, to help shrink the electricity bill. Also, at some point in the future, a 5-kilowatt solar panel, (the reward for the town’s Clean Energy Options program), may be seen on the school roof.

There seemed to be enthusiasm at the workshop about moving in this direction. “In about four or five months,” Lee told his teaching team, “I would like to have the kids assume a leadership role. They could maybe go home and tell their parents to change the light bulbs, or to turn off the TV.” The kids, he added, are future leaders in their respective communities. “We need to empower them, to alert them.”

 The environmental resource list will be available to anyone on the Botelle School Web site by clicking on links.