I have the distinct honor of working with an incredible group of students at an Urban high school in a Capital city in the Northeast. Our school is located in a poverty zone with 100% of our students receiving free meals at the school. Our student population consists primarily of students with Jamaican and Hispanic heritage. We also have students who are refugees from all over the world. Currently, we are getting students from Karen and the Middle East. Over one-third of our students are ELL.
Our students form a unique family of learners who have come to know our school as an important part of their community engagement.
Over the last 9 years the students have enthusiastically participated in our second annual Green themed events: Green Apple Day of Service and Earth Day Cleanup. Students participate in Sustainability projects and show a commitment to their community by picking up trash in the three neighborhoods around the school. This past year students, along with corporate partners converted all of the landscaped locations around the school into weed-free sustainable beds.
My Project
Our school emphasizes Project Based Learning (PBL) with real life projects that have a direct impact on our school community. As part of our Green Theme, our science and engineering classes are teaming up to design and build a model sustainable community garden for the school in line with the new NGSS Engineering standards. The students, their families, and the local Karen refugee population will benefit directly, not only in learning, but also in sharing the produce grown in the garden. Students will now have the opportunity to work directly with mentors from a local company and a local agricultural foundations.
The solar/wind powered sustainable shed is a critical component of this project.
Currently, there is no power in the location for the community garden. There is also no secure building to store equipment for the sustainable garden. The missing link in implementing PBL projects of this magnitude are the financial resources needed for the project.
The Solar/Wind Powered shed will be built as part of our 2017 Green Apple Day of Service community service event. The students and mentors will assemble the shed and then build a small off grid hybrid (solar and wind) power station, on and in the shed. The shed will also be used to store tools and equipment for the garden. The electricity will be used to power equipment, provide lighting in the shed and for the garden, and to provide power for a pump connected to the rainwater collecting system.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mr. Mangus and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
