by Brianna Crandall — April 4, 2016—The Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), in collaboration with the Green Schools National Network (GSNN), announced on Friday the 2016 Best of Green School award recipients.
The awards recognize 11 individuals, institutions, projects and events representing the best environmental efforts in schools across the country in the journey to transform all schools into healthy, safe and inspired places for learning, and highlight the national leaders and innovators in school sustainability for the year. The awards were announced at the Green Schools Conference and Expo in Pittsburgh last week.
Rachel Gutter, director of the Center for Green Schools at USGBC, commented:
This year’s honorees are making huge strides in their schools and communities. Each recipient is an inspiring example of innovation and passion in pursuit of schools that educate a generation of sustainability natives, students prepared to take the lead in the 21st century. Becoming a green school is a journey, not a destination; through their work, the leaders behind this inspiring work are blazing new trails in this movement to transform all schools into healthy, safe and inspired places for learning.
Recipients include:
- Higher Education Partner: Wings of Hope Environmental Education Program at Florida Gulf Coast University (Fort Myers, FL)
- K–12 School: Environmental Charter Schools (Los Angeles, CA)
- School System: Fayette County Public Schools (Lexington, KY)
- Collaborator: Space to Grow: Greening Chicago Schoolyards (Chicago, IL)
- Moment for the Movement (tie): Green Schools Alliance District Collaborative (Washington, DC)
- Moment for the Movement (tie): Research Summit on Childhood Health and School Buildings (Washington, DC)
- Transformation: USGBC Louisiana Green Schools Initiative (Baton Rouge, LA)
- Student Leadership: Hammond Junior High Magnet School (Hammond, LA)
- Policymaker: Representative Chris Lee (House District 51, HI)
- Ambassador: Deborah Moore, Green Schools Initiative (Berkeley, CA)
- Business Leadership: Pauline Souza, WRNS Studio Partner and Director of Sustainability (San Francisco, CA)
More details about each 2016 recipient are available on the USGBC Web site.
USGBC notes that this year’s Green Apple Day of Service will take place on Saturday, September 24, 2016. The annual event brings together thousands of students, teachers, parents and community leaders from around the globe to improve school environments through service projects, education, community events and more.
