Five Berkley Schools Honored for Michigan Green School Status

Five Berkley schools were honored Wednesday morning at Oakland Schools in Waterford for their commitment to being environmentally friendly and obtaining Michigan Green School status.

During the fourth annual Oakland County Green Schools ceremony, 193 schools were recognized for achieving the designation.

In order to receive the Green School status, schools must perform a series of green-friendly activities and then apply for the certification, detailing the projects they have taken on. To obtain the minimum requirements to receive certification, 10 activities following the guidelines must be met throughout the school year. Emerald status indicates that participating schools achieved 15 green-related activities. Evergreen status is presented to participants that complete 20 qualifying activities.

Berkley schools that earned recognition Wednesday are:

Michigan Green School Emerald Status

Michigan Green School Evergreen Status

In an effort to be more eco-friendly, Rogers Elementary has been recycling a little bit of everything, participating in waste-free lunches, has incorporated motion-sensing lights in its building and has been conscious about unplugging everything during school breaks.

“We even purchased green soap, and there have been cost savings there,” said fourth-grade teacher Ashley Seidl, who originally headed the Green School effort at Rogers.

Some of the ideas brought up at the ceremony were rain gardens, shoe drives, sports equipment recycling and swapping and having green kid awards based on how energy-efficient individual students are.

“As we talk this morning, we hear a lot about saving energy and recycling, and many of the programs that you all have thought about with your creative ideas,” said Carole Schmidt, deputy superintendent for Oakland Schools. “And you what that is, is learning — and we’re learning how to take care of our world and our environment.”

“It’s really nice to be here,” Rogers special education teacher Sarah Bruce said of the awards ceremony. “It was great to hear about new green ideas in the classroom.”

“This is our fourth year as a part of this program, and it is personally important to me," Seidl said. "I think it has made a huge difference in our building.”

The top three Oakland County Green Schools announced Wednesday were Keller Elementary School of Royal Oak, Royal Oak Middle School and Walled Lake Central High School.

“Recycling is just a part of what we do now,” Bruce said.

For more information on the Michigan Green School program, visit the Oakland Schools website at www.oakland.k12.mi.us and click on “Michigan Green Schools” in the "Educators" column.