Celebrating Earth Day with a Week of Activities

Earth Week was officially kicked off on Saturday, April 21st with an Art Saturday Workshop. This free workshop allowed students to participate in the beautification of our new community garden. Participants created mosaic tiles that will be part of a larger mural. We continued the week with Composting Monday, during which we made an effort to compost all of the compost-friendly items from snack and lunch. The compost went to Calvert School’s new garden, which was jumpstarted by a group of Seventh Graders. Our Middle School students also gave lessons to Kiddie Calvert and Lower School students about the importance of composting. On Day 2 of Earth Week, which was Clean Up Tuesday, students focused on picking up litter. On Wednesday, which was Lights Out Day, most of the lights in both the Lower and Middle Schools were turned off to conserve energy. Day 4 was Eat Healthy Thursday where students learned more about our locally sourced fruits and vegetables. Friday was Get Outside Friday which included a Sixth Grade Day of Service at Cylburn Arboretum, and our Fifth Agers visited the Maryland Zoo. Our Middle School students also had a rock climbing wall available to them in science classes to get outside and take advantage of the beautiful spring weather. We held a second Art Saturday to conclude Earth Week on April 28th.

A new addition to Earth Week this year was a challenge to Middle School students. Science teacher, Mr. Cowell, challenged all Middle School students to reduce their use of plastic cups. The grade that used the fewest plastic cups during snack and lunch would win a prize. Many students brought water bottles to not use cups.

The week helped to emphasize our commitment as a certified Maryland Green School. You can read more about Green Schools on the Maryland Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education’s website.