On Oct. 27 at the Atlantic City Convention Center, Taunton Forge Elementary School was awarded a certificate that only 54 of the approximately 2,500 schools in New Jersey received.
The school was recognized as a “sustainable school” by the Sustainable Jersey for Schools organization. It also contributed to the Sustainable Jersey Bronze certification the Medford school district received.
It was one of five districts in the state that had each one of its schools recognized for the first ever Sustainability Jersey for Schools certification.
The district has been pursuing the effort to go green for more than a decade by being a leader in utilizing solar projects in most of its facilities to enable sustainability for cost savings in an effort to put money back into classrooms.
Environmental club advisor and Taunton Forge teacher Mike Ahearn and district green team member and Taunton Forge teacher Pete Johnson set out to make this a two-fold process that not only focused on saving money but also emphasized educating students and their families.
“The students are the ones that are going to be here 50 to 100 years from now, so it’s really important to employ sustainable practices in them,” Johnson said.
The Sustainable Jersey for Schools organization is a new nonprofit that certifies schools in sustainability based on efforts in achieving environmentally “green” practices.
There are numerous requirements these schools must achieve that the organization describes as rigorous.
“Becoming certified with Sustainable Jersey for Schools is a significant achievement for schools and their school district,” co-director of Sustainable Jersey Donna Drewes said. “They are leaders in implementing sustainability measures that save money, improve the learning environment and prepare today’s students to address the challenges of tomorrow.”
“I commend the schools that have achieved certification for their demonstrated commitment toward the long-term goal of a sustainable New Jersey,” co-director of the Sustainable Jersey program Randall Solomon said.
Schools are required to collaborate with their respective districts to complete various actions and provide documentation toward certification. For instance, it is mandatory that every district and school establish a “green team.”
Ahearn was responsible for starting the Taunton Forge environmental club in 2009. It is a group that conveys this green team initiative that has lead to different developments such as solar panels on schools and numerous recycling projects.
Ahearn could not say enough about the enjoyment he gets from seeing the community involved in one common purpose and hopes families understand these practices can potentially encourage a lot of other places to go green, further helping to preserve the environment.
The school also attributed its successful certification to the Woodford Cedar Run Wildlife Refugee and its executive director Jeanne Gural in particular.
Gural helped install a 1,000-square foot rain garden at the school on a previously over-excavated patch of land during a period of two years.
Since being completed last year, the garden has served as both a functional pollinator habitat and an outdoor classroom for the entire school. Run-off water from the school’s roof waters the plants in the garden.
“Working with the children from Taunton Forge Elementary on their rain garden was one of the most rewarding projects I have had the pleasure to work on in my nearly seven years with Cedar Run,” Gural said. “Still to this day, when I run into one of the students or their parents, they comment on how much they learned and how meaningful the total experience was. I could not agree more, as it was the same and more for me.”
“The rain garden project that Jeanne worked on at Taunton Forge Elementary School was instrumental in adding points to our district’s goal in attaining Sustainable Jersey for Schools certification,” Medford Superintendent Joe Del Rossi said. “Ensuring sustainability reinforces the message that we have to be as efficient as we possibly can with adults and students, which sets a positive tone. It’s also cost-effective and allows us to send money back into the classroom.”
The Medford Township School District was honored by Sustainable Jersey Schools at an awards ceremony held in conjunction with the New Jersey School Boards Association 2015 Conference in October, which also featured sessions on the certification program, along with NJSBA sustainability support programs for New Jersey schools.
Gural, Johnson, Ahearn and Taunton Forge Principal Sherry Weinberg were all in attendance to accept the award.
