Three Kentucky schools are among 64 schools nationwide that have been named 2013 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools.
The program honors schools that are exemplary in reducing environmental impact and costs; improving the health and wellness of students and staff; and providing effective environmental and sustainability education, which incorporates STEM, civic skills and green career pathways.
Kentucky’s National Green Ribbon Schools are:
- Cane Run Elementary (Jefferson County)
- Locust Trace AgriScience Farm (Fayette Co.)
- Northern Elementary (Scott County)
The 2013 National Green Ribbon Schools will be recognized during a national award ceremony scheduled for June 3. In announcing winners, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan lauded the honorees for modeling a comprehensive approach to being green.
“They are demonstrating ways schools can simultaneously cut costs; improve health, performance and equity; and provide an education geared toward the jobs of the future,” said Duncan. “In fact, the selected districts are saving millions of dollars as a result of their greening efforts. And the great thing is that the resources these honorees are using are available for free to all schools.”
This is the second year for the U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools program.
Commissioner of Education Terry Holliday encouraged more Kentucky schools and districts to go green. “This is a win-win-win for students, schools and districts,” he said. “Students learn valuable lessons about the environment, become environmental stewards and are exposed to 21st-century career options; schools provide a healthier place for students to learn and educators to teach; and districts save thousands of dollars in energy costs – money that then is available to support teaching and learning in the classroom.”
Resources for all schools to move toward the three pillars in which the 2013 honorees are exemplary can be found here.
The U.S. Department of Education will be publishing updated competition criteria this summer for the third year of the program, working closely with states like Kentucky that nominate schools and districts to the federal agency for national award consideration.
More information on the federal recognition award can be found here.
The list of all 2013 National Green Ribbon schools and districts, as well as their nomination information, can be found here.