Green team initiatives helped make TES silver certified by Sustainable Jersey for Schools.
Go green or go home.
With an initiative to save the planet, Tabernacle Elementary School students walk the halls each day with various resources available to help the environment. This green initiative was implemented at the school about four years ago, and has only grown larger since, being led by a Green Team made up of teachers, parents and board members.
The Green Team members are Jen Armento, Stacey Artz, Kelly Cole, Gail Corey, Stacie Delaney, Michael Dunlea, Jane Francis, Fran Hahn, Danielle Hare, Louise Harris, April Janicki, Stephanee Kwelty, Brittany Murro, Jerry Paterson, Leigh Ann Peter, Caryn Smith and Roberta Tursi.
“We put our heads together and came up with some ideas that we wanted to set out for our school to make students aware of the importance of being green and ways we can be empathetic toward our community,” Principal Gerald Paterson said. “Our teachers have really jumped on board and done a phenomenal job.”
The school began with the themes of water and plastic, first looking to reduce the amount of water bottles the students use. To do this, refillable water stations were installed throughout the building, with one station outside.
Last spring, students worked together to create a rain garden in the courtyard of the school, taking the steps to first learn about how the flow of water affects the environment, followed by clearing the area of weeds, digging out the space, and adding mulch and native plants. The goal is to control runoff, manage flooding and reduce the amount of pollution in the water, which is done by allowing the runoff to pool, opposed to flowing into other areas.
The rain garden is part of the Rancocas watershed and everything eventually runs down into the ocean.
All TES students recently created a mural for the Wyland Foundation for Ocean Conservation as a part of the “Rebuild the Ocean Challenge.” Students are able to submit pieces of artwork to the foundation, where they donate $2 per piece to help keep the oceans clean.
While painting this mural, students learn the importance of keeping the water free of trash — especially plastic straws, which is a part of their initiative as well.
Each day the students count and record the amount of plastic straws they use, including those that come with juice boxes. Once they gather enough information, they will draw out a juice box design that is functional without the use of plastic straws, and they will submit it to popular companies for consideration.
The school has been using a compost throughout the school year for students to discard their leftover fruits and vegetables after lunch. The soil produced can be used for their garden, in which they grow vegetables to donate to local food banks. They will also be releasing worms into the garden.
“I want to teach the kids now, when they’re young and impressionable, how to take care of our Earth and get them to be our future leaders — they are the future generation and we want them to lead the way and to be green throughout their whole lives,” Smith said.
Their efforts have gained recognition, as they are the only school in Burlington County that is Silver Certified by Sustainable Jersey for Schools, who has provided grants to the school to make these projects possible.
TES hopes to add hand dryers in the bathrooms, and “breathe in, breathe out” rooms for mental wellness.
“They can be problem solvers at any age, so we’re starting them young to promote awareness and seeing what they can do to help,” Murro said. “Small changes make big changes later on.”
