Boston Green Academy Does a Green Apple Week of Service!

By Chamberlain Segrest

By Chamberlain Segrest, Director of Green Programming at Boston Green Academy

Boston Green Academy (BGA), a high school located in South Boston, celebrated 2013 Green Apple with an entire week of programming! BGA opened two years ago as an in-district Horace Mann Charter School with the mission to graduate all students prepared for college and the 21st century green
economy.

Administrators and teachers strive to integrate concepts of sustainability into classroom curriculum, but students are also provided great opportunities to learn and explore outside the classroom walls. This past summer, one of BGA’s students held a summer green job as a Youth Energy Auditor. She took her newly acquired knowledge about energy conservation and renewable energy technologies back to BGA in order to help organize Boston Green Academy’s Green Apple WEEK of Service event.

 

BGA Senior Jose Honore presents to BGA staff on 

ways the school can save energy

During this week of service, staff and students spent their daily advisory period educating themselves about the simple things occupants can do to reduce energy use and cut down on utility bills. Even in a building built in 1901, there are opportunities for energy savings!

They surveyed the school, looking for energy offenders like plugged in vampire devices and lights left on.  Other things they did were looking in recycling bins for contaminates, researched energy saving tips online and created individual action plans to reduce energy use at BGA. BGA was motivated by the school’s green mission from Youth Energy Auditor Jose Honore’s enthusiasm.  The new Boston Public Schools Energy Conservation Campaign will be kicking off district-wide in October.

Staff and students are excited to continue this energy education and track the building energy usage, comparing monthly energy bills with those from the same month last year. Stay tuned on our progress!