By Celis Brisbin, Programs Manager
Green School Environmental Treasures Tour of Quincy High School
Led by Alex Pitkin and Matt Rice of Symmes Maini, and McKee, two of the architects who designed the building, the tour featured the school’s green design features, including the building’s rooftop photovoltaic array, which spurred discussion of the growing potential for solar as a renewable home-energy source. The school's sustainability club – The Green Team QHS – shared their efforts to obtain a hydration system for use by both students and staff to drastically reduce the use of plastic water bottles. (Please see attached proposal.) Participants also toured the Arts wing, featuring displays of student eco-design projects, such as an upcycled bottle cap dress, and the STEM wing’s green
Built in 2010, many attendees had never toured the school and were amazed by the beauty and thoughtfulness of the building’s design aimed at enhancing a collaborative cross-disciplinary curriculum, innovative green features, and life cycle analysis the architects used in selecting sustainable materials. Participants were particularly impressed that freshman students are encouraged to try out each of the technical programs before deciding on a major and several commented that they wished they could go back to high school!