Green to the Top

At Boston Green Academy (BGA) you will find sustainability woven into every subject from spanish to physics and even into their off campus projects during Project Week, a service learning opportunity that the entire school participates in every year.  Education for Sustainability is not extra and it’s not forced. Teachers are supported to find ways to engage students to think critically about social, environmental and economic issues and engage in real life learning projects; truly preparing them for college and careers.  Not surprisingly, students are responding with enthusiasm and are even finding ways to take this learning and expand it to projects “outside” their classroom.

Taft Building in Brighton. Home to Boston Green Academy and Another Course to College.

 

Two years ago, as the school was preparing to move to a new building across the City in Brighton, MA,  students participated in a charette to help craft a vision for their new site, which included greening it from the ground all the way to the roof. Much work has been done over the last year to green things on the ground – such as planting garden beds, improving the recycling program, identifying opportunities for energy and water savings. But the really exciting work is happening in Green to the Top, where students in Erica Wilson’s Engineering class are transforming their typical roof to be a state of the art green roof complete with a large solar PV array, planted green roof trays, rooftop farm and outdoor classroom. Austin Wyllie points out that, “The green roof will allow BGA more room for green learning and outdoor classrooms.  It’s a new opportunity to learn, and a fresh place to hang out.” Suraia Silveira believes that, “Having a green roof at a school would make the students want to come to school more.  Students will be more happy to help build and use the roof.”  The roof will provide other benefits as well, which Green to the Top student, Talyah Peoples points out, “This green roof is a really good way to help the environment.  The urban heat island effect is horrible, and contributes to high temperatures in cities and climate change.  With this project I learned that we can start a change in our environment.”

Just this month the class won an award from the Massachusetts Secretary of Energy & Environmental Affairs for their Green to the Top project. The photo above is at the award ceremony where the participating students and staff were honored.  Students were proud of the award and reflective about what it meant for their school. Some of the student’s thoughts are included below:

“Getting the Secretary’s Award made me realize that if we work hard enough we can be acknowledged by the state.  It made me feel proud of myself and my classmates.” – Temonnie Earle

“This project is significant to the school in many ways.  Since we are a green school, the green roof will be valuable for our GREEN learning.  Receiving the Secretary’s Award was nice, but it was just another milestone to getting to where we need to be as a green school.” – Jeanielle Fanfan

“This project is significant to BGA because it is for our school and no other school has a green roof.  What was rewarding was being able to accept the Secretary’s Award.  It was an honor out of all of the projects to be accepted.” – Jessica Collins

“I felt like the purpose of this project was to make our school a fun and stylish but sustainable building.  The project is significant to BGA because it shows that we are a green school instead of just saying we are.”  – Adrianna Fletcher

“It was a very hands-on project.  It was a great competition between the class that pushed us with our teamwork.”  – Katie Doolin

“What I learned was the stops of making a green roof come true.  It was exciting to see all of the designs that my peers came up with.  The project is significant to BGA because this school is about being GREEN!”
– Michael Sheppard
Congratulations to Boston Green Academy and Green to the Top students and staff!