Spencer Butte Middle School: Green Class

The Green Class at Spencer Butte Middle School (SBMS) explores our world’s climate crisis using different scales; individual, community, and global. Recent topics have included: 

• The sometimes elitist nature of environmental discourse - white Americans may afford a Prius, but lower income groups are limited to driving older polluting vehicles

• The science behind global warming

• Water and resource equity

• Using technology to study racial inequity - G.I.S. imaging produces maps that show toxic incinerators and dumps centered in communities of color

• A comparison of the recent Whitehouse policies and plans of the Obama Whitehouse

• Science and morality

• Who pays for what science and how that affects the outcome

• Practices of indigenous people

• Green business

Students in The Green Class examine what projects they can design and implement to bring SBMS on a path to a zero carbon footprint. A second, but equally important goal is to share their knowledge with the entire school membership and other schools in the district and state. In addition to class time, students engage in projects and field trips.  Projects identified by The Green Class are recycling, composting, service/learning, and school and district-wide education.  The following description outlines the intention and results of these four projects. 

Project one: Improve recycling

The nascent recycling program in place at SBMS was overhauled. It now processes 50% paper, 80% cardboard, 40% plastic, and 90% glass generated by the school. Every classroom, administrative office, and community room has a recycling system. As a tool for mainstreaming, Life Skills students participate in the program and receive recognition for their efforts. The Green Class is present at every school event and designs a recycling effort tailored to the occasion.

Additional goal: persuade the school district to purchase recycled paper 

Project two: Composting foodstuffs

All discarded food, excepting meat products, is composted. Students, teachers, and cafeteria staff have been trained to compost foodstuffs. The Green Class has built and maintains the composting garden. A summer vegetable crop has been produced and a winter crop is planned for 2010. The students study the Three Sisters approach to food production practiced by Native Americans. Beans, squash, and corn are grown to reduce/eliminate the need for pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizer.

Additional goal: provide food from the compost garden for Food for Lane County 

Project three: Service/learning in the U.S. National Forests

The Green Class has taken many field trips. In the spring of 2008, the class traveled to Opal Creek. The group studied indigenous environmental stewardship through sustainable plant harvesting and hunting techniques. During a trip to the South Umpqua National Forest in the fall 2008, students worked on trail maintenance and clean-up coupled with instruction provided by the Forest Service.

Additional goal: developing a relationship with the Forest Service and local tribes through further field trips 

Project four: School, district, and community education

The Green Class and the Institute for Sustainability in Education and Ecology organized the “Hope in Action” symposium in November 2008. Over 400 students from the Eugene region attended workshops on a range of environmental and societal topics. In spring 2008, The Green Class students were asked to present their fall 2007 preservation project in the Wychus Creek area to the Oregon Green School’s conference in Salem. They have been asked to present again in March 2009. An SBMS school/community event in January 2008 highlighted the efforts of The Green Class. Mayor Piercy and John Fischer attended.

Additional goal: a speaker series  

Spencer Butte was the first middle school in the Eugene area to be named a “Green School” in the Oregon Green Schools program. Certificate of Merit status is now pending. SBMS has the goal of reaching Premier level. 

The Green Class was introduced in 2007 and is extremely popular. That fall over 250 students applied for thirty positions. The class has expanded to two semesters per year.  

The exceptional success of The Green Class has allowed students and faculty to dream past the initial concept of the course. The school would like to invite eco-speakers, increase the viability of the composting system, expand curricular topics, and support field trips. Thus far, The Green Class has been able to sponsor a series of projects with a limited budget.  Many parents and school staff members volunteer time, donate money, and provide transportation. With additional funding, The Green Class will be able to deepen the students’ understanding of climate change, the issues of environmental ethics, and learn ways to be directly involved in caring for the planet. 

The Spencer Butte Middle School community would like to partner with your organization to be a model program of interdisciplinary teaching and project-based learning. Thank you for considering funding The Green Class at Spencer Butte Middle School.

For more information, please contact Casey Whelan: cwhelan [at] businesslawcenter [dot] com