News & Views
Country School Celebrates Earth Day with Sustainability Slogans & Book Recycling
Country School has been celebrating Earth Day all month long with a variety of initiatives that encourage environmental sustainability on campus and in the community at-large. Some, like the Lower School Book Recycling project, are decades-old traditions, while others are brand new, including an environmental sustainability slogan contest.
Earth Day Book Recycling
Country School families donated several thousands of used books to a popular recycling program in the Lower School library. This week, Lower School and Kindergarten students were given coupons to go shopping and “buy” these books in the library. The Lower School partners with the Parents’ Association Community Service team to donate a portion of recycled books to an organization in need. Later this month, all the unclaimed books will be sorted and delivered to Person-to-Person in Darien, a local social service agency.
“The kids get a first-hand, tangible experience recycling something they enjoy – books,” said Lower School Librarian Jean Stevens, who has been organizing the Earth Day initiative for more than 20 years. “They understand that what’s old to someone else is new to them.”
Environmental Sustainability Slogan Contests
The NCCS Sustainability Committee, comprised of faculty and staff and led by Director of Facilities Ed Kirk, created a slogan contest as a way to raise awareness about the school’s commitment to environmentally sustainable practices. During the month of February, the committee hosted a contest for a slogan to be used on on reusable coffee mugs, cups and spirit wear in the Logo Store and displayed proudly on the NCCS website. They were thrilled to receive more than 150 entries from Kindergarten-Grade 6 students, but a bit overwhelmed by the task of selecting the winners. All of the contest entries will be displayed in the school’s Grace House lobby this spring.
The winners are:
Go Green, Go Clean, Go Boldly — Charlotte Cooper, 5th grade
NCCS Sustainability, It's our Nature — Eva Mackenzie, 3rd grade
You Recycle and the Earth Smiles Back — Eva Mackenzie, 3rd grade
Every Day is Earth Day Here — Aubry Grant, 4th grade
Paw Prints in Recycling Symbol, Stephanie Boggess — 6th grade
Take a ride on the green side — Madelyn Kinsley, Maggie Newport, Daphne Upson, 4th grade
No pollution is the solution — Keeley Strine, 5th grade
If you have a chance to make a difference, take it! — Michaela Springer, 4th grade
Keep it Clean, Keep it Green — Jack Harrington, 4th grade
Go Bold, Go green — Eva Juarez-Lace, 3rd grade
Go Big, Go Green, Go Boldly! — Colin Mackey 6th grade
I love the earth so much! — Tommy Cali, Kindergarten
Faculty & Staff Sustainability Trivia Quiz
The Sustainability Committee created a trivia quiz for the faculty and staff. After lunch the group worked in groups to answer 20 questions related to sustainability efforts on campus.
For example:
The Solar Panels on Stevens’ roof have produced this amount of electricity since their installation in 2007.
a. 380,000 KWH (1 kilowatt hour = lighting ten 100 watt bulbs for 1 hour)
b. 18% of the electricity used in Stevens
c. Enough electricity to serve 30 houses for a year.
d. All of the above
e. None of the above
Our water conserving fixtures and faucets, and quick resolutions to water leaks have helped NCCS save this amount of water annually since 2015.
a. 70%
b. 3,000,000 gallons
c. Enough water to serve 30 houses annually.
d. All of the above
A commitment to environmental responsibility is part of New Canaan Country School’s mission, and has been evident throughout the school’s more than 100-year history in its operational practices, through the use of its 75-acre campus and throughout the school’s PreK-Grade 9 curriculum.
New Canaan Country School
New Canaan Country School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin and are afforded all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, sex, sexual orientation, national origin or ancestry, or disability in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, financial aid policies or any other school-administered programs.
