From the CTKG Cabinet: Creating Green Teams in Schools

Be the Change

Hi! My name is Cora Aitkenhead. I am a fifth grader and a member of CTKG Reese’s Cabinet. The first point of my three point platform is called “Be the Change.” This point encourages students to form “Green Teams” in their schools to learn about the environment and do projects around their school. Each Green Team will inform others about good choices for our Earth and make their school a better place. Our Cabinet recently spoke with school superintendents at the State Department of Education's Alliance District Symposium, and they wanted to know how they could support my platform. I told them the best way is to support Green Teams in their schools. I wanted to give you all information about how to create Green Teams and why doing this might be a good fit for your school. 

What is a Green Team? 

A Green Team is a group of students that take part in environmental projects for their school or community. They make the rest of the school aware of environmental issues. 

How do you form a Green Team? 

• Step 1: Find students that are interested in taking part in environmental projects. One approach might be to ask any students interested in the environment to be part of your school’s Green Team.  Another approach might be to have a student from each class or each grade level be a representative on the Green Team.  That way, those students can tell and teach their class or grade level what environmental projects they can work on.  There is no one right way to start a Green Team in your school.  Whatever works for you, you should do!  But getting this started often needs a motivated student to get things started so maybe that motivated student is YOU!

• Step 2:  Find a teacher or a parent to supervise your Green Team. Ask around and try to find a teacher or parent who cares a lot about the environment.  Tell them why these issues are so important to you and ask them to help you organize your Green Team.

• Step 3:  Figure out which school leaders and staff can do the most to help your Green Team. Once you have a team of students and an adult leader, think about asking a custodian, a cafeteria worker, a principal or vice principal, or others to be part of your team.  A lot of times it is people like these that can help make your projects work, so talking to them and working with them is an important step.  

How should the Green Team Run?

Every school is different so you need to figure out what will work for your school.  But a Green Team should probably meet about once a week or every 2 weeks to talk about what to do and how to do it. What exactly should your Green Team do? Well I’m glad you asked! In addition to creating Green Teams, the second part of my platform is called “22 for the Earth and You.”  Rather than celebrate our planet just one day a year on April 22nd (Earth Day), I think we should celebrate the Earth on the 22nd of every month. I will write more blog posts with different ideas about how you can celebrate the Earth, but for now, here is a sneak peak at some of the things your team can do.   

Projects a Green Team Can Work On 

• Monthly “22 for the Earth and You” Themed Projects

• School Gardens and Planting

• Composting

• Writing letters to local politicians 

• Making Recycling Posters or Policies for the School 

• Earth Day Activities in April 

See you for my next blog post! Until then, Go Green Connecticut!

- Cora Aitkenhead

Kid Governor’s Cabinet 

Meadowside Elementary School

Milford, CT