Goals Summary:
Bodkin Elementary will strive to continue our environmental initiatives after becoming a Sustainable Green School. Our focus for future endeavors to reduce the environmental impact of Bodkin’s footprint include:
4 Years-
8 Years-
12 Years-
Bodkin Elementary will strive to continue our environmental initiatives after becoming a Sustainable Green School. Our focus for future endeavors to reduce the environmental impact of Bodkin’s footprint include:
4 Years-
- After School Green Club- Students apply to be a part of the “Green Club”. Students will be chosen based on their responsibility, teamwork skills, and stewardship. Students will participate in maintenance activities (cleaning bluebird boxes, weeding gardens) and initiating new undertakings: establishing new bird habitats (food, water, and shelter), as well as keep abreast of current events.
- Student Education during Environmental Fair- Students will engage in "Environmental Passion Projects" and will share their chosen topic at the environmental fair.
- Green School Current Events and Environmental Education Bulletin Board- A bulletin board to display current events. With increased awareness, students of all grade levels will be empowered to take action, share accomplishments, and become environmental stewards.
- Partner with Chesapeake High School- Educate students about habitats and plants native in their community and participate in a collaborative planting on school grounds.
- Living Wall/AeroGardens- Bring nature inside with a living wall! Build a Living Wall to purify indoor air and reduce noise levels in our school. Partnering with community members who are experts in this field, this will help students understand the natural cleaning power of plants, while observing plant growth. Students and staff will maintain the wall. In addition, several classrooms will use AeroGardens to grow herbs/vegetables indoors. In the spring, these plants will be planted in our outdoor gardens.
- Community Garden Maintenance Plan- Team-up with volunteers at our local church to maintain Bodkin's gardens over the summer. We will create a calendar to invite school families and volunteer families from the church help our school's custodial staff maintain the gardens.
- Energy Reduction Plan- The HVAC renovation project is slated to be finished in Fall of 2019 and therefore we will start a new energy baseline to measure and track energy consumption and savings.
8 Years-
- Become a Green Ribbon School- As we continue our green school initiatives and embrace new projects, we would love to be considered for a nomination for the U.S. Department of Education's Green Ribbon School.
- Outdoor Pavilion- Using recycled materials, we hope to create an outdoor pavilion for students to enjoy during recess and also as an alternative outdoor classroom space. Our PTA has discussed this endeavor and supports our efforts. Students will plant a variety of native plants and grasses in planters on wheels for easy watering.
- Building Upgrades- The carpets in our school are old and in need of replacing. Our hopes are to lobby on behalf of our school and that AACPS will replace all carpeted classrooms with tiles made from recycled materials. In addition to this, all overhead lights will be replaced with LED lights.
12 Years-
- Community Education/Outreach- Our school “Green Team” and Business Partners will work together to engage students, staff, parents, and community members to bring awareness to local issues. Our hopes are to increase awareness, improve the wellness and health for our surrounding communities. We will host weekend community events on the following issues: Terrapin Bycatch Reduction Devices, Native Planting Sessions, Birding, and hosting oysters in our local rivers.
- Greenhouse- Collaborate with Master Gardeners to allow students the opportunity to plant, weed, and harvest native plants and vegetables. We will focus on the positive effects of growing local crops and the importance of conservation.