Beyond The Classroom

 

VVS Green Team

S.E.E.D

Under the umbrella of S.E.E.D (Students Engaged in Environmental Development), Verde Valley School's Green Team members, and others, have undertaken the following projects at the school:

- Recycling in conjunction with Sedona Recycles.

- Vermiculture, started by alumna Karel Hines '10, and is continued by current students Morgan Binder and Dani Kovac.

- 5 tons of horse manure is being donated each week to Verde Earthworks and will be turned into compost for local farmers.

- Earth Day was celebrated by preparing locally grown food for dinner. The celebration of Earth Day also included presentations by students on how we can make a difference.

- Martin Luther King Jr Day, 2012, was be celebrated by the whole school with students, faculty and staff members engaging in service projects

- Alumna Katie Radosevic '07 started a battery recycling center when she was a student here which is ongoing.

- Gema Guitierrez-Fidalgo and Caridee Choi are growing fresh sprouts to add to the dining hall salad bar.

- We have a campus organic garden, and students are working on repairing the school greenhouse during workjobs and project period.

- As of January 2011, students have been doing monthly Adopt-a-Highway cleanups.

- Students have completed other area cleanup projects on weekends.  Recently science teacher Andy Gill took a crew down an 80 foot deep a "sinkhole" to clean out garbage and debris.

- Under the guidance of Patti Marrs, students are now making their own cleaning and laundry products.

As of February 2011, the Green Team members have been meeting to plan new projects for campus sustainability.  Led by volunteer Jen Warren, a former VVS teacher, this club meets on the 1st and 3rd Sunday of each month at the Warren House for a dinner meeting from 5:30 - 7pm. 

They are looking at all facets of sustainability, including social and environmental. The group's initial project is to complete a study for a compost center which will be built during Project Period in May. Other projects will be carried out according to student interest and input, but the group's main mission is to model sustainability and to educate the community.