Last week, educators and Green Team leaders from all across Clark County came to the Clark County Green Schools Winter Educator Training. This event allows Green Team leaders to learn how to have the greatest impact with environmental education, action projects and certification. Green Team leaders were able to meet others and share their experiences of working with a Green Team in their school. Becky Bronstein and Sahar Arbab from Washington Green Schools came down from Seattle to lead the training. 

In the first portion of the training, Green Team leaders were able to work in small groups to gain a better understanding of the Washington Green Schools certification process. Leaders from schools just starting on their sustainability journey, and leaders from established Green Schools were able to share their experiences and help each other plan for future action projects. Many projects were discussed, including anti-idling campaigns at several schools and the recent milk dispenser program roll-out.

Washington Green Schools described the many ways that Green Team leadership can better incorporate student input and experience into environmental action projects. Determining project focus based on student interest, having a group of students as leaders to help drive creative collaboration, and utilizing active reflection during debriefing to plan for future actions were identified as some of the ways to increase student involvement.
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Clark County Green Schools also invited education and technical outreach partners from the community to share with Green Team leaders the resources their organizations offer to schools.

Clark Public Utilities offers assistance in energy-efficiency related action projects. Their resource offering include field trips, teacher workshops, and other forms of educational outreach. Schedule an energy audit and see what changes can be made to save electricity! Contact Heather Allmain at for more info. 

Waste Connections offers technical assistance and educational lessons/activities about waste reduction, composting, and recycling. Waste Connections also offers tours of the West Vancouver Materials Recovery Facility, where recycling and garbage are processed for disposal. Contact Ellen Ives at  for more info.

Clark County Clean Water gives students the opportunity to explore water topics from two perspectives: storm/surface water and drinking/potable water. Clark County Clean Water has a wide array of educational materials and resources for School Ground and Gardens certification and Water certification . Contact Eric Lambert at  for more info, and check out their website.

The Master Composter Recycler Program is a sustainability ambassador training program. The Master Composter Recyclers offers garden composting consolation and vermicomposting lessons with Worm Bin projects for your classroom. Many Master Composter Recycler graduates have been teachers, and the program offers an excellent pathway to continuing sustainability training and builds your knowledge of sustainable practices in the home that can be brought to the classroom. Contact Pete DuBois for more information.


Thanks to all of our local partners and Washington Green Schools for a great event! All of the handouts from the event  are available on our Forming A Green Team page.