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Six schools have been recognized with the Ferguson-Florissant School District 2017 Green Ribbon Schools award.  Green Ribbon Schools awards are part of the district’s Green Schools initiative designed to educate students, outreach to the community and improve practices to reduce negative effects on the environment.  Awards are given annually for sustainability in energy usage, gardening, recycling/waste reduction, reducing water run-off/erosion and promotion of sustainability practices.

This year, Airport and Robinwood Elementary Schools, along with McCluer South-Berkeley High School received their first Green Ribbon Award; while Halls Ferry and Parker Road Elementary Schools and Ferguson Middle School are returning honorees as they continued efforts to improve sustainability.  McCluer South-Berkeley is the first high school to receive the award.  All six Green Ribbon Schools received a certificate and an ecology flag at Little Creek’s Earth Day celebration in April.

Efforts that assisted the schools in receiving the Green Ribbon Schools award are listed below:

 Airport Elementary

Started a “Here We Grow Club” with 50 students.  The club supports gardening and recycling. At the beginning of the school year, recycling at Airport didn’t exist. Now, Airport has classroom recycling that occurs daily. Through the “Here We Grow Club” and local garden experts, students have planted a butterfly garden and a vegetable garden.

Robinwood Elementary

Robinwood has a comprehensive recycling plan that is implemented mostly by students.  They recycle materials in their classroom and lunchrooms daily to a localized spot. Robinwood’s garden plots are beautifully installed with lots of harvesting of cabbage, Swiss chard, spinach, green beans and more. Students and staff recycle aluminum cans for Little Creek, which provides funding for animal care and feed at Little Creek.

Halls Ferry Elementary

Halls Ferry was chosen to participate in the Sustainability for Education Program, which was sponsored by the Missouri Botanical Gardens.  This aligned with science standards and student involvement for change.  Fourth-grade students visited every classroom at the school to discuss the importance of recycling and even shared a recycling song.  A paper audit was also completed.  Halls Ferry started its gardening initiative in 2014 with eight garden beds and now have 16 total beds.  Second-grade students use and learn from the garden.   Produce from the garden is eaten in the cafeteria for all students to enjoy.

Parker Road Elementary

Sixth-grade girls at Parker Road take the recycling container to a common bin, on their own time before school starts. A STEM Club has been formed and students focus on solutions to ending pollution and pick up litter. Sixth graders have visited farms in the community to allow them to witness food production and how careful the local farmers are to care for their environment. They even hatched 3 chickens this year.

Ferguson Middle School

Ferguson Middle School students promote their recycling efforts through their own PBIS lessons and TV station broadcast to help their peers understand the benefits.   Each team at Ferguson Middle has a plan to empty their classroom recycle bin.   A beautiful vegetable garden has been built with raised beds, high tunnel house, green house, shed for equipment storage, and a place for students to learn and reflect.  Students utilize the garden in various ways that help support the curriculum of each class.

McCluer South-Berkeley High School

Recycling in a high school is tough, but they accomplish this task through student leadership and making sure recycle bins are located in every room and office. Raised Garden beds are now a part of the MSB campus.  The beds are in place and will be utilized by various classes

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Shown are teachers, staff and students from the six

Ferguson-Florissant Schools that earned Green Awards

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