A Year of Student-Led Climate Action

“

We are more aware of compost, nitrogen, and recycling.

“

Students gained an appreciation and in-depth understanding of how much recycling the school generates and the significant role they play in contributing towards our school's status as a sustainable school. Students also benefit by making new friends and feeling gratified that they are working for the planet.

“

Talking and learning about how to protect the Earth is so important and if we want to help protect this planet, we need to teach the next generations how to take care of it.”

“

AHS Environmental Club students learned a lot from talking with various local environmental groups this year. They helped them with some of their efforts and learned about local action and advocacy.

“

The students are very interested in helping the Earth and have become quite passionate about the cause. They are eager and are hopefully taking this enthusiasm back home and into their own homes.

“

Students got to teach the school that we can recycle cans, plastic, and paper together (in our district, we used to sort it all!)

“

We have created a culture of recycling in our building. Students learn what and cannot be put into recycling. Everyone does their part, but we have some standout student leaders in the buildings.

“

The toner recycling rebates helped fund the purchase of supplies for the gardens. The clean courtyard provides an outdoor classroom and lunchtime space. Getting hands in the dirt is always beneficial for kids!

“

It gives ownership of the building to the students. It also makes them more aware of the amount of trash that is generated.

“

Helping the planet by recycling.

“

Leadership and learning!

“

Our Green Team student leaders worked to lead our whole school community with waste reduction and composting. They also started an initiative to collect houseplants from our community and distribute them to all the staff members and classrooms in the building. We're using compost as part of the planting progress and providing education about how composting benefits us and our environment.

“

We had our City Recycling Manager in for a presentation and then the students created social media posters in multiple languages around the do's and don'ts of single stream recycling, we setup two popup classrooms for teachers to sign out and take their classes out to enjoy green spaces around campus. We run a spring plant sale and will be selling the plants we have grown in our school greenhouse including native pollinator hosts and food plants so that all members of our community can improve their habitat.

“

It helps them to see that nature takes time and that slowing down and observing things is a great way to learn and appreciate things around them.

“

Students learned about what can and cannot be recycled. They worked with the school custodial staff to coordinate recycling goals. Researching and growing worms made students aware of methane gas issues.

“

Our students and school community benefited in many meaningful ways from these activities. By using the Recycle Smart Quiz to create an informative display, students helped educate others and increased awareness about proper recycling practices. Partnering with Freya to pursue a Wasted Food Assessment has given students a real-world opportunity to problem-solve and take action around reducing waste in our school. (The assessment hasn't happened yet, but we are still trying!) Inspired by ideas from Recycle Day, our entire school came together for a Thanksgiving parade featuring floats made from recycled materials thanks to the creativity and leadership of our Explorers teacher, Jenny Serafino. These experiences not only built environmental awareness, but also fostered collaboration, creativity, and a strong sense of community pride.

“

We do a carbonated beverage drive to support "Cans for Calcium" and donate all cans every other week. Kids were shocked by the energy savings by just changing a light bulb; a lot of great conversations were having! Stewardship, responsibility, socially made new friends and kept our school area beautiful

“

Students learned that each one of us can make a positive difference in our world.

“

The community service aspect of the drives is incredible. The kids feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment as well as feeling as if they are truly making a difference in someone's life.

“

Because we are a therapeutic special education high school, we are unique in the flexibility of our programming and our hands-on curriculum, which have enabled students to collaborate with several community organizations on environmental projects. We have been able to continue to expand our green culture through student, community, and teacher initiatives. This year two teachers participated in a yearlong professional development series with Mass Farm to School focused on designing food-based civics projects. Students have benefited from their environmental activities in multiple ways. First, students have grown in confidence and have realized the power of their voices. Three student panelists presented their flood mitigation civics project on a panel for the Mass Farm and Sea to School Conference on March 18, 2026. One student said, “We got to see what other people are doing and tell them what we're doing as a school, and that felt good. Presenting at the conference helped raise my mood and spread awareness about the climate problems affecting farms. The students received excellent feedback from workshop participants and have been extra motivated now in interviewing GFN staff members and local officials for their civics project. Educating others and researching interview questions related to their flood mitigation project has given students a sense of empowerment about their positive contributions to and impact on the larger community. The sense of community HEC students has built in their shared creation of a green school culture is evident in a thousand ways. It's a regular sight to see a student collecting cans from one of the marked bins around the school, bringing food scraps out to the compost bin, or collecting reusable cups from one of the water fountains. On a recent morning, a student expressed to Glee that he had educated one of his teachers on the recyclability of a milk carton. Students have taken direct, local actions to address climate change and have felt proud that they have had a hand in creating a culture of reuse, recycling, and environmental responsibility. The Friends of Northampton Trails, The Northampton ReUse Committee, the Huntington Village Closet, Catholic Charities, Manna Community Kitchen, and Kiwanis have all given our students encouraging feedback and shown them how valuable their efforts are. Relationship and/or community building has been a central benefit of HEC’s Green Team efforts. Third, students have built skills and learned how to educate others on these skills: knowledge about ecological technologies, wasted food, recycling, growing and harvesting food through our school garden, etc.; communication and graphics (advertising events, making composting and recycling posters, etc.); leadership and project management skills; collaboration and relationship-building skills; etc. Older students mentor newer students as they work together on cooking, planting our garden, volunteering in the community, or otherwise working toward a greener future. Overall, students have taken an increasing sense of leadership and responsibility for environmental education and action, and they have incorporated green values into their own sense of self. They have built green habits, like bringing thermoses to events, redistributing or composting uneaten food, recycling more products, working together to design new resource-preserving projects, and helping new students to understand how to be a part of our school community. All of these habits have contributed to our students' identity as climate change activists and organizers.

“

Our students felt like activists in their school because they advocated more Green Practices in school.

“

Students gained a better understanding of recycling and the many ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle.

“

The school benefits from the Green Team because staff members know who they can reach out to for help emptying recycling bins. Green Team members help keep our recycling bins free from contaminants.

“

We share positive feedback from community members, school members, and students that this is really improving our school and climate. We have started two new courses (Farm to Table and Landscape Horticulture) and also have begun work on a new Environmental Pathway for our school to career program!

“

The water fountains will be huge! Fingers crossed; they are installed as planned. The kids felt really special about meeting with the Assistant Superintendent and getting this done.

“

Learning to contribute to the school community and collaborate with the adult teams. Organizing a school wide clean up

“

The students benefited from each lesson that was taught this school year.

“

I think many students were happy to learn about how these issues affect their lives

“

Students learned how to recycle correctly, recycle and reuse art materials, and the importance of donating clothing and food!

“

The students showcased their gained knowledge of conserving energy through creating posters and writings.

“

They became environmental stewards, sharing what they learned with peers and family members/larger community. Instilled lifelong appreciation and duty to environmental stewardship spark new curiosity and interest in their role in the larger climate resiliency efforts.

“

They learned a lot of things they didn't know about the environment. They also had a sense of accomplishment, as they made upcycled items (like keychains made from plastic bags!) and sold them to raise money for our club. They read morning announcements and created informational slides to educate the school.

“

These activities strengthened both environmental awareness and student engagement. Students became more consistent and accurate about recyclers, and teachers noticed fewer contaminated bins. The posters students created helped build a more environmentally conscious culture across the school. The hands-on science work supported a wide range of learners, especially multilingual learners and students who thrive with tactile, visual, and collaborative tasks. Many students who struggle with traditional academic work were able to shine during planting, sorting, or lab-based activities, which boosted their confidence and sense of belonging in science.

“

The students on the 5th Grade Student Council Sustainability Team learned about how hydroponic gardening works and were able to enjoy the fruits, or rather lettuce, of their labor! The entire school ate lettuce and basil as part of their school lunch. The student population, as well as families, were educated on various sustainability issues, including reducing emissions, textile recycling, and composting at home and at school.

“

The students had a sense of ownership and pride

“

Students have learned about how to compost and why we compost. We've reduced the amount of wasted food and packaging that either ends up in our landfills/incinerators or is trucked to other states.

“

Leadership and environmental stewardship skills are important!

“

Our school benefited by utilizing our outdoor garden space for science curriculum activities throughout each grade level as well as benefiting from having a clean and safe space for outdoor games. Our school benefits as well by providing fresh produce to staff and students who may not have the resources to become independent.

“

Awareness and individual responsibility have increased throughout the building; staff & students alike.

“

The garden helps our students with disabilities as either a way to feed their sensory diet or an incentive.

“

The students learned about worm composting and how to care for the worms

“

Benefits to school and community: Waste: Thousands of pounds of food scraps diverted from landfills. Education: K-6 students graduate with a functional understanding of sustainability. Ecology: A growing "urban forest" thanks to student tree-planting efforts. Intergenerational Connections: students work with volunteers in both the garden and planting the trees. Local Food Insecurity: The garden provides a source of fresh, nutritious produce for families. In an era of rising food costs, having a community-maintained harvest ensures that fresh vegetables are accessible to those who might need them most.

“

Our school embraced the activities and programs. We reinstituted a paper recycling program that had been dormant at our school for years. Teachers and staff were eager to participate, and our students were administrators and facilitators of the programs. The highlight this year was the composting program. We received the materials from your program, and the students were very eager to make this a campus wide program, involving waste from our Culinary Program and our Cafeteria as well as sharing our composting with our Building Property and Maintenance CTE program to enrich our campus gardens. It has benefited our school culture and given our students some much needed campus pride.

“

Fourth grade students created an educational video about recycling and reused items and then presented to the entire school community.

“

The students benefited by having hands in the dirt, growing veggies, eating them

“

The students benefited from the learning, connecting, and education

“

Redirected compostable items to our town digester rather than going to the trash.

“

Students gained hands-on experience across a wide range of environmental and scientific disciplines – From ecology and botany to water quality analysis and food systems. Working on the native pollinator garden, seed balls, and plant cuttings built real horticultural skills, while analyzing water quality data from Manchester and Essex introduced genuine scientific inquiry. The coloring book project developed communication and creative skills, and discussing microplastics analysis exposed students to cutting-edge environmental research methods. The school as a whole benefited in multiple tangible ways: the revamped greenhouses and Tower Gardens expanded the school's growing infrastructure; the learning commons were beautified with propagated plants; and students in the building had access to fresher, greener spaces. The clothing and book donation bins also gave the broader school community an easy way to participate in sustainability.

“

Everyone in our school can benefit from the vernal pool and all students have the ability to compost in our cafeteria.

“

Learn how to separate waste and use the compost delivered back to plant beds.

“

With this new lens, we have inspired a reduced waste, experienced making art from "trash” and learned about consumption.

“

I learned that we are helping the environment. Learn about what happens if these items enter the environment. Teach some job/vocational skills

“

We have reduced the amount of trash by having an average of 250 pounds of compost collected each month in our cafeteria and recycling an average of 8 bins of recycling materials. Our PTO has sponsored a recycling textiles deposit site on our school property as well. The compost is then used in our outdoor learning space and gardens.

“

The students showcased their gained knowledge of conserving energy through creating posters and writings.

“

We raised awareness about textile waste and ways to reduce it, while simultaneously finding new homes for hundreds of items of clothing. We are raising awareness about wasted food and ways to reduce it, while also fighting hunger in our community. Students will leave Earth Day more aware of local groups they can join, ways they can take action, and why these issues matter- this year, our Earth Day event will also aim to have more hands-on activities and will aim to raise awareness about jobs/internships in the field.

“

The school benefits by reducing trash through composting in the cafe. Our students diverted 1000 pounds of waste from the landfill by composting.

“

Increasing awareness of the benefits of composting is important.

“

The Green Team participants have become fierce advocates for encouraging recycling and composting efforts in our school. They have learned about the impact they are making by encouraging our entire school to be conscientious about recycling and reducing our waste. They have also gained a lot of self-confidence by leading these efforts.

“

We are helping to educate students about the environmental crisis and how to live a more sustainable, eco-friendly lifestyle to help the world around us!

“

The children have really learned a lot about making better food choices; they are becoming great cooks, and they love finding recipes! We have also made friends with some local farms and started setting up swaps to get more fresh food for our community!

“

We reduced wasted food in our school.

“

I think the students, staff, and school community benefited greatly from all of these activities as they engaged more with local environmental concerns and how they could take action to make a difference and some of the team's actions (like litter cleanups and removing invasive plants) directly improve the school grounds.

“

We have significantly increased the amount of recycling that is done in our school.

“

Students learned that everyone could reduce wasted food and compost, even in their own backyards.

“

Heather is leading a group of students through the regulatory compliance process with our school and town to launch a wasted food initiative.

“

Students learned a lot, presented their ideas to others, and the school looked nice with the halls decorated with student work as well.

“

They love working together and helping the environment. They are more aware of where recycling v. trash should go.

“

Students benefit by seeing how their acts of generosity, kindness, and energy saving ideas can help their school and community.

“

Students benefited by understanding every little bit we do help our planet. They also used their engineering design steps to solve problems in their own neighborhoods.

“

Students are becoming more cognizant of the dangers of fast fashion. They are taking a leadership role in promoting recycling in the community.

“

Our students learned how to grow their own food and how to care for the planet in different ways.

“

It got our students involved in an activity they never did.

“

Each activity that we have set up helps us build, teamwork, accountability, cooperation, respect for others, and our environment, and shows us all how important it is to not just take care of ourselves, but our environment around us. Not just do we as staff and students benefit from a clean environment, but all of our animals and plants as well.

“

Became more aware how actions impact the Planet and how they can make a difference -Taught them about a hero, Jane Goodall, and inspired others to make change -Taught others about the dangers of anticoagulant rodenticides and impacts on the environment -Ran the waste station in the school cafeteria during lunch and taught other students how to recycle, compost and sort waste effectively and correctly -And more!

“

They have learned about waste, illegal dumping, and education on where these items should be disposed of. Also, a session in Dual Stream recycling.