Green Committee

 

 

Pope John XXIII School

Green Lifestyle Committee

Mission Statement

To encourage behaviors that are healthy for both

the environment and the individuals in the Pope John XXIII school community.

Goals

1.  Education

2.  Trash reduction

3.  Healthy transportation habits

4. Wellness

Pope John XXIII Get Up and GROW Committee

Pope John’s Get Up and Grow Committee is a group of parents dedicated to the enrichment of our students’ lives and the betterment of our school through improvements to outdoor gathering spaces, campus and building entrances, student play lot amenities as well as the overall landscape and school gardens.

 Toward this goal, over the past four years we have:

• Prepared a long-term comprehensive campus landscape masterplan identifying campus improvement projects
• Enhanced our school’s Washington street entry by creating an arrival terrace constructed of donated black slate featuring park benches, lush landscaping and seasonally rotated container plantings.
• Installed a heavy duty bike rack capable of accommodating 15 -20 student bicycles.
• Commissioned vibrant banners for installation across our campus and along major streets to increase the school’s visibility and community presence.
• Given a clearer identity to the pre-school, gymnasium, chapel and St. Nicholas Social Hall through the installation of architectural canvas awnings at key entries.
• Placed additional park benches and seasonal container plantings at the school’s south entry to increase seating opportunities and beautify a previously stark entrance.
• Raised funds through a sale of Pope John blend of bulbs to arrange for the planting of two 30’ tall hybrid elm trees to provide shade for the play lot as well as for classrooms and administrative offices.
• Relocated unsightly garbage and recycling bins away from the play lot to less visible parts of the campus.
• Planted hundreds of shrubs, groundcovers and perennials to beautify the pre-school, kindergarten wing and main building entry.
• Created an educational vegetable gardens for classroom and individual student benefit.
• Coordinated the activities of parent and student volunteers on seasonal workdays in achieving our overall school and campus improvement goals in accordance with our campus masterplan.

 Still to be achieved but nonetheless present on Get Up and Grows radar screen are:

• Installing school signage and landscaping at the Madison street vehicular entrance.
• Creating an educational “Cloister Garden” expressly for the purpose of integrating hands-on, outdoor learning into our school’s curriculum.
• Increasing the total amount of campus greenspace.
• Elevating the use of outdoor green technologies such as permeable paving materials, water harvesting systems, green roofs, and the continued installation of sustainable plantings having decreased water requirements.

Parents, neighbors, parishioners and faculty are welcome to help us as we consider our new goals and maintain what we have started.

We still need:

• People to help with watering of the property during the summer. (one week commitments)
• Gardeners with ideas and interests in expanding a vegetable garden.
• People with experience in green ideas for schools such as solar panels, semi-permeable concrete, green roofs.
• People with experience in grant searching and writing.
• Donations of plant material, mulch and lawn bags.

Come join us in any way that you can! Please contact Lori Walsh Edwards at loriwalsh1@aol.com or 847-332-2421 for more information.