Sustainability Spotlight#1: Sustainability Mission and Vision in Friends Schools
Welcome to Friends Council on Education’s Sustainability
Spotlight, where we highlight important sustainability initiatives at
Friends Schools. In keeping with the Quaker testimony of stewardship, many
Friends schools have incorporated environmental sustainability efforts into
their curriculums, campus plans, and energy and waste management efforts. In
this post, we highlight sustainability
mission and vision statements and school administrative support for
sustainable initiatives.
As the Friends Initiative to Reach
Sustainability Together (FIRST) argues, the institutional support is crucial to
the implementation of extensive sustainability initiatives. They write, “School
leadership is critical for the integration of new policies and practices,”
adding that sustainability policies and mission statements can act as “an
articulation of where schools intend to go.” (p. 4). Examples of effective
sustainability commitment policies can be found at schools such as George
School, William Penn Charter School, and Westtown School, which serve as models
of administrative support for institutional sustainability and environmental
education.
George School’s sustainability mission statement
reads, “Guided by Quaker beliefs in stewardship, simplicity, and social
justice, George School commits itself to awakening
all members of our community to the wonder of the natural world and to our
shared responsibility to care for it well.”
Similarly, William Penn Charter School’s sustainability mission statement reads:
“William Penn Charter School is committed to the
Quaker testimony of stewardship. We continually develop our educational program
to include environmental concerns, teaching our students to be good stewards of
the earth. We make decisions around resources that are mindful of their
ecological impact. By cultivating a respect for nature and the
interconnectedness of the world’s systems, we inspire students to become
lifelong stewards and agents for global change.”
Westtown School’s sustainability mission
statement contains a similar focus on Quaker values and environmental
education, as well as a commitment to institutionalized sustainability
practices and decision-making. Adopted by the Board of Trustees in 2008, it
reads:
We, the Westtown School
community, will fulfill our mission to “inspire and prepare our graduates to be
stewards and leaders of a better world” by committing to protecting and
enhancing the environment through our teaching and our institutional practices.
Guided by the principles of the Religious Society of Friends, we are called to
lead by example in creating a community that sustains ecological systems and
that makes environmental awareness and responsible environmental action core values.
The school’s decisions and actions will be guided by their environmental and
educational impact now and in the future so that in meeting the needs of
today’s Westonians we will support the mission, longevity, and future
prosperity of the institution and the larger world. We will pay particular
attention in our operations to sustainable land use and management,
construction and renovation of facilities, and energy and resource consumption,
giving priority to practices that can teach sustainability. Ultimately, our
goal is to create an environmentally literate and responsible community of
students, faculty, staff, and families whose daily actions reflect care for the
earth and its biodiversity.
George School, William Penn Charter School, and
Westtown School’s official commitments to sustainability are supported by
extensive action and leadership in areas of renewable energy sourcing, farming
and food procurement, waste management, building efficiency, water management,
and environmental education. Just one example is that the two
newest buildings on the George School campus were built to LEED environmental
standards. All three schools also have committees dedicated
to overseeing sustainability initiatives and concerns. Westtown School supports
a sustainability master plan outlining goals and efforts in multiple areas of
institutional sustainability and an official Environmental Sustainability Fund.
Similarly, William Penn Charter School’s Strategic Vision contains a section
regarding plans to “green” the school. More information about each school’s
impressive sustainability efforts and administrative support can be found here, here, and here.
These schools’ efforts are representative of
widespread efforts amongst Friends Schools to promote sustainability and the
Quaker stewardship testimony. Many schools have hired sustainability coordinators
and directors of sustainability, incorporated sustainability into their
school’s mission, or promoted renewable energy, gardening, sustainability
education and other initiatives through faculty, student and volunteer support.
Backed by supportive administrations and guided by commitments to decrease
environmental degradation and enhance student awareness of sustainability and
the natural world, Friends schools have made impressive steps forward in areas
of resource consumption and energy efficiency, sustainability literacy and
campus management.
Stay turned for the next Sustainability
Spotlight in January 2018!
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