Middlebrook and WHS Join CT Green LEAF Sustainable Energy Program

Wilton has another environmentally forward program to brag about in its quest to be Fairfield’s greenest town. Middlebrook and Wilton High School have joined the Connecticut Green LEAF Schools program, Wilton Go Green announced this week.

As the 73rd and 74th schools in CT to join the program, Middlebrook and WHS are the first of the Wilton schools to take part program, and one of the first public schools in the state to join as well.

“This program is an acknowledgment of all our staff has done to promote sustainability in our schools,” says school superintendent Dr. Kevin Smith, adding, “It marks the beginning of an exciting new coordinated focus that will build on what’s been accomplished.”

What’s just as special is the person who has been instrumental in driving Wilton’s participation in Green LEAF:  Wilton High School junior Alex Scaperotta, who even at his young age, is already making his mark as the youngest board member of Wilton Go Green.

Scaperotta’s environmental activism started early, when he founded Wilton’s “Little People, Big Changes” when he was in 3rd grade. Then, he launched a “no idling” campaign in town. Even more, he was active in getting Wilton residents signed up for energy audits, which helped the town earn funding for the installation of solar panels at Wilton High School in 2012.

“Wilton Go Green was the [logical] next step for me. Hopefully I can get more students involved,” he says.

The Connecticut Green LEAF statewide program is run by the Institute of Sustainable Energy (ISE) at Eastern Connecticut State University. It helps schools to grow greener and focuses on “Leading, Educating, Achieving, and Fostering healthy, green schools for all, by providing resources for educators, administrators, building officials, and students in CT K-12 schools, colleges, and universities interested in taking a comprehensive sustainability approach.

There are three goals to the program including:  providing effective environmental and sustainability education; improving the health and wellness of students and staff; and reducing environmental impact and cost. The program celebrates and recognizes those schools making progress toward sustainability with its Connecticut Green LEAF awards. It also supports the nomination of selected schools to the U.S. Department of Education’s Green Ribbon School award.

The effort for Wilton schools to join this program has been spearheaded by faculty, staff, administrators and students within the schools who for many years have been implementing a variety of “green” programs quietly and independently. By joining Green LEAF, “these efforts now have an umbrella” Scaperotta says. “By coordinating them and drawing on the resources and learnings of other Green LEAF schools, these efforts will become part of a greater plan to help make our schools and community even more sustainable.”

The first step is to form a “green team” at each school, made up of teachers, administrators, students and community members to take a self-assessment, figuring out where the school has taken energy sustainable steps and identify where they can improve.

Alex mentioned some things that WHS has in place that are considered environmental positives, including the solar panels, no-flush urinals, water fountains that allow bottle refills, and the high school’s organic garden. Middlebrook has pushed for integration of sustainable curriculum, especially in Family and Consumer Science, on topics of organic gardening and composting.

“There are great champions already in the schools who have been working on this, so this gives them a lot of support and structure to make these things happen,” explains Eve Silverman, Alex’s mom and his partner on the WGG board.

The two are hopeful that Cider Mill and Miller-Driscoll will also become part of the Green LEAF program, and they say it’s gratifying to have the support from school administrators, starting with the superintendent. They say the students are very involved and have taken the lead at the two upper schools and they’re hoping it will filter down to the younger kids–potentially involving high school students acting as mentors on the green teams there.

“We’ve got our sights on Cider-Mill next. I talked with Dr. Smith and he was really supportive,” Alex says.

“The town is really great too,” adds Eve. “Alex presented to the energy commission and they are working on initiatives that will feed right into the program, including energy benchmarking, which will relieve the schools of having to do it. Alex’s job is to maintain communication between the schools and the town. We want to make sure we’re not duplicating each other.”

Alex and Eve will act on behalf of Wilton Go Green to serve as a Green LEAF “hub,” linking the schools’ efforts with each other, as well as to resources available through the Green LEAF program, town government, and the community.

Any individuals interested in volunteering on the WHS green team can contact Alex via email; the contact for Middlebrook is Janet Nobles, a teacher at the school.