Environmental & Sustainability Education

Environmental education is a lifelong learning process that leads to an informed and involved citizenry having the creative problem-solving skills, scientific and social literacy, ethical awareness and sensitivity for the relationship between humans and the environment, and commitment to engage in responsible individual and cooperative actions. By these actions, environmentally literate citizens will help ensure an ecologically and economically sustainable environment.

We announced that McDill is a Sprout school at a school wide assembly on Earth Day, April 22, 2015; students were encouraged to wear green that day. A whole school photo was taken. The GHS message was integrated into the main message of the assembly which was focused on PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention & Supports) and the word of the month: Self Control. Multiple skits were performed highlighting self-control and how controlling your actions were healthy behaviors, supporting the GHS initiative. As a conclusion of the assembly, the video “One Earth” in support of Green Schools was shown: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gg3rMTeDQV8

Since then, students have received various environmental education lessons from UWSP students in the Environmental Education and Interpretation Program. They utilize the woods and other outdoor spaces to provide their lessons.

A group of 18 teachers also participated in a Project Learning Tree and LEAF workshop in June 2016. They received curriculum and a day-long professional development experience.

Three additional teachers participated in an after-school workshop series focused on utilizing place-based resources to improve literacy in the elementary classroom.