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Fall Branch students see green as energy initiative gets started

By Heather Richardson
Press Staff Writer
hrichardson@johnsoncitypress.com

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Students and faculty at Fall Branch Elementary were seeing green Tuesday as they kicked off the Green School Program.

Fall Branch is one of 20 schools in Tennessee chosen to be a green school. Of those 20, five — Boones Creek Middle School, Jonesborough Middle School, Gray Elementary, Fall Branch and West View — were chosen from Washington County. Each of the schools is actively pursuing ways to cut back in their use of energy at the school throughout the year.

Students and faculty at the school wore green to bring more awareness to the program.

The schools are partnering with Alliance for Saving Energy — a nonprofit coalition of prominent business, government, environmental and consumer leaders who promote the efficient and clean use of energy worldwide to benefit the environment, economy and national security. Locally, the Johnson City Power Board and the Tennessee Valley Authority are also participating.

The Green Schools program’s goals are to provide immediate energy savings in schools through cooperative, schoolwide changes in behavior, operations and maintenance procedures, and longer term savings by encouraging school retrofits, educating students, teachers, administrators, facilities staff and the whole school community about energy efficiency and its link to the environment and to strengthen student academic learning using hands-on, project-based instruction and tools.

The program engages students as advocates for energy conservation in not only their schools but also in their homes and community.

Walking around the school, “conserve energy” stickers can be seen by every light switch, reminding students and faculty to turn off lights not being used. Energy tips are also posted on the school’s Web site as well as in newsletters that go home with the children each month.

Students and faculty are also encouraged to use as much natural light as possible and to turn off monitors, printers and computers at the end of each day.

Fall Branch Principal Walter Huffine said one of the biggest incentives for initiating the program is to save financially. According to Huffine the school’s power bill averages $45,000 a year.

“People don’t understand,” Huffine said. “It’s just so expensive.”

According to studies by Alliance to Save Energy, energy costs are often the second-highest expense in a school budget next to salaries and benefits.

Participating schools agree to maintain high visibility for the program to encourage participation and success. Tuesday’s kickoff celebration included a morning assembly during which Huffine explained to students what it means to be green.

“I asked them ... if they looked at their home power bill ... I’d say out of 330, half of them have.”

Huffine said along with discussing the cost of power usage he also talked about how cutting back could help their school as well as their community.

He also introduced the faculty “green team” as well as the student “green team.” Those teams performed “green” cheers and a skit. Students also were told of an opportunity to participate in an essay and logo contest.

Huffine said that being a big proponent of academics he is excited about the educational aspects of the program. Instructional materials on energy, the link between energy and the environment and the practice of using energy efficiently at school and at home are provided to each school. The materials are organized by grade level and topic and correlate with the state standards of learning.

The program also engages students in hands-on, experiential learning helping students to define problems, conduct active research to identify potential solutions and to apply the knowledge they gain to achieve energy savings.