San Francisco’s Green School Corps

As I’ve stated in the past, I truly believe that schools play a significant role in the shift to a more sustainable society. Unfortunately, the structure of public education these days makes it difficult to transition from the current model of schooling to one based on sustainability (more on this in a future post). However, there are groups focused on accomplishing this goal. We wrote about the inaugural Green Ribbon program from the Department of Education that recognizes schools for their environmental sustainability efforts, both in the classroom and throughout the campus.

Green School Corps, a cooperative partnership between San Francisco Green Schoolyard Alliance (SFGSA) and San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), is “the first service corps program in the United States dedicated to transforming urban public schools into centers of 21st century experiential learning, environmental sustainability, and innovation.” Founded last year, the group taps recent college graduates to work with schools to spark “children’s interest in nationally-important subjects such as science and math, building a more eco- and food-literate student population, increasing the energy efficiency of their schools’ infrastructure, decreasing schools’ waste streams, building strong school communities, and advancing outdoor education opportunities.” The video below offers a 10 minute introduction to the work SFGSA has done to transform asphalt into learning gardens, recalling the work of Alice Waters in nearby Berkeley, California.

Given the recent news that college graduates are underemployed and unemployed at higher rates than those who graduated prior to the “Great Recession,” programs like Green School Corps can provide meaningful jobs to college graduates in two fields that are exceedingly important, education and sustainability. Many of these initiatives depend on energetic, enthusiastic people to push the masses. Tapping into this human capital will be essential for remaking society in a more sustainability fashion.

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