Clarksville Middle School has always had a strong pro-environment that looks at becoming a “Green School” from a global perspective. Clarksville is one of the oldest middle schools in Howard County and has undergone a great deal of renovation that have aided and hurt our process of becoming green.
Clarksville is one of the largest energy consumers of all HCPSS middle schools because of the addition of portables. In order to combat the massive energy usage we took it upon ourselves in the past couple of years to ensure energy savings. Motion sensing lights have be installed throughout the school. During times of inactivity these lights turn off to save energy. Additionally, students conducted an audit with the help of North Bay Adventure Camp to determine where our biggest energy usage was. Counselors from North Bay joined us at Clarksville and helped us evaluate where our highest energy usage was. From here we initiated programs of energy conservation. Students throughout all grades created signs and placed them over all light switches. These signs asked that staff only use half of the lights in any room. Additionally, students throughout science classes monitored teachers for these actions.
As a school we also developed programs throughout each grade to include more students in the “becoming green” process. Students in 6th grade participated in monthly “clean-ups” of our campus. Students toured the school and looked for ways to clean up trash and other debris. Students in 6th grade also attended Outdoor Education for 4 days. In the process, students learned how to promote environmental friendliness, participate in cleaning up the Bay as well as understanding how to prevent erosion and to ensure they were doing their part.
7th grade students at Clarksville began a huge program to solve the problem of stream pollution and malfeasance. Here at Clarksville we have a “Green School Team” that partnered with two other middle schools in Howard County along with Howard Community College. This partnership worked to apply for and receive the Governor’s “Stream Restoration” grant. This grant provided Howard Community College with over two hundred fifty thousand dollars for stream relief. Students at Clarksville in 7th grade and a few students from 6th and 8th have taken trips and are planning many more day long trips to HCC. Here students dug holes, replaced plants, planted trees and pull invasive species. Along the way students learned the process to why this is necessary. Students presented to classes before attending the trip to understand what students were expected to do and why. Students will continue to travel to HCC in an effort to improve their stream quality.
Students in 8th grade along with students in across all other grades created an outdoor “reading garden.” Students researched what the requirements were for planting a garden with the wish of having students create a place to go outside and read during lunch. Students research plant types and how to create raised gardens. Students created over 120 square feet of garden space. Students prepared the ground and planted over 40 different type of native plants and bushes in an effort to clean up an unused space outside of our media center. Students also partnered with an environmental scientist to understand why native species are much more sought after than invasive species.