An Eco-Student’s Guide to Healthy Schools

As we enter our fifth year of programming at Healthy Schools PA, we are BEYOND excited to introduce our “Eco-Student’s Guide to Healthy Schools” workbook. The workbook, designed to be a student companion to our Healthy Schools Recognition Program, is an interactive guided inquiry into the systems that keep our school buildings running.

Using an investigative journalism lens, and with the goal of promoting science communication skills and environmental health literacy, the workbook was designed to be used with upper elementary and middle school students.

The workbook is a tool to help students investigate and learn about the different ways our school interacts with the environment. Our school buildings and the ways we use it can impact both our planet and our health in different ways.

In other words: when we protect our environment, we are also protecting our health.

Across the country, schools are working towards a sustainable future. Sustainability in schools means using practices that meet our current needs without making it more difficult for people in the future to meet their own needs. Schools can make huge impacts on our environment due to their size, because it takes a lot of resources to keep our school buildings running, such as energy that comes from renewable and non-renewable sources, water that comes from our local rivers, and food to feed every student.

This workbook will not only help you determine the ways your school is impacting the environment, but  also spark your own ideas for eco-friendly changes you can make in your home, classroom, school, and community. Even small actions, such as switching out light bulbs for more efficient ones, can make a HUGE difference! Every sustainable act is a step in the right direction for a sustainable future.

We hope you take a chance to explore our workbook and have an opportunity to use it in your own classroom!

To download a copy of the workbook, click here.

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