Choir school recognized for environmental activities

Friday, Jun. 03, 2016

By Hilary Lambert

Special to the Intermountain Catholic

SALT LAKE CITY — In asking the Catholic Church to engage in a dialogue about “our common home” with his encyclical “Laudato Si’”, Pope Francis has challenged us to look deeply into how our spirituality and stewardship can positively impact the natural environment. 

As an answer to that call, the Madeleine Choir School, I and a few dedicated parents who call themselves The Green Team set out to become a recognized “Green School” by the Utah Society for Environmental Education. 

 According to their mission statement, “USEE serves as an umbrella organization and information resource for environmental educators, K-12 teachers, higher education, and the Utah community at large. These efforts will help ensure economic, social, and environmental sustainability for Utah.” 

Their partnership with the national Green Schools Alliance helps schools tackle local environmental policies and projects in an effort to help raise awareness and change habits to promote environmental sustainability.

“No individual school can solve 21st-century climate, conservation and socio-economic challenges alone. We must work together now so that future generations can thrive,” according to Green Schools Alliance. 

A network of public and private schools across the state has been doing just that, and the Madeleine Choir School is proud to be the first Catholic school in Utah recognized.

There are four levels of recognition from the Green Schools Program: bronze, silver, gold and platinum. The Madeleine Choir School achieved platinum status this year, thanks to the work of the Green Team and many others. Their award-winning Green Schools portfolio included the work the Green Team is doing to reduce campus waste, the week-long and school-wide Earth Day education program spearheaded by Principal Jill Baillie, and the successful Utah Students for Clean Air rally at the state capitol led by MCS Teacher of the Year Tyler Kinibbe. 

 This is an exciting honor for the choir school, but a challenge as well. It is not enough to rest on these laurels; we need to take this momentum into the coming school years and continue to teach our students and community about environmental issues and institute practices and habits that allow us to live in harmony with God’s creation. 

Hilary Lambert is a 1st-grade teacher at the Madeleine Choir School.