St. Joseph Catholic High School students adopt recycling practices

Friday, Nov. 27, 2015

OGDEN — Margy Maher, president of the Saint Joseph Catholic High School Green Squad and senior class officer, is leading a new school endeavor to adopt recycling and education efforts to do their part to protect the planet. 

“The development of our school’s environmental and recycling program means a lot to me and I am honored to be a part of it,” Maher said. “It excites me when I think of all that will result from teaching our school community about the effects of our waste production, and then applying it in the classroom. Everything we learn during our school career is preparation for our future in the real world; it is never too late or early to develop habits of environmental awareness.” 

Maher is working with Peggy Barker, SJCHS art teacher, to place recycling bins for glass, paper and plastic in classrooms. 

“This is a teaching opportunity for the students and teachers because a lot of them aren’t aware of the practices,” Maher said.

The SJCHS staff and administration committed a year ago to move toward electronic processes in an effort to eliminate paper in meetings and communications; the school also has undergone some structural work to help with conservation efforts, said Joanna Wheelton, St. Joseph Catholic Schools president.

St. Joseph Catholic High School was built in 1954 and the electricity that was put in at that time had to be upgraded, said Wheelton. “One of the problems we were having with the increase in technology and the increased use of electricity was blowing circuits,” she said. “Running the air conditioner and the printer in the front office at the same time would blow the circuit; we knew we had to retrofit the building, but it was going to be expensive.” 

An engineer analyzed the electrical system and found a way to use the power on the school campus instead of drawing it from Lake Street, which borders the front of the school, and was also less expensive, said Wheelton.

“The ALSAM Foundation gave us a grant that funded the project in three phases, which also included extra ventilation for the gymnasium,” Wheelton said. 

The first phase was the electrical upgrade, which included new wiring, panels, outlets and a new transformer. The second phase was new water bottle filling stations that have reduced the use of disposable plastic water bottles and encouraged the use of reusable materials. The third phase was the addition of television screens to list announcements, a method that eliminates paper copies in all of the buildings, said Wheelton.

“The students have found the new water-bottle filling stations to be the biggest change; the students will all receive an aluminum water bottle of their own,” said Wheelton. The stations have filtered water and have been installed in the gym, outside the school office and outside the Black Box Theater. The stations count how many bottles have been filled, and thus are saving the environment. 

“The upgrade is something that people don’t see, but the impact has definitely been felt by all of us,” added Wheelton.

The St. Joseph Elementary School building was built in the mid-1930s; it is also involved in an ongoing process of renovation. In an effort to improve energy efficiency, replacing the west side of the building’s windows was the first step, said Wheelton. 

The window installation began Nov. 23. 

The ALSAM Foundation provided a challenge grant for the St. Joseph community to raise $60,000 to replace the windows on the west side of the school building; the community raised the money and the grant was provided. 

An additional grant given by the Stewart Educational Foundation will allow the remainder of the windows throughout the school to be replaced.