Chicago Tribune
Joshua Song
04/25/2013
LINCOLNSHIRE – Stevenson High School’s Green Team met with legislators on Capitol Hill to speak about education and environmental policy.
Members of Stevenson Green Team spent their weekend in Washington D.C. as participants in the “If I Had a Trillion Dollars” Youth Film Festival. The festival, sponsored by the National Priorities Project (NPP) and the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), asked young people how they would allocate a trillion dollars in the nation’s budget.
The Green Team’s video, which focused on how they would invest in sustainability, was an official selection, allowing the team to join other student groups from across the country for two days of intensive leadership training and preparation for their meetings with legislators from their state on April 15.
On Capitol Hill, the team lobbied advisors from the offices of Representative Brad Schneider and Tammy Duckworth. The group’s “Ten Point Plan” focused on various environmental issues, such as sustainability and efficiency, as well as the rising cost of college tuition.
"This year's Green Team has worked closely and taken the initiative to find new ways to make a difference in the Stevenson and Lincolnshire communities,” said Kirstin Erickson, the team’s faculty sponsor. “These 9 students are passionate about educating others and took their ideas all the way to Capitol Hill. I'm so proud of them!"
The team has already shifted their attention to other projects and has begun to implement their latest campaigns to complement Earth Day, April 22:
Stevenson plans to see an electronic waste drive sponsored by the Green Team this week, as a way to get students to take their own responsibility and recycle. In order to engage the student body, the team is planning on launching a campaign to encourage biking to school to both reduce carbon emissions and make better use of the bike racks across campus. The group has also asked teachers to reserve April 26 as Power Down Friday, a school-wide gesture that plans on reducing the school’s energy usage.
The group has also been working outside of the borders of their campus, collaborating with local Daniel Wright Junior High School to increase recycling and environmental awareness within in the schools the surround Stevenson.
As the school year draws to a close for these students, they hope to leave an impact both in the halls of Stevenson High School as well as in the halls of Congress. While the main goal of the team is to make their school a greener place for all students and staff, their long-term goal includes certifying Stevenson as a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB) Platinum School. Stevenson High School was awarded the LEED-EB Gold award in 2011, making it the first public school in the United States to do so.
