Students green up James Island school

The goal to make James Island Char- ter High School more 'green' was realized on a recent Saturday when more than 80 students, teachers and volunteers came to the campus to begin building a green wall.

The green wall of all native plants will clean the air and reduce the temperature in the immediate area by as much as 2 degrees, saving energy on air conditioning, the students said.

Jenny Peterson
The Journal

Plants were arranged carefully outside James Island Charter High School to make the school more environmentally friendly.

Over the students' spring break, a metal grid for the wall was installed on the exterior wall of the school gymnasium, ready for climbing plants to attach and grow.

Students spent eight hours putting more than 400 native plants at the base of the wall and in the nearby grassy area, under the direction of local landscaper Jennifer Vaughn Hayes.

Biology students in teacher Michelle Lee's first- and fourth-period classes, along with students in the recycling and science club, thought of ways to make

their school greener and put their concept for a green wall and other ideas in a two-page grant proposal last year.

The students were awarded a $10,000 grant from the Sustainability Institute of South Carolina in October to make their green ideas a reality.

"It's important to keep our school clean and green, and it makes the school cooler," said sophomore Joe Wright, as he placed a native plant into the soil. "It's great for the community to see."

In addition to the wall, the students will construct green walkways and install barrels to catch rainwater.

Lee said her students thought of everything associated with the green wall, and the volunteers and teachers just helped make their vision possible.

Donations of time and materials also helped with the students' green efforts.

All the plants are native and came from either the South Carolina Native Plant Society or two Johns Island nurseries, Pon Pon

and Church Creek. Emilio Ancaya of Living Roofs Inc. in Asheville, N.C., donated time to install the metal grid for the green wall, Lee said.

Junior Taylor Murray said she was excited about the wall being an addition to the school for a long time.

"When I come back for a reunion I can say, 'I did that,' " Taylor said. "I want it to last."

For more information, visit jichscareerandteched.org/Green/index.htm.