Students show off their green thumbs

James Island school becomes more environmentally friendly

Grace Beahm
The Post and Courier

James Island Charter High School sophomores Travis Evitt (right) and Ashley Hiott plant a native honeysuckle with their biology teacher, Michelle Lee (rear). The plant will join other native climbing species to create a 'green wall' as the plants climb the metal anchors.

James Island Charter High School students easily spotted ways their campus could be more environmentally friendly.

They saw erosion, water drainage issues and a lack of greenery, and two biology classes decided to write a grant to address those problems and improve their school.

The school now has a garden with more than 400 native plants, a pathway made out of recycled glass, rain barrels and two cabled walls for climbing plants.

"It's cool that you did something to help the environment in your school," said Ashley Hiott, a sophomore who helped write the grant. "I just hope it gives people a better understanding of how they can care for the environment."

Each of the initiatives will have an environmental impact while beautifying the school. The native flower garden will be a potential habitat for wildlife and will attract migrating butterflies that can be tagged for future research. The pathway of recycled glass will decrease erosion and give students a place to walk rather than on the grass or through the mud, and the cable system attached to walls on either side of the gym will enable native plants to climb the wall, filter the air and insulate the gym.

"I learned more from this project than I do in trigonometry," said sophomore Jesse Elsey. "I have no clue what we're talking about in that class."

High schools from across the county competed for $10,000 from the Greens Fund to put their green plans into action. The fund was created this school year as a joint project of the Sustainability Institute and Lowcountry Earth Force to give money to a local high school that came up with the best idea on how to make their campus more sustainable.

"We hoped to give kids an outlet for their imagination, particularly when itwas for environmental causes," said Alan Myers-Davis, coordinator for the Green Fund.

James Island Charter High's project stuck out because it had an outreach component that would involve the broader community, and the end result could be visible to others, said Stacey Littlefield, project manager for Lowcountry Earthforce.

Students learned about the environment during their biology class, and teacher Michelle Lee wanted a hands-on project that would help them further understand their lessons. The grant was the answer.

The student-driven project was planned during first semester and carried out during the second. Students brainstormed ideas to make their campus more green, researched proposals, voted on their top choice and created a budget and supply list.

Students seemed impressed with what they created, and they said it has encouraged their classmates to be more aware of the environment.

"I think it gives our school a little flavor," Elsey said. "I hope we can put more stuff up like this around school."

Reach Diette Courrégé at dcourrege@postandcourier.com or 937-5546.