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There are
displays in the lobby, including a
“Billion Acts of Green"
installation that details the
environmentally-friendly things
students can do. There are dozens
of recycling pails that double as
seats when a class goes outside to
study the Bear Creek ecosystem.
The state won’t choose Green
Schools for a while yet, but on
Monday, Bear Creek’s green efforts
paid off – thanks to support from
community clean-up organizations,
the school won the $3,000 grand
prize award for the 2015 Team BCPS
Clean Green 15 Challenge.
The school captured top honors by
marshalling nearly 900 volunteers
during two clean-ups that netted
13,044 pounds of trash from school
grounds and in the community,
enough to fill 1,203 large trash
bags. Six other schools also were
awarded grants and prizes for
their participation in the Clean
Green campaign.
“Taking care of our schools and
environment is a good lesson for
all of us, and the students from
Bear Creek and the other Clean
Green participating schools are
showing everyone how it’s done,"
said Baltimore County Public
Schools Superintendent Dr. S.
Dallas Dance during an awards
ceremony at the Dundalk school.
“Their example can and should lead
the way for our other schools
across Baltimore County to join
the Clean Green team and work
toward cleaning up litter when we
see it."
The second annual Team BCPS Clean
Green 15 Challenge asked schools
and their community partners to
participate in litter pick-up
activities of at least 15 minutes
last spring. During today’s awards
ceremony, Bear Creek’s students
cheered as their winning clean-up
activities were celebrated by Dr.
Dance and County Executive Kevin
Kamenetz.
For the 2015 challenge, nearly two
dozen BCPS schools were the
beneficiaries of 324 clean-up
activities, which together put
3,356 volunteers to work
collecting 3,456 bags of trash
totaling nearly 42,000 pounds, or
21 tons of garbage.
First and second places in the
challenge took home a $2,000 grant
and an iPad, respectively. On the
elementary school level,
Charlesmont Elementary School in
Dundalk took first place followed
by Reisterstown Elementary School
in Reisterstown. For middle
schools, Sparrows Point in
Edgemere and Ridgely in
Lutherville took first and second,
respectively. And among high
schools, Western School of
Technology in Catonsville was the
first place award winner, followed
by Chesapeake High School in
Essex.
All of the cash grants from the
Education Foundation of Baltimore
County Public Schools will go
toward funding school-based
instructional projects emphasizing
the theme of environmental
literacy.
Sponsors include Sparrows Point
Terminal, Inc., Maryland
Environmental Service, the
Education Foundation of Baltimore
County Public Schools, the
Baltimore County Department of
Environmental Protection and
Sustainability, and Baltimore
County Public Schools.