State Board Calls for Green Ribbon Schools Applications

Green Ribbon Schools Program Seeks to Highlight Illinois’s Schools and Districts Commitment to Environmental Education and Sustainability SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) is proud to announce the launch of the application process for the 2023-24 Illinois Green Ribbon Schools Award. This program is designed to recognize and celebrate the unwavering commitment…

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The Illinois Green Schools Project is back for the 2023-24 school year!

The Illinois Green Schools Project registration is now open! This is a year-long sustainability challenge designed for K-12 schools across Illinois. Gather students, teachers, and staff from your school to form a green team and meet regularly to design and implement a year-long, no-to low-cost, sustainability initiative at your school. Now in its 4th year,…

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39 Illinois Schools Recognized for their Sustainability Projects

Since October 2022, participating schools across Illinois have been hard at work identifying, planning, and implementing low-to-no cost sustainability projects for their schools and communities through the Illinois Green Schools Project. As the school year comes to a close, we want to thank all who were involved and reflect on the achievements and impact of your work. Nearly 1,800…

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Volunteer with Illinois Green! Applications Open Now.

Are you a green building expert who wants to make an impact in your community? Illinois Green’s offers two opportunities to connect and share your knowledge as a building mentor: Green Schools Mentor Sustainable Facilities Mentor Volunteers in these programs complete hands-on projects and share knowledge to advance sustainability in all building types. Last year over 100 green…

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Celebrating the Illinois Green Schools Project Mentors

This past school year, nearly 50 volunteers from Illinois’ green building community mentored a school in designing and implementing a sustainability project as part of the Illinois Green Schools Project. We want to extend a huge thank you to these Green Schools Mentors, who lent their expertise and time to educating students and supporting schools…

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Pleasantdale Elementary School: Color the World with Butterflies

By Clare Zhang First thing every morning, the kindergarteners in Kara Mulder’s class run to check on the growth of their plants. They add food waste to the classroom compost buckets, then take them outside as a class to add to the bin in the school’s butterfly garden. This new routine is a result of…

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Skinner North Classical School: Taking Charge of Energy Use

By Clare Zhang When Zach Schroeder was teaching the civics curriculum to his seventh and eighth grade students at Skinner North Classical School in Chicago, the discussions kept coming back to environmental issues.  “They didn’t just want to go through the motions and do a school project — it was real for them,” Schroeder said.…

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Chicago-Area School, District and University Named Recipients of U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools Honors

By: U.S. Department of Education Award announced on Earth Day, recognizing efforts to reduce environmental impact and energy costs, improve health and wellness, offer effective sustainability education The U.S. Department of Education on Earth Day announced the 2022 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools, District Sustainability Awardees, and Postsecondary Sustainability Awardees. In the greater…

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18 Schools Received a Mini-Grant to Implement a Sustainability Project

Congratulations to the 2021-22 Illinois Green Schools Project Mini-Grant Awardees! The Illinois Green Schools Project, a program that brings together students, teachers, and staff to implement hands-on sustainability projects, awarded mini-grants to eighteen K-12 schools across Illinois. Led by Illinois Green Alliance, the program invited participating schools to submit mini-grant proposals to support implementation of…

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