Churchill High School
Eugene, OR

Students give school chance to come clean
By Scott Maben, Eugene Register Guard

September 20, 2003 - Students will don detective hats at Eugene's Churchill High School this year, looking for evidence of an unhealthy environment.

They'll peek inside the janitor's closet, probe the groundskeeper's pesticide supplies and delve into the consequences of the nearly windowless school's dark, stale interior. Then they'll report what they find to school officials and work on ways to improve the safety of the school environment.

The investigations are part of the Green Flag Program, a new effort to help schools around the country become healthier places while teaching students about environmental responsibility.

At Churchill, 16 juniors and seniors in the Rachel Carson Center for Natural Resources will lead the charge under Green Flag.

"The importance of this program is that it gets students directly involved in investigating environmental health," said Tim Whitley, one of two Carson Center teachers at the school.

The students, who are pursuing certificates of advanced mastery in natural resource systems, will choose what areas they want to check in the school environment, which includes air, water, plants, furnishings, supplies and building materials.

They'll likely begin with a general survey of the school's status in four areas: pest management, recycling, indoor air quality and toxic chemicals.

Churchill already has made strides in switching to nontoxic methods of pest control and encouraging students and staff to recycle and conserve resources.

But there's room for improvement in air quality, school officials said. Churchill was designed with almost no exterior windows, making its classrooms and hallways dark and allowing for little natural air flow through the building.

"It probably isn't an environment that's overly conducive to learning," Principal John Sappington said.

He said he looks forward to the students' findings.

"I think we'll probably come up with some good ideas that hopefully aren't totally cost prohibitive," he said.

Four of the participating students outlined the goals during a presentation before Superintendent George Russell, Sappington and others.

"In taking on the Green Flag Program, we are committing ourselves to prevent costly problems before they start," said senior Sarah Coon, who's interested in investigating the use of chemicals at Churchill. "The Green Flag Program teaches students about environmental health, and helps them turn their knowledge into action."

The Oregon Toxics Alliance also presented the Rachel Carson program with a Green Flag Award of Environmental Leadership in recognition of outstanding environmental achievement. Churchill students conduct a unique wetlands study program, and the school has received grants for its environmental program.

Churchill also is the first school in the Northwest to adopt the Green Flag Program.

The program is a project of the national Child Proofing Our Communities Campaign, coordinated by the Center for Health, Environment and Justice in Falls Church, Va.

The center was started by Lois Gibbs, the mother-turned-environmental activist who helped expose underground toxic pollution in upstate New York 25 years ago. That calamity, known as Love Canal, led to the creation of the federal Superfund law, which forced polluters to pay for cleanups.