Woodland Hills is awarded national green works honor

The Woodland Hills School District last week was named the winner of a national award for its work in organizing and promoting green initiatives.

The Green Schools National Network and Center for Green Schools on Tuesday announced that the district had won the 2021 Best of Green Schools Award in the school systems category.

The award recognized the district for organizing, educating and collaborating with the community on green initiatives, including sustainability, climate change and energy efficiency. The Woodland Hills school board was the first in Pennsylvania to adopt a climate change resolution.

“After passing a climate resolution and forming a climate committee, Woodland Hills School District developed professional development courses to aid educators in creating climate change lessons for their classrooms and established a climate-friendly food program, recycling infrastructure, gardening programs and energy efficient building policies,” the Green Schools National Network and Center for Green Schools said.

Eddie Willson, Woodland Hills’ director of curriculum,

said the district took an active approach toward green initiatives in 2018 after a group of eighth graders listened to a presentation from a guest speaker from Communitopia, a local nonprofit organization that works to address climate change. The students took their concerns about climate change to the school board, which led to the introduction and passage the resolution.

“It’s been a huge groundswell within the district that was started very organically at the student level,” Mr. Willson said.

The organizations also noted that the Woodland Hills High School climate action team launched a virtual Youth Climate Action Summit in October 2020 that was attended by nearly 200 people and raised more than $1,500 for climate projects.

In April, the district said, 40 fourth grade students planted 20 new trees at Wilkins Elementary STEAM Academy. The district also hosted a tree adoption event at its high school, where it handed out 200 new trees for community members to plant throughout the community.

“At GSNN, we believe that education for sustainability is no longer an option but a necessity,” Jenny Seydel, executive director of the Green Schools National Network, said in a statement. “The Best of Green Schools honorees are exemplars for the entire K-12 community. Their dedication is an inspiration to all of us who know how difficult it is to make systemic change for a better future.”