Student Involvement

The most innovative part of Berkshire School's sustainability initiatives is the learning process involved in their implementation. The implementation of most sustainability initiatives is led by students in the Sustainability and Resource Managment elective and guided by faculty and staff in the Sustainability Committee.

The students in the class are responsible for three areas: research, operations, and networking. Students conduct background research and risk analysis on strategies that will forward the goals of Berkshire's campus sustainability plan. They take their information and write proposals which are then presented to the Sustainability Committee. The committee, made up of the Director of Physical Plant, Chief Financial Officer, Director of Dining Services, Director of Campus Sustainability and many other key individuals, ask questions and decide whether the proposal is ready for implementation. Students are also iin charge of the day-to-day operations such as recycling, composting, source reduction, data collection, and the implementation of strategies. Finally, students connect with other schools, businesses, government organizations, and the local community to create a healthy dialogue about issues in sustainability.

A more traditional education about why we need to conserve our resources is still taught through environmental science classes and elements of environmental stewardship are included across the academic curriculum. Also, students can pursure their own interests throught the school's independent study program (one student created an emissions trading program that became the Innovative and Experimental Solutions award-winner in the National Wildlife Federation’s Chill Out: Campus Solutions to Global Warming nationwide competition). 

The mountain is an invaluable resource used by our community for academic growth.  The numbers on the map above are study areas used by classes in the science department.  The orange numbers represent forest stands and the blue numbers represent water collection areas.