On Thursday, New Rochelle High School is going green. Sustainability Day, which grew out of a just-introduced elective on sustainability, will offer a day of workshops and discussions about how best to reduce one’s impact on the world around them.
Experts in a wide range of fields will lead presentations on doing more with less, on reusing and recycling and on using alternate sources of energy. Workshop topics include: “Compost: Put Your Organic Resources to Work,” by Pamela Davis, a master gardener; “Sustainable Eating: A Look at Sustainable, Eco-friendly Farms,” by teacher George Gierer; and “Sustainable Development: Helping the World Economically, Socially and Environmentally,” by Dan Bena, PepsiCo’s director of sustainable development.
“A lot of people have no idea what sustainability means,” said Joyce Kent, chairman of the high school’s science department and one of two lead organizers of the event (Julia Chillemi, who teaches the sustainability course, is the other). “It’s not just about global warming. It’s trying to maintain within reason your lifestyle without using up the resources found on this planet.”
One of the goals of Sustainability Day is to show people how they can make small adjustments to their day-to-day routines that have significant results, Kent said.
About 2,800 students are expected to participate in the Thursday’s events.
And in additional Science Department news, the high school’s Science Olympiad team will head to the New York State Championship later this month. The team finished second at a regional competition in February, earning a berth in the finals. The championship competition takes place at West Point March 18 and 19.
