Project description: Spy Rock's Sustainable Schoolhouse

The Spy Rock Schoolhouse will aim for long term sustainability by creating workable, low-maintenance, cost-effective infrastructure that adds to the overall improvement of the learning environment. The sustainable schoolhouse will use ecological design to achieve greater resource conservation and long-term financial savings. This will be accomplished by engaging students, families, and community members in hands-on projects where all participants will build competence in the creation and implementation of sustainable development. Ultimately, Spy Rock School will be a model site that exhibits a variety of natural technologies appropriate for small-scale home, business, and school design.

The framework for the Sustainable Schoolhouse includes seven themes - water, energy, biomass, recycling, green building, restoration, and nutrition. Each of the themes will be discussed with students and reinforced with projects that children, parents and community members will be invited to participate in.

The 2003-04 school year will comprise Phase I of the project, which will focus on water conservation, biomass, recycling, and energy. Providing an alternative for our inefficient and problematic flush toilet by installing a composting toilet is a major goal of Phase I. The scarcity of water in our bioregion, as well as at the Spy Rock School, demands that we conserve water by composting human waste in a health-department approved toilet. Another component of this project will be collecting rainwater off of classroom rooftops to use in the garden during the dry season. Other activities we will conduct include tree planting, mulch gardening, waste reduction, composting, permaculture design, site observation, and project evaluation. We may also explore the feasibility of on-site renewable energy generation.

Our students will benefit greatly from experiential learning, giving real life skills and the empowerment to make changes in their environment. This project will be tied to the curriculum wherever possible. For example, math will be integrated by asking students to calculate the number of gallons of water harvested from the roof. We will evaluate the success of the project by measuring the following:

• Gallons of water conserved and harvested
• Number of trees planted
• Improvement in soil quality/fertility

We have very high expectations for the educational impact of this project. Students will learn critical thinking skills through problem solving. We will create real life math problems, expand our horizons in the physical sciences, and use all our experiences in the writing process. Students will be evaluated through their writing assignments, as well as through participation, and ability to operate and maintain eco-infrastructure. They will be able to focus on an area of interest and share that knowledge during events by conducting tours for other students and teachers. Additional benefits of the project include the creation of habitat, and the pride students will gain from giving service to the school community. As each project is completed, students will give a critique of the new systems and design for improved functionality.

While the project applicant and the project partners will play active roles in implementing the Sustainable Schoolhouse, the NCRCN project coordinator will help bring success. The coordinator can help with grant writing, working with the Laytonville Unified School District for project approval, helping to coordinate some of the projects, networking with other organizations, and corresponding with local businesses about donations and acquisitions.

The Spy Rock Sustainable Schoolhouse requests $960 from the NCRCN to support Phase I of the project. Matching funds and in-kind donations will be sought from site block monies, businesses, and fundraisers.The amount would provide 50% funding to the following projects: