Educators Inspired by Sustainability

by Peter DiMaio and Elena Wilson
Octorara Middle School, PA

 Inspired by an article read in Teaching Tolerance, (Fall 2003, A Standard to Sustain), Peter DiMaio ventured to Vermont in March 2004. This was an article on the efforts of Harwood Union High School in South Duxbury, Vermont implementing the philosophy of sustainability as a teaching tool in curricula. The more DiMaio was reading the article, the more passionate he was becoming. He shared the article with fellow colleague, Elena Wilson, who equally shared the passion for this teaching philosophy.

Being a grandchild of Italian immigrants, DiMaio knows he has practiced sustainability all of his life. Bringing it into the classroom was his goal and one with which he needed guidance.  From there, he went to Vermont in March 2004 and met many incredible people like Jean Berthiaume, Erica Zimmerman, Jennifer Cirillo, Tim Kahn, Wendy Moore and Lori Morse. It was a truly great experience meeting these people. From there he shared many of the ideas and concepts behind sustainability that were learned with colleague Elena Wilson. The two have been disciples of this standard and their rural school, Octorara Middle School, Octorara Area School District, Atglen, PA, west of Philadelphia,  has embraced sustainability at many levels (environmental, civic, social, cultural, and economic), with an explosion of phenomenal activities by many interested, interconnected staff.

 Teaching Tolerance does recognize impeccable work being done by educators across the nation. The school was interviewed by TT in Feb. of 2005 for an online article and an article was also published in March 2005 in the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Report. 

The two educators and practitioners of sustainability describe their experience as inspirational. This has been an invaluable experience for them and their connected colleagues and students. TT, the teachers of Vermont, and Community Works Journal have helped bring the passion back to teaching and have allowed the perennial student question, “Why do I need to learn this stuff?” to be answered.    

…I maintain, my friends, that every one of us should seek out the best teacher whom he can find, first for ourselves, who are greatly in need of one, and then for the youth, regardless of expense or anything…”

From:  “LACHES” by Plato, Part 03, Socrates speaking to Plato and Lysimachus

Sustainable Education Through Service Learning
Education in today’s American society is in severe need of an overhaul, and we have begun the process with NCLB, but is it enough?  The accountability has been put in to place federally and locally with test scores in reading and math hanging over educators’ heads.  The big picture is even quite comical with administrators running around looking for the “quick fix” to bring up reading and math scores.  More time is being allocated for math and reading instruction at the expense of other subject areas and traditional American educational staples such as recess, the arts and extracurricular activities.  Students who are not deemed proficient by the state are placed in remedial classes that focus on skill and drill test practice.  Administrators meet and identify a list of students who with just a little push and extra help could be proficient when they take the test this year, and in doing so, they are the best bet to meet AYP.  So, we teach them test taking strategies, feed them snacks and offer incentives prior to the test. 

Dual forces are at play here in the world of American education today.  On the one hand, it is just a numbers game:  how many students do we need to push over the line so we can meet AYP as a school and district and be considered successful?  On the other hand, we have to ask how successful is each individual student?  We are looking at the necessity to differentiate instruction in the classroom to meet the needs of individual students.  Many teachers are pulled beyond their capabilities and capacities, and lacking the necessary professional development, aren’t sure where to find a happy medium between the two.  Too often administrators do not have the vision to see the importance of finding a balance between AYP percentages and a meaningful, well-rounded educational program for each student.

Regardless of whether or not a school or district has met AYP, students are still asking the same question that has been asked for centuries:  Why am I learning this?  Service Learning is a teaching strategy that not only answers that question, but also connects the learning across content areas and into the community so that annual yearly progress can be met and even exceeded at all grade levels.  As a result, the rationale for learning will be clear and student learning will be sustained. 

What is Service Learning?
Service Learning is a process of learning that answers, “Why am I learning this?”  It is an interdisciplinary teaching method that engages students in making authentic connections that develop skills and content knowledge.  Service learning combines learning and action.  Through it, students not only learn content, but they find a sense of purpose, experience self-discovery, and interact with others all while making a difference in their communities and world.  It is extending the learning beyond the classroom.  For years we have compartmentalized learning.  In fact, we ask a typical middle or high school student to, in effect, visit seven or eight different countries each day.  Each subject area has its own vocabulary or language and there are different customs, rules, routines and leaders.  It begins when a student enters that particular classroom and ends forty-two minutes later when he or she travels to the next class.  This is such an ingrained part of our educational system that when a teacher does the unthinkable and draws on a different content area in her classroom, students often object and rebel.  Comments such as “this isn’t English class,” or “I shouldn’t have to read in here, this is Math” are heard.  Because students have such difficulty even connecting the learning between different classes, how can we expect them to connect it to their daily lives and futures?  We know that this is the goal of education, but we expect our students to simply take our word for it.  What our students need is to experience it for themselves and service learning provides that opportunity.

It is this premise under which we have begun and are continuing to develop service learning at Octorara School District and thus achieve sustainability as our goal.  Sustainability in education is a strategy to guide curricula toward service-learning.  Service-learning teaches us to apply all subjects to meet the needs of local, county, state, national and international communities.  Sustainability teaches students that THEY make and create the future.  Sustainability Literacy is a tool used by many Octorara staff to facilitate hands-on educational experiences with community involvement.  Teachers facilitate, students create!  

The responses and successes we have with Sustainability at Octorara Middle School, Atglen, PA 19310, are overwhelming and wonderful.  This is truly good work and the enthusiasm is incredible. The following mantra has been learned from our wonderful Vermont mentors and we believe we are striving for its complete understanding:  “Place as the Context---Service-learning as the Strategy---Sustainability as the Goal.”

Our growth with sustainability is amazing. There is a plethora of accomplishments we would like to share. Students in seventh and eighth grade Spanish classes participate in Water for Waslala, Nicaragua. Students listen to conversations in Spanish by Nicaraguans from the village of  Waslala. This is done for the comprehension and understanding of Spanish from native speakers. Students collect money towards piping for the village for clean water and sewage removal. The service-learning part is done in conjunction with Villanova University. To date, students have given piping to 200 residents of the village. Students in a sixth grade science class support the Ambassador Wolf Pack in Ely, Minnesota. They build a classroom resource library and add new info along the way. Students plaster wolf tracks yearly. They continually visit the wolves via the International Wolf Center’s website, www.wolf.org.

Other accomplishments include the wisdom of elders with poetry in eighth grade English classes; breast cancer awareness projects  done by emotional support classes; certificate of participation  for Mix It Up At Lunch Day;   a book on interviews on local oral histories written by a fourth grade teacher; sixth grade social studies classes connecting with U.S soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan; eighth grade character education classes writing holiday cards to a senior citizen housing facility in Philadelphia; professional staff book chats on Ishmael and A Cafecito Story, with sustainable themes; professional breakfasts and lunches for supporting local businesses and the sharing of curricular projects; professional staff presentations and connections on Sustainability at local colleges and universities; quilting activity with English and gifted education classes with a professor from a local university promoting service-learning; and much more.

We are well educated in connecting Sustainability as a tool to our curricula. We will continue the growth of this good work.  Students finally understand why they learn “this stuff.”  Thank you, Vermont, for your mentorship. Community Works Institute and Sustainability are constant inspirations.