It’s Not Easy Being Green

We haven’t inherited this planet from our parents.

We have borrowed it from our children.

Dr. Jane Goodall

Pinewood’s core values speak to our commitment to supporting students who are curious, creative and caring thinkers. One of the tangible ways in which we are doing this is through our pledge to become an Eco-School. Why?

As Jane Goodall, British primatologist and anthropologist, so aptly describes above, our planet is a precious home that must be protected for our children. Hence, it is our responsibility as educators to provide the right school environment and environmental literacy for our students to be curious, creative and caring about their planet.

In his passionately informative book, “21 Trends for the 21st Century”, author Gary Marx outlines 21 trends relevant for understanding and doing just this – preparing our children for their future. Each of the trends outlined in Marx’s book guide Pinewood’s pledge to become an Eco-School – a school that empowers its students and staff to live sustainably and in an environmentally conscious manner.

Although this is happening gradually, there are many ways in which we plan to build an Eco-School environment. Here are just a few.

• Think before we print
• Promote recycling
• Ban plastic campus-wide
• Include environmental literacy in the curriculum

To kick off our commitment, and as part of our environmental literacy approach, Pinewood is honored to be partnering with Dr. Jane Goodall when she visits Thessaloniki in December with her Roots & Shoots program. To get inspired, our Pinewood students watched the National Geographic documentary film, JANE (highly recommended!).  And now, they are diligently working together in groups to design their own service campaigns to address needs that they most care about.

Our ultimate goal is to bring environmental learning to the Pinewood curriculum, and by doing so, contribute to the mission of Dr. Goodall’s Roots & Shoots program:

“to foster respect and compassion for all living things, to promote

understanding of all cultures and beliefs, and to inspire each

individual to take action to make the world a better place for people,

other animals, and the environment.”

A big thank you to Ms. Kathryn Mills, Ms. Elisavet Papadopoulou, Ms. Amanda Cole, Mr. Harvey Cole, Ms. Alkioni Kloussiadis  and Ms. Mina Morou for leading the initiative with Dr. Goodall’s visit!