Going to School Green
LUTZ, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- It’s very in to be green right now. And one school is making every other school green with envy. It’s the first leadership in energy and environmental design, or LEED, platinum-rated green school in the country.
At first this seems like a typical school … but take a closer look -- a log cabin library, hybrid parking spaces, an organic garden, nature trails, rainwater catchers and students recycling.
This is Learning Gate school in Florida and they are taking green to new levels. “The way they teach you is amazing,” Erin Johnson, a 7th Grade Student at Learning Gate, told Ivanhoe.
And now they will be teaching in these new certified green buildings. These nine new classrooms are made of recycled materials. Everything is green, from the wood and steel used in the frame to the carpet on the floor -- made of scraps and sprite bottles. This eco-friendly building cost about $140 per square foot, a normal school building costs about $175 per square foot.
“The paint was ecofriendly so when they were painting it, it didn’t have that strong smell at all,” Ashley Long, an 8th Grade Student at Learning Gate, told Ivanhoe.
They have tinted windows and there are no light switches in these classrooms -- the lights turn on and off by a sensor. “They also are sensed by the time of the day it is. How much light is coming in or out, they adjust,” Patti Girard, Principal of Learning Gate, told Ivanhoe.
Another unique feature -- this air system uses fresh air, making the air healthier for the students. The buildings are also encapsulated with soybean insulation.
“The kids have to live it and learn it. That’s the only way we are going to make a difference,” Girard said.
“We are the next generation. We are making global warming and pollution, but the fact that this school educates the youth -- the next generation who is going to take on the earth -- that’s just great because we are going to be the ones to prevent all that,” said Johnson.
Respect for the environment -- a lesson worth teaching.
If you would like more information, please contact:
Patti Girard, Principal
Learning Gate Community School
16215 Hanna Road
Lutz, FL 33549
(813) 948-4190
http://www.learninggate.org
For more information about this school, click here!
