Clever students take their intelligence to the next level

Local 3rd graders share important messages with their schools 

Third grade students at Parkview Elementary weren’t quite sure what was in store for them when they began the Green Classroom Certification Program. The first step – a workshop on water conservation – left them with enough information to creatively devise a corresponding action project. The “action project” allows students to take the information they’ve learned during the workshop, deepen their understanding through hands-on experience, and share their ideas with their school or community. 

Marca Kidwell-Babcock and Jill Cofer are 3rd grade teachers at Parkview Elementary. Killing two birds with one stone, these clever instructors integrated their existing curriculum – presenting information through videos and PowerPoint – into their students’ action projects.  Their crafty kids created videos and presentations depicting how easily we can – and must – conserve water. Some students recorded themselves watering the garden with collected rainwater and turning off faucets while they suds hands or brush teeth. Others wrote, directed, and edited videos on preventing waste with water fountains and flushing toilets. Scroll down to see some of their genuine creations. 

These brave stewards will present their masterpieces to a broader audience within their school, encouraging other classrooms to take on the Green Classroom Certification challenge.
The certification program, offered by RE Sources for Sustainable Communities’ educators, is one part of a multi-faceted approach to help Whatcom County schools reduce their overall footprint while empowering students to become responsible stewards. “We want to see families living satisfying lives in accord with the ecosystems we depend on – now, and for generations to come,” says Haley Mountain, AmeriCorps Green Classroom Coordinator at RE Sources. “At RE Sources, we believe education and action are instrumental vehicles in seeing this vision come to life.”

The Green Classroom Certification program offers materials and professional support to teachers at no cost, helping them incorporate action-based conservation education into their curriculums while meeting academic state standards. 

Elementary teachers are encouraged to participate in the program any time throughout the school year, receiving free support to integrate fun into meeting state standards. Interested teachers, principals, or PTA members can contact RE Sources today for more information, schools@re-sources.org, (360) 733-8307.

Click here to sign up for RE Sources’ monthly educators’ eNews, with educator-focused events, resources, and helpful information. 



Presenting Parkview Third Graders

Using Reusable Water Bottles

by Osiris, Kegan, Miriam, Ava, and Addison

Flushing the Toilet

by Rory, Charlie, Alora, James, Griffin

Watering with Rain Water

by Keagan, Talia, Lillianne, Jack, Trinity

“Hi, I’m Shen and I’m going to show you how to save water when washing hands.” - Shen  “No Water was wasted during this video.” – Caleb, Molly, Luna, Destiny, Astrid

“We need to conserve water because it’s a waste if we don’t.” Kegan 

”Conserving water is good because some people in different countries don’t get to use as much water as we do. So maybe if we save it they can have more water, too.” - Osiris 

“Conserving water is important because there is only 2% of it on the whole entire planet that we can drink!” - Alora

Why should we conserve water? “Because it will help sea creatures.” - James 

 “Don’t you know not to flush garbage down the toilet? Don’t flush it down the toilet, put it in the garbage!” – Alora 

“This is a rain barrel and it is used to catch rain and then with this faucet it comes out and we fill our water buckets to water all the plants in this garden…You put it right under the gutter to catch the rain.” Keagan 

Watch more videos from Parkview third graders.

Check out Parkview PowerPoint presentations and other ingenuitive action projects. 

Learn more about RE Sources' Green Classroom Certification challenge.