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Students and principal outline composting initiative, mental-health and curriculum programs at LG Junior-Senior High School
Summary
Presenters described a student-led composting program after a May–June 2024 waste audit, a plastics partnership with Nextrex tied to a bench donation, and schoolwide programs including Hope Squad peer support, Leader in Me curriculum expansion, vaping-prevention training and a seventh-grade outdoor trip.
A presenter at LG Junior-Senior High School described a new student-led composting initiative and recent efforts to reduce the school’s waste.
The presenter said the goals include teaching students to "repair and replenish the earth," measuring the building’s waste and cutting the school’s carbon footprint. "In May and June 2024, we did a waste audit... We put the equivalent of a small car or a white rhinoceros into the landfill every month," the presenter said.
Why it matters: school leaders said the initiative ties classroom learning to practical sustainability work, uses cafeteria waste audits to inform menu and waste-sorting changes, and channels compost into on-site gardens.
The presenter outlined operational changes in the cafeteria: students are asked to sort scraps into three buckets (vegetables/fruit/bread; meat/dairy; liquid waste), compostable trays are set aside, and plastics such as salad containers and forks are recycled. A student presenter added, "Composting is very important because, like, we don't waste as much food... it helps for the environment" in describing the program’s educational impact.
The school has also partnered with Nextrex to collect soft plastics: presenters reported the program has diverted about 100 pounds of plastic from the landfill so far and said Nextrex will donate a bench if the school reaches 1,000 pounds collected.
The school principal described several complementary student-support and curriculum efforts. She said the school implemented a Hope Squad peer-to-peer suicide-prevention program through Sullivan 180; three advisors completed training and the school has named 22 students as Hope Squad members. The principal also said the school expanded its Leader in Me curriculum to the high school level after running it in middle school for multiple years.
On health education, the principal said the school introduced Catch My Breath vaping-prevention training, another Sullivan 180 initiative, to help students understand the effects and risks of vaping. She characterized vaping as a broader youth health problem and said the training was well received.
For seventh graders, the principal described a cellphone-free outdoor education trip to Olive Bridge, New York (near Kingston) that includes hikes, blacksmithing and historical-site visits to build independence; the trip was scheduled for Oct. 1 in the next school year. The principal said these hands-on experiences complement classroom lessons on food production and sustainability.
The principal framed the combined programs and the Waste Warriors competition grant as ways to teach students about carbon footprints and sustainability while encouraging staff and student ownership. She said cafeteria behaviors already show the program’s early impact and added that the work shows how a small community can take meaningful steps toward environmental stewardship.
No formal vote or policy decision was recorded during this presentation; presenters described program activities, audit results and next steps for collection and student programming.
