Solar Energy
It is rumored that our solar panel array is one of the biggest in Summit County. Whether or not that is true, it powers our school and our chargers for faculty electric vehicles.
Vanpool
Since the cost of living in Park City is out of reach for many of our faculty, we established a vanpool through Utah Transit Authority. The van leaves from Parley’s Way each morning bringing faculty up the canyon safely at the school’s expense. Faculty takes turns driving and refers to themselves as The Vamily. Not only does it save the carbon footprint of 15 vehicles and saves our faculty transportation costs, but it is a reliable ride even on the snowiest days.
School Bus
Our school bus allows students to take frequent field trips to confirm in the real world what they have learned in class. And it saves the carbon footprint of 10 vehicles it requires to get classes to, for instance, Wheeler Farm, Clark Planetarium or the Natural History Museum. The school bus is much like “The Magic School Bus” in that it takes students to worlds they may never have experienced before, giving an educational insight to just about everything outside our classroom walls.
Earth Day Every Day
In 1987 our school began, founded by an environmental zoologist whose aim was to save the planet through education. The first classes planted trees and wild flowers, built bluebird nest boxes, built trails, and tried really hard to get their parents to bring reusable bags to the grocery store. All these years later finally everyone remembers their bags and Earth Day is on our calendars! But the work goes on.
In class every student who can walk sorts waste into compost, recycling and trash. It is not so much about getting these things done correctly as it is about thinking about where they go. We make a concerted effort to cut down on waste, avoid plastic and and reduce/reuse/recycle everything. Each year our Upper School students hold a Science Fair or Invention Convention to think up new ways to protect the environment.
Our graduates have become stewards of the Earth as biologists, educators, writers, artists, athletes and entrepreneurs. Whatever they decide to do as adults, they are respectful of all living and non-living things.
A Green View
Research has shown that people working with plants and animals and even just looking at greenery from a window are happier and healthier with the contact with nature. We have cultivated native plants around our campus so that any view will be a beautiful one. Every classroom has big windows allowing natural light and a view of nature. This helps to curate a peaceful classroom where students feel comfortable and inspired.
Nature
Our campus offers lots of space for grounding oneself in nature. There is sand and water on the playground as well as wild grasses growing up in the corners. The creek offers a riparian habitat that Upper School students use as their personal outdoor classroom. There are native mountain plants growing on the berms, edible plants in the gardens and a vast field next door owned by the Workman family who kindly share it with us. Our campus is home to an array of wildlife including ducks, deer, elk, Uintah ground squirrels, black-tailed weasels, meadow voles, great-horned owls, red tailed hawks, kestrels and occasionally a moose! The Community Garden just down the street is a great place for a nature walk in the fall or summer.
Whether looking for leaves, hunting insects, keying out flowers, discovering tracks in the snow, bird watching or just messing around in nature, we want our students to spend a good chunk of their day in our beautiful outdoor classroom. And the “bluebird days” of Park City allow us to be outside for almost every single day of school.
Greenhouse Gardening
Our two greenhouses allow us to garden year round. Students can grow vegetables for snacks and lunch as well as flowers for the tables. Tending a garden builds a sense of responsibility in remembering to water and weed. And the joy of growing a cucumber or a carrot makes it all worthwhile.
The Children’s Planet Fund
In 1988 students of Soaring Wings, after looking at photos of hungry children in Africa, held a yard sale contributing their outgrown toys, books, clothes and baby furniture. The sale yielded $23 which we sent off to UNICEF to aid a child in Africa. The yard sale grew into the Soaring Wings Fair and we were able to contribute much more to organizations supporting children and the Earth. The collection of organizations that students had chosen became known as The Children’s Planet Fund. Students raised and contributed approximately $200,000 over the 30+ years we held the Soaring Wings Fair. But the Fair ended with COVID and the Auction died soon after. Now students contribute less money to fewer local organizations each year, but they still choose the organizations for their support of children and the planet. Currently the Children’s Planet Fund supports Recycle Utah, Swaner Nature Preserve, Summit County Library and our elder through Adopt-a-Native Elder, Grandma Frances. Students also respond at the first call for help from children around the world who need assistance such as children in Iraq during the war, children in Japan after the tsunami, the Montessori school in Turkey that was damaged by the earthquake, children on Maui whose school was damaged by the fire there, the children of Peace House and children in Peru who have no educational materials. We recently contacted the Montessori School in Santa Monica during the fires there and although they said they are safe we told them we stand ready to help in some way. We see our graduates carrying on with this effort to reach out to those in need, again and again.
What’s Next?
Our faculty and families bring a myriad of degrees, interests, experiences, talents and ideas to our school community. Where it seemed impossible to get families to remember to bring their bags to the grocery store in 1987, after the decades of great ideas and incredible talent that has been invested in our school, we now know that we can achieve anything. Leith is creating an expansive curriculum for Upper School called Human Impact that will weave together the established elements of the curriculum while leading students on field trips to consider the human potential and how we can put it into action where it matters most. We need citizens of the future who not only understand science, but have an idea about how to make a difference.
Let us know if you have a great idea to improve our sustainability!