Eco Child’s Play

” We need to respect the environment because it’s the only thing we have that’s close to magic”

This quote came from an 8th grader after I asked the class to tell me why it is important that we respect the environment. I’ve learned to appreciate moments like this as a teacher.  This one, however, was particularly satisfying as it came in the first weeks of our first school year at Green School.

Aptly named, Green School (www.greenschool.org) is an ambitious new international school on the island of Bali, Indonesia.  Its aim is to produce students who not only respect, but also understand the environment along with the challenges we face in regards to its health.  The classrooms have no walls, and the roofs are made from bamboo, our most renewable of trees.  The children read and write under natural light, and are cooled by breezes instead of air-conditioners. They tend gardens with the guidance of a permaculturist as part of a hands-on and holistic curriculum.

• » See also: The Joy of Green Cleaning by Leslie Reichert
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After years of teaching in public school systems in the States and in a crowded city in Taiwan with a serious air-pollution problem, teaching at Green School is a figurative and literal breath of fresh air.  Moving from a high-rise apartment building with a parking garage, to a bamboo yurt and a nature walk to work has been a welcome re-connection with nature.  Going from an air-conditioned box of a school on a crowded city block, to a 25-acre campus in the jungle cooled by wind and shade has re-invigorated my lungs.

With a student body from all over the world, Green School’s hope is to plant seeds of sustainability in the next generation that will take root in every environment and culture.  I watch the 7th and 8th grader’s become totally engaged as they study river ecology on the banks of the Ayung River which runs through our campus. I join the 2nd graders in trying to name more plants and animals than we could last week on a walk around campus and it gives me reason to believe we’re on the right track.

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