LiveGreen

All eight schools in School District 197 offer LiveGreen as an extracurricular club. Help us harvest and plant school gardens, join our recycling and composting initiatives, construct solar suitcases for schools in Africa and so much more! Contact your school's LiveGreen advisor today.

Garlough	Kim Benton
Mendota	Katie Holten
Moreland	Marina Radle
Pilot Knob	Lauren Knoepfler & Michelle Link-Valenstein
Somerset	Tricia Crider
Friendly Hills	Katy Lynch & Amanda Mahlstedt
Heritage	Kristina Cooper
Two Rivers	Elizabeth Howatt & Sara Peterson

 

Posters in each school cafeteria help students and adults remember the right ways to dispose of their waste.  Each recycle, trash and compost bin throughout the district is also labeled to guide waste into its proper bin. 
New compost label-  Each bathroom paper towel waste bin, has a new label, paper towels are compostable. 

By making an effort to improve energy performance levels, the schools in School District 197 have not only avoided utility costs, but have continued to protect the environment by limiting harmful greenhouse gases. 

SCHOOL ENERGY STAR AWARDS
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s national energy performance rating system helps organizations assess how efficiently their buildings use energy relative to similar buildings nationwide. A building that scores a rating of 75 or higher on a scale of 1-100 is eligible for the ENERGY STAR Award.

The ENERGY STAR Awards signify that our schools have relatively superior energy performance levels, representing the top 25 percent of facilities nationwide. All eight of District 197's schools have received Energy Star awards. 

School District 197 schools first received their Energy Star ratings in the following years:

• 2004: Friendly Hills Middle School 
• 2008: Heritage E-STEM Magnet, Mendota Elementary School
• 2009: Garlough Environmental Magnet, Pilot Knob STEM Magnet, Moreland Arts & Health Sciences Magnet, Somerset Elementary School 
• 2010: Henry Sibley High School 

DISTRICT AWARDS
School District 197 has earned ENERGY STAR Leaders Top Performer recognition for achieving an average energy performance rating above 75. The 2009 rating was 81 and in 2010 it climbed to 93. The district was recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for increasing its energy efficiency by 10 percent in 2005, 20 percent in 2009 and 30 percent in 2010. Since launching its energy efficiency program in September 2003, the district has avoided more than $1.9 million in energy costs. 

BE AN ENERGY STAR
Click here to learn ways you can be a STAR for the environment by saving energy and protecting the planet.   

In February 2016, the school board approved a resolution declaring School District 197 as a "Pollinator-Friendly School District" – the first district in the state to pass such a resolution. We are taking small steps each year to protect and promote pollination. 

In spring 2017, lawn signs (see picture) were placed around the school grounds throughout the district to share our new practices with our neighbors and community.

In summer 2017, grass islands in parking lots were replaced with wildflower beds. These plantings will be an oasis for bees as they seek food sources. 

WHAT YOU PLANT MATTERS!

Here are some helpful hints and some favorite Minnesota native wildflower picks to get you started on your pollinator friendly garden!

Good to know:

1. Native plants need a few growing seasons to establish. Be patient. Most of the plant’s work is done “below ground” the first few seasons. Once roots are established, the flowers will become more profuse.
2. Native plants never need fertilizing. Insecticides should never be used on these plants.
3. Plant a succession of flowers that bloom from early spring to late fall.
4. Native shrubs, native trees, and native grasses are also very important in pollinator habitat.
5. Refer to the Latin name to make sure you are buying a straight species native plant whenever possible.
6. Always ask if the plant contains a neonicotinoid insecticide, even if the plant is labeled “bee friendly.”
7. Don’t “clean up” your garden in the fall as beneficial insects or eggs may be inside the stems. Wait until mid-May to tidy up the garden. Better yet, in late spring, cut the stems down and lay them in the garden as mulch. Plus, many plants provide seeds for birds and winter interest for you.  

Spring Blooming Flowers

• Prairie Smoke (Geum triflorum), full sun/part shade
• Downy Phlox (Phlox pilosa), full sun
• Showy Wild Garlic (Allium canadense), full sun
• Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis), full sun to shade
• Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum), full sun to shade
• Prairie Coreopsis (Coreopsis palmata), full sun/part shade
• White Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum), shade/part shade

Summer Blooming Flowers

• Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa), full sun/part shade
• Wild Petunia (Ruellia humilis), full sun
• Orange Coneflower (Rudbeckia fulgida), full sun/part shade (any native coneflower is good!)
• Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), full sun/part shade
• Purple Prairie Clover (Dalea purpurea), full sun
• Scaly Blazing Star (Liatris squarrosa), full sun (any native blazing star is good!)
• Ohio Spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis) full sun/part shade
• Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa), full sun (any native milkweed is good!)
• Sullivant’s Milkweed (Asclepius sullivantii), full sun

Fall Blooming Flowers

• Showy Goldenrod (Solidago speciosa), full sun (any native goldenrod is good!)
• Lavendar Hyssop (Agastache foeniculum), full sun/partial sun
• Black Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta), full sun/partial sun
• White Aster (Aster ptarmicoides), full sun (any native aster is good!)
• Smooth Aster (Aster laevis), full sun
• Joe Pye Weed (can grow to 5 feet tall!), (Eupatorium maculatum), full sun/part shade
• Sweet Joe Pye Weed for shade (can grow to 7 feet tall!) (Eupatorium purpureum), shade/part shade
• Rose Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), (can grow to 4+ feet tall), full sun

All Seasons: Grasses

• Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), full sun/part sun
• Sideoats Grama (Bouteloua curtipendula), full sun/part shade
• Prairie Dropseed (Sporobulus heterolepis), full sun/part shade

NOTE: Some native plants can grow to be quite tall. Be sure to review plant height information if you prefer a more traditional look for your native garden (.5 to 3 feet). The above-listed plants (except for Joe Pye) tend to be shorter.

HELPFUL RESOURCES

Organizations/Websites:

• University of Minnesota Bee Lab: Plants for Minnesota Bees
• Wild Ones Twin Cities: Regional Native Plant Suppliers List
• Minnesota Wildflowers: Field Guide to the Flora of Minnesota
• Pollinators of Native Plants: Native plant lists by soil type and insects the plant attracts, by Heather Holm
• Xerces.org: Pollinator Plants of the Great Lakes Region

Regional Native Plant Mail-Order Resources:

• Prairie Moon Nursery
• Prairie Nursery
• Additional Reading: Books and Newsletters:
• Bringing Nature Home, Doug Tallamy
• Pollinators of Native Plants, Heather Holm
• Native Plants of Minnesota, Lynn Steiner
• Landscaping with Native Plants of Minnesota, Lynn Steiner
• Attracting Native Pollinators, The Xerces Society
• The Living Landscape, Rick Darke and Doug Tallamy
• Birdscaping in the Midwest, Mariette Nowak
• Monarch Gardens newsletter
• Ecobeneficial newsletter

In 2017, Friendly Hills Middle School and Moreland Arts & Health Sciences Magnet flipped the switch on rooftop solar arrays. The systems will not only save energy dollars but also provide science learning opportunities for students. The solar panels were manufactured in Mount Iron, MN by Silicon Energy. 
                        
In 2018, three more schools joined Friendly Hills and Moreland. Garlough Environmental Magnet, Heritage E-STEM Magnet, and Mendota Elementary received solar panel systems. In total, the five projects expect to offset nearly 360,000 pounds of CO2 emissions annually and save the school district an estimated $750,000 in electricity costs over the next 25 years.
 
The project was installed by local solar contractor Oxbow Sunworks and financed through their partner Ohana Midwest Energy. The school district had zero upfront costs to install the projects and will pay lower electricity rates over the next 30 years or more. 

These solar projects are inline with our mission to promote energy savings using low cost or no cost strategies. 

Sustainability awareness campaigns and events happen throughout the school year. These events are supported by the district sustainability manager along with the schools' LIVEGREEN leaders and teams.

September
Recycle Review
Fall MoveGreen

October
National Energy Action Month

November
National Recycling Day (November 15)

February
LiveGreen Week

April
Earth Day (April 22)

May
Spring MoveGreen
District Compost Sale