Chicago school going 'green' is expected to set national standard

Published: 2008-02-04

CHICAGO (CNS) -- A new kind of seed will sprout this spring at St. Monica Academy on Chicago's Northwest Side. The school will roll out a curriculum built around environmental education called SEEDS, for Student Environmental Education and Development Studies, in hopes that it will not only take root at St. Monica but spread to Catholic schools across the Chicago Archdiocese. The curriculum was designed by St. Monica faculty and staff from the Chicago Botanic Garden. Anna Viertel, coordinator for school gardens at the Botanic Garden, said that "the really important thing is that we have the opportunity to design the curriculum" and "at the same time" plan how to design the campus itself to accommodate it. St. Monica, which has students from pre-kindergarten to eight grade, has brought in Viertel several times so far to get its project going. "When this is done, it will be the national standard," she told The Catholic New World, Chicago's archdiocesan newspaper. The plan calls for at least two environmental units for each grade level, with each unit including components from several subject areas.

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