Westowne Elementary School was one of a record 69 Maryland schools recognized as Maryland Green Schools in a May 29 ceremony at the Community College of Baltimore County's Catonsville campus.

The school was one of 11 from Baltimore County, and the only one from Catonsville.

Only two other schools in the Catonsville area, Hillcrest Elementary and the Western School of Technology and Environmental Science, have been named Green Schools.

Hillcrest was awarded the status in 2006 and Western was named in 1999 the first year the status was awarded to schools.

"Being a Green School really shows our children we're concerned about the environment," Westowne Principal Patricia Vogel said.

The school on Harlem Lane is now one of 269 Green Schools certified by the Maryland Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education statewide and one of 52 in Baltimore County.

The association is an umbrella group that provides resources for teachers to instruct students about environmental issues.

Westowne was recognized for undertaking several programs, such as starting a Green Club and shutting all the power off in the school for an hour on Earth Day, to help students understand their impact on the environment.

The past two years, during the school's annual holiday gift program fundraiser in which students purchase Christmas presents for their family, the Parent Teachers Association has asked parents to donate lightly used items instead of hiring a firm to sell trinkets to the kids.

The event has raised $3,000 the past few years for the PTA at the school, Vogel said.

The process of obtaining Green School status takes two years. Schools must demonstrate that they have incorporated lessons on the environment in to the curriculum, reduced the school site's impact on the environment and involved the larger school community in the process.

"It's not like 'Oh, we're going to screw in a few light bulbs and we're a green school," said Bronwyn Mitchell, the association's executive director.

Once a school is designated as a Green School, it must be recertified every three years. So far, 80 percent of the schools that have undergone review have maintained it, Mitchell said.

Mitchell said the process involves everyone in the school, from the janitor to the principal, if the school is going to be recognized and keep its status.

She said becoming a Green School isn't just about conservation, but that it is also has an educational component.

For example, the school invited a chef from Atwater's restaurant last month to help the third-grade students understand the importance of healthy eating habits.

"Part of being a Green School is helping connect the school with our environment," said Sarah Montgomery-Walsh, a parent who has two children at the school. "There are many ways to do it.

"We need to reconnect our kids and families to what we use and what we eat.

"This helps kids see where their food comes from, that farms are a vital part of the cycle of life," she said.

Mitchell noted that a study by the association reported higher scores on the standardized Maryland Student Assessment test for fifth-graders in reading and eight-graders in reading and math by students who attended Green Schools compared to students that did not.

The study's results are posted at the group's Web site www.maeoe.org.

"Environmental education is unique because it can be integrated throughout the curriculum," Mitchell said.

She theorized that the Green School students did better on the tests because the activities and the ability to practically apply classroom lessons in the real life keep students engaged.

Students were exposed to environmental issues at Westowne in their health class, where they were taught about the effects of smoking on their bodies as well as smoking's impact on the environment.

More schools are applying for Green School status than ever, Mitchell said.

The 69 schools awarded the status this year were the most in the program's 10 year history.

There are, however, still educators skeptical about the program, Mitchell said.

She said the program has received "mixed" reactions from educators, not because they doubt the program's value, but because there is so much already required of them.

Once teachers see that working to be designated as a Green School isn't something extra, they quickly come around to it.

Vogel said at Westowne that some teachers expressed reservations, but eventually all of them bought into the concept when they realized it wasn't too intrusive.

"Now that we have Green School status, they're OK with it," she said.

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