News and Events : News 06-07

My Sustainable Valentine

GILL, MA—Northfield Mount Hermon School won’t be decked in red and pink this Valentine’s Day. Green will be the color—and the theme—on February 14 at NMH. Students will dine by candlelight to save electricity as part of the Green Cup Challenge, and State of the World speaker Jack Kenworthy, a 1995 NMH graduate, will report on how high school students are diving in to sustainable projects at the Island School in the Bahamas, where he taught science, and is the director of systems, heading the school’s sustainability projects.

This second annual Green Cup Challenge 15 independent high schools in seven states  are competing during February to cut their electricity use by the largest percentage, compared to a baseline measurement. Locally, NMH, Stonleigh-Burnham School and Deerfield Academy are participating. NMH, with Phillips Exeter Academy and the Lawrenceville School, is running the contest, and won last year’s challenge.

Dining in the Dark in Alumni Hall promises to both cut the school’s electricity use, and raise awareness among students, faculty, and staff of the need to cut emissions of global-warming gasses. The 15 competing schools will hold Dining in the Dark events either on February 14 or close to that date, underscoring their commitment to act together to conserve electricity.

State of the World
Jack Kenworthy, who will speak at 6:45 pm in the Rhodes Room of Beveridge Hall, will discuss how high schools can create solutions to environmental problems. In particular, he will show the potential for education at the high school level to be tied not only to authentic research, but for that research to feed for-profit companies that raise money for the school, as well as teach students. He will talk about projects such as commercial biodiesel, offshore aquaculture, sustainable agriculture, and renewable energy. At the Island School, Kenworthy is involved with design and installation work on renewable energy projects, biological waste treatment facilities, green building projects, biofuels development, legislation reform, aquaculture, and education for sustainability. He has been awarded the George T. Kidder Award for Leadership, Scholarship, and Service and the Crow Award for excellence in systems thinking (Columbia University, 1998). All are welcome to this free talk.

For directions, go to www.nmhschool.org or call 413-498-3000.

Contact: Kate Snyder, 413-498-3357 or ksnyder@nmhschool.org.

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