2021 Sustainability Champions
We are continuing our annual Earth Day tradition of recognizing people who have gone above and beyond in their work around sustainability. Sustainability Champions exemplify BVSD’s continuing efforts to become a sustainable institution. They set examples for environmental stewardship and responsibility and inspire the rest of us to do the same.
All awardees make outstanding contributions toward meeting BVSD’s goals as outlined in the BVSD Sustainability Management System or "SMS"- which has been in place for 10 years! The SMS is broken into four categories, Education (which includes curricular, extracurricular and outdoor learning), Transportation (which includes BVSD’s fleet and community travel), Material Flows (which includes green purchasing and zero waste efforts) and Buildings (which includes construction and operations- e.g.turning off those lights!).
Cathy Zimmerman
Heatherwood ES
Focus: Outdoor Learning
Cathy has dedicated this entire year on interacting with two Open Space and Mountain Parks / GUB projects (Wood Brothers and Gunbarrel Hill). She (with the help of her co-teacher Aubrey Lockhart) created a yearlong, project-based integrated social studies and science curriculum with the ultimate purpose of teaching the two 4th grade classes about the history of the Boulder Valley. The project also focused on eco-stewardship, developing a connection to public lands, and how to care for their natural environment, as well as other valuable skills.
Julie Thompson
Boulder HS
Focus: Education and Zero Waste
Julie has been working tirelessly on sustainability education and improving the environmental footprint at the school. As part of her Environmental Science course, she has created extremely engaging, hands-on projects for her students to learn about the impact we currently have on our environment and what we can do to improve it. She also helped move the school to become part of the Green Star program, and helps sort the trash every day to ensure everyone is putting trash, compost, and recycling in the correct bins. Julie is an amazing force for the environment and brings her love and enthusiasm every day to Boulder High!
Megan Rossman
Casey MS
Focus: Resource Management
Megan is amazing! She grows food in her classroom, and is always reminding staff to unplug devices before break to save energy. She organizes recycling for hard-to-recycle items like used Expo markers, and is so earthminded. She is a constant inspiration to be more conscious of use/waste of resources, and does so in a very positive and encouraging manner!
Beth Brotherton
Jamestown ES
Focus: Zero Waste
Beth Brotherton is the rock and foundation of sustainability at Jamestown Elementary, including a comprehensive zero waste program.
Tom Lajeunesse and Dan Wisotsky
Fireside ES
Focus: Education and Zero Waste
Tom works tirelessly promoting sustainability in the classroom. He is the champion at Fireside Elementary who makes sure each classroom has recycling and compost bins. Dan is Fireside Elementary's custodian. He monitors every grade in the cafeteria to make sure that only compostable materials go in the compost, only recyclables go in the recycle bin and trash goes where it belongs.
Peter Hurst
BVSD Transportation Department
Focus: Transportation
In honor of Peter's retirement in June, we would like to celebrate the sustainability impact he has had on BVSD by inventing the Trip Tracker program, which encourages students and staff to use green transportation to school. In a recent meeting with the City of Boulder, staff commented that it has been one of the most effective and affordable methods to change travel behaviors of students the past ten years.