In 2019, Nerinx implemented a school-wide composting program. It extends beyond the cafeteria and includes parent events and rentals as well. Students volunteer to ensure all items are placed in appropriate containers as we strive for zero-waste events.
By Don Corrigan
Nerinx Hall High School in Webster Groves is now a 2024 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon School, which recognizes achievement in a school’s commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship.
Principal Molly Grumich will travel to Washington, D.C., in July when Nerinx will be presented with the honor. Award selections for 41 schools across the nation were made in April in connection with a Summit for Healthy and Sustainable Schools at the White House.
“These awards represent thousands of students, and countless hours of hard work, ensuring equitable access to healthy, climate-resilient learning environments,” said U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona. “Students are prepared for the sustainability challenges of the present and future.”
Grumich expressed pride in the school’s achievement and attributed the school’s commitment to sustainability and holistic education to traditions of the Sisters of Loretto in Kentucky.
“Our institution prioritizes the empowerment of young women who are deeply engaged with their communities and the world around them,” said Grumich. “This recognition underscores our efforts to instill in our students a profound sense of environmental responsibility and stewardship.”
At their Nerinx, Kentucky headquarters, the Loretto Sisters operate the Loretto Motherhouse Farm. The 789-acre farm emphasizes a responsible relationship with the land with such conservation practices as intensive cover cropping, planting crops without soil tilling and rotational grazing.
Students researched plants native to Missouri and then sourced a representative sample of the plants and planted them in the courtyard at Nerinx Hall.
Loretto Sisters’ Land Ethic affirms that “those responsible for the land at any particular time should regard it as a sacred trust, received with gratitude, tended with care for its integrity and long-term sustainability.”
The Loretto Community also emphasizes carbon reduction as a way to address climate change and its harmful effects. The Earth can be repaired by sequestering greenhouse gas and planting deep-rooted plants and grasses.
Migrant justice is another tenet of Loretto philosophy with a commitment to inclusivity, diversity and anti-discrimination. Part of learning about the Earth and its needs involves systematically listening to dispossessed people.
Nerinx Planet Patrol
Josie Fedele, president of the students’ Nerinx Planet Patrol, said her high school is excited about the Green Ribbon School Award and the school’s accomplishments. As the patrol president, she wants to redouble those efforts in the 2024-25 academic year.
“Of course, I am concerned about climate change,” said Fedele of Ballwin. “But I want to do things that are doable at the community level. I want to concentrate on composting, on recycling, on finding ways to reduce energy use at our school.”
Jody Patterson, who is director of student access at the school, said composting correctly is not as easy as it sounds. She said the school has found ways to compost everything that’s part of the cafeteria lunch program.
Beth Bucher, who teaches theology at Nerinx, said that religious beliefs commission us to be good stewards of the creation in a way that sustains, protects, and enhances all living things on the planet.
“I am not a real religious person myself, but I know that it’s right to consider the impact of our actions on others and not just for ourselves,” said Fedele of the planet patrol. “One thing I want to address is student stress.”
All 11th grade students take part in a program called Junior Experience to enhance connections among classmates, expose students to new programs and ideas through exploration and diversity training, and have fun! Students on this junior experience helped tend chickens on an urban farm.
According to Fedele, working in gardens and caring for native plants can be a stress reliever. She also said she was grateful that Nerinx, and Webster Groves generally, make for a “walkable community” – and she finds walking to be a great stress reliever.
Principal Grumich said the school will continue to look for ways to reduce energy use and has mare great strides by replacing traditional lighting with LED lights. Also, there will be more emphasis on reducing “event trash” that can be harmful aesthetically and environmentally.
Outside on the parking lot, Grumich said the school will work to reduce unnecessary idling by vehicles. Also, there will be organized efforts to encourage more carpooling by students to and from school.
Sustainability By Example
Grumich said sustainabile and environmental practices are best encouraged by example, rather than by scolding others about how their behavior is somehow unacceptable. That approach is consistent with the mission of the Green Schools Award program.
Students in the Eco-Act program regularly perform service at sites dedicated to sustainability efforts. Here, students helped cover raised beds at New Roots Urban Farm.
Nerinx Hall High School on East Lockwood Avenue is receiving the honor in July, not just for its efforts to minimize environmental impacts, but also for enhancing health and wellness initiatives.
“We are not doing sustainable things just to try to win awards,” said Grumich. “These things are all in line with the Loretto mission and in doing the best to empower our young women to make a better future.”
The U.S. Department of Education’s program established the federal recognition awards in 2012 as a platform for promoting sustainable practices in schools nationwide. Nerinx Hall is the first Catholic all-girls school in Missouri to achieve the green award recognition.
by Don Corrigan
Environmental Echo 