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Mariposa County Unified School
District (Mariposa CUSD) is located in a rural region that serves as a
gateway to Yosemite National Park from the Merced Central Valley. Mariposa CUSD
comprises 13 schools. Five of these schools participated in the Unified
Education Strategy (UES) grant program: Yosemite Valley Elementary, Lake Don
Pedro Elementary, El Portal Elementary, Mariposa Elementary, and Spring Hill
High School.
Prior to the award of the UES grant, various diversion practices existed
within the district, although not widespread or consistently implemented. These
practices included paper recycling, beverage container recycling, grasscycling,
and vermicomposting.
With the UES grant, Mariposa CUSD established an
infrastructure for a unified approach to environmental education instructional
strategies and an investigation of local waste management practices through the
following efforts:
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Students examined the waste stream at their school
sites and local community by conducting various levels of waste assessments.
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Yosemite Valley Elementary students conducted
extensive research regarding waste management. Students defined waste and
explored how waste and recyclable products were managed school-wide.
Yosemite Valley students visited their local landfill to see how various
materials whether waste, recyclables, or compost, were managed county-wide.
Community partners were involved with students through their project by
providing technical assistance through class visits. Students conducted a
letter-writing campaign to reduce the amount of junk mail their school
received. The students also wrote letters to a local newspaper regarding a
flood at the landfill which overflowed into a local creek.
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Lake Don Pedro Elementary primarily focused on recycling
efforts. Formal instruction was not implemented.
- Students in the after-school program at El Portal
Elementary developed a waste audit survey for their local community and
completed five in-home audits. In response to this, students designed plastic
grocery bag holders and wooden drying racks to encourage reuse of plastic bags.
They also conducted a letter-writing campaign to reduce the amount of junk mail
residents typically receive.
- Spring Hill High School students explored how the natural
environment and social systems in Mariposa interact.
Additionally, Mariposa CUSD used grant funds for
professional development time in order to craft standards-based education units
targeting these curriculum activities:
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English/Language Arts: Through the application of listening, reading,
persuasive letter-writing, and speaking skills, students learned to summarize
their studies and educate the school, parents, and community regarding
diversion, reuse, and recycling methods.
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Mathematics: Students gained skills by analyzing materials collected during
waste assessments by using weight, measurements, analysis, and calculations.
Visual Arts: El Portal students created a display for public exhibit. Students
created graphs, maps of the local region, an electronic slide presentation, and
art work from reused materials.
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Environmental program efforts will continue at participating schools. Yosemite
Valley Elementary students intend to conduct a waste assessment of the district
offices and make recommendations for waste diversion efforts to the school
board. Lake Don Pedro Elementary is working on a school wide waste reduction
program. El Portal Elementary is exploring battery and cardboard recycling.
Additionally, the schools plan to continue relationships with their community
partners.
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Community partnerships were an invaluable support to the districts program
efforts. Continued technical assistance is available.
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District administration was very supportive.
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Meetings were difficult to attend due to the distance between schools.
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Scheduled meetings are valuable in that they provide a structure for the team
to communicate. Time set-aside is beneficial to coordinate program efforts,
program share, receive updates regarding administrative program requirements and
troubleshoot through obstacles.
Yosemite Valley Elementary
- Yosemite Valley Elementary students explored waste and recyclable materials.
Students wrote narratives in response to the question, "Where does our garbage
go when we throw it away?" The class visited the Mariposa County Landfill to see
firsthand how their community’s waste and recyclable materials are handled.
Areas of waste prevention were explored on campus and solutions were
implemented.
- A letter-writing campaign was implemented to reduce catalogs and eliminate
duplicate mail sent to the school.
- Students wrote persuasive letters asking publishers to stop sending multiple
copies of catalogs and fliers.
El Portal Elementary
- Students in the after-school program for grades 4-6, Garbage Energy Master Savers
(G.E.M.S.), conducted a waste survey at five neighboring homes. As a result of
the survey, students made, marketed, and sold plastic grocery bag holders and
wooden drying racks as a waste reduction solution. In addition, students
designed and built a miniature energy-efficient house.
Campus needs assessment (Adobe PDF, 321 KB)
CIWMB Office of Education and the Environment
k12edu@ciwmb.ca.gov
(916) 341-6769 |
Mariposa County Unified School District
(209) 742-0250 |
CIWMB Office of Local Assistance
dplaola@ciwmb.ca.gov
(916) 341-6199
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