What we are doing to achieve Evergreen status

1. The school recycles paper. Pankow has developed a recycling team that is called the "Green Team," our team is staffed by the differentiated education students. Students collect paper to be recycled twice a week and place the paper in clear plastic bags for pick up.
2. The school reuses its magazines and newspapers for other projects. All newspaper in the school is recycled  through vermiculture with the biology, horticulture, differentiated education, and english,  Paper is shredded and used as bedding, or in the schools compost piles. Magazines are used by Health Occupations for paper mache projects in the classroom. Horticulture students, Medical Assisting, Auto Technology, and Visual Imaging students use old magazines for projects.
3. The school has adopted an endangered species animal from the endangered species list. The students completed surveys to select the endangered species. Students selected the Puma.
4. An energy savings program has been instituted at the school. All lights have motion detectors, computers, printers, and screens are turned off at the end of the day.
5. The building has built a new birdhouse for the bird habitat. We have placed the bird house in a tree near the school.The recycling team is also painting birdhouses to add to the bird habitat.
6. The school has hosted a visit by an ecological spokesperson in the horticulture class. Barb Matthews, Environmental Educator, from Macomb County Public Works Office spoke in front of four separate classes.
7. The school has a printer cartridge recycling program through which Pankow earns money by selling the cartridges to  cartridgesforkids.com. We have already shipped three large boxes.
8. The school recycles cellular telephones and receives money from the phones.  We are considering offering community service credits to the students who bring in a cell phone for recycling. Our phone recyling center is located in the main office.
9. The school observes Earth Day. The Horticulture class receives 100 trees each year from Art Van, and distributes them to the students, staff, and other schools. We will plant them on the school grounds also. We will have a poster contest.
10. The school's classes visit internet sites where clicking saves rainforest habitat and teachers document the students' efforts. Students have a blog where they clicked daily during their environmental unit and left comments. Students received credit for clicking and leaving comments. http://edublogs.misd.net/pankowhorticulture/
11. Plastic bottles are collected in recycling boxes in each classroom and collected by the recycling team. 
12. The school compost food wastes at school. The culinary arts send food waste to the horticulture and biology rooms for composting in traditional compost piles, advanced composters, and with worm composting. 
13. The school buys locally produced food products, greens purchased in the culinary arts program are grown in the school greenhouse and classroom. Chemicals are not used in the greenhouse, all fertilizer is organic, including compost tea. Dish soap spray and beneficial insects are used as an alternative to pesticides. 
14. At least one teacher teaches a unit on alternative energy, the Automotive Technology teachers, Ken Kramer and Kevin Mapplebeck have a lesson unit on  alternative fuels.
15. The Auto Technology Class is converting an engine to burn biodiesel fuel, this engine is used in simple operations for the classroom like the air compressor.
16. The school reduces the use of resources by reusing the back of paper instead of recycling it, the Horticulture class reuses all their plastic pots by washing pots, broken pots are used for drainage in the bottom of pots. 
17. The Culinary Arts uses baskets instead of styrofoam, and glass dishes and silverware are used in the restaurant instead of disposables.
18. The School updates its print ecological materials regularly.  These books are available for students and staff.
19. Computer and electronics are recycled  with a bin located in the office. Students, staff, and community are encouraged to bring their electronics for recycling. 
20. The school biology class completed a project in which students, evaluated their home energy use and made improvements. 
21. Students have designed a native Michigan Garden, Master Gardner Margaret Smith is assisting students with the garden. The garden will be in the back of the school in the grassy area. Students will work the ground and do all the planting.
22. We are recycling batteries, the box is located in the office, announcements have been made to the classes.