Kathleen Rogers on BBC World News Laurie Howell and Google's Green Maps

Andrew Stephens's students are researching the indoor air quality (IAQ) of the California Academy for Liberal Studies High School (CALS) in Los Angeles, CA. Andrew and his Mean Green Team students, CALS environmental group, work to ensure a sustainable future for the residents of greater Los Angeles and beyond with projects devoted to air and water quality in their community. In June 2007, Andrew and the Mean Green Team gave a presentation to their school board, highlighting the poor IAQ of their school and illustrating their own action plans for how to improve CALS IAQ. Andrew and his students are currently working with the school board to make IAQ changes a high priority for educational facilities in Los Angeles.

Students at McDonogh 15 School for the Creative Arts in New Orleans, LA, locally known as the Little Red School House, are positively responding to the severe environmental conditions prevalent in the post-Hurricane Katrina community. McDonogh 15 was not slotted to reopen after the storm, so emboldened community members, as early as November, took it upon themselves to ensure it did. After 100 hour work weeks of repairing mold damage, repainting, and restoring the grounds, McDonogh 15 became a functional, KIPP-oriented school the following summer, less than a year after the hurricane.

Since Hurricane Katrina eliminated any curbside recycling program in New Orleans, there have been no efforts to reinstate this, except at McDonogh 15. Through the NCEP, students are raising awareness about this issue by starting a school and neighborhood recycling program this coming school year. The hope for students of Visual Arts chair and teacher, Elijah Sproles, is to bring their initiative to all residents of New Orleans. Another environmental concern in post-Katrina buildings is poor indoor air quality, especially due to mold. Though testing occurs throughout the school year, Elijah's students are actively seeking methods to environmentally improve their school community. For Earth Day 2007, EDN, Sproles, and his students helped McDonogh go green via a school-wide lightbulb swap and the creation of an over 1,000 sq. ft. green roof the first ever at a New Orleans school.

John Dean, at Aiken Public Service Learning School, works with his students to build support for green schools in Cincinnati, OH. Working outside of the classroom, these students will attend community meetings and will campaign door-to-door to build awareness of the economic, educational, and environmental benefits of green schools. The goal is to gain support not just from local politicians, but also from the community at large. Through this project, students will learn how to become actively engaged in an issue, take the political steps necessary to enact change, and assert the individual power to do so. Within the classroom, students learn economic concepts by studying the related advantages of green schools, as well as how their actions emphasize the advantages of the democratic process. John Dean is collaborating with Chemistry teacher Carol Guthrie and English teacher Joyce Brubaker, both educators at Aiken Public Service Learning School, to further promote green schools in their community.

Penelope's school, Winton Montessori, is one of the buildings up for renovation in the next few years. Her group has focused on incorporating green schools into the city's $1 billion plan. In the process, Penelope uses her class time to teach the math required for the architectural design and the science that relates to the way green schools use environmentally friendly construction materials, thereby using her project as a means of teaching classroom concepts. In the process, these students will learn the value of civic engagement in the planning meetings they attend, which will show them how they can personally help to build better schools in their community.

Penelope's school, Winton Montessori, is one of the buildings up for renovation in the next few years. Her group has focused on incorporating green schools into the city's $1 billion plan. In the process, Penelope uses her class time to teach the math required for the architectural design and the science that relates to the way green schools use environmentally friendly construction materials, thereby using her project as a means of teaching classroom concepts. In the process, these students will learn the value of civic engagement in the planning meetings they attend, which will show them how they can personally help to build better schools in their community.