WSA Wins Terry Husseman Sustainable School Award from WA State Department of Ecology

April 20, 2011 - PRLog -- Yesterday the Washington State Department of Ecology announced the 2011 recipients of the Terry Husseman Sustainable School Awards.  West Sound Academy (WSA) has been granted a $1,000 Sustainable School Award in order to continue the Eat Local, Think Global Food Project begun last spring.

In the winter of 2010 West Sound Academy's Associate Head of School Barrie Hillman conceived of developing WSA's garden into something that could produce food for the school and local community and reduce waste.  Hillman applied for, and won, a Terry Husseman Sustainable School 'Seed' Award from the State of Washington Department of Ecology to help fund the effort. The school's existing garden was expanded to a 1000-square-foot space, planted with summer and winter crops, and maintained by Hillman and WSA students and staff throughout the growing season.  A local food bank, North Kitsap Fishline, was a big beneficiary of the garden’s bounty, along with WSA students, staff, and families.  With today's announcement the Department of Ecology has demonstrated their judgment that the West Sound Academy project is worthy of continued support.

The state agency gives out two kinds of awards annually to schools interested in undertaking sustainability projects: Seed Awards and Sustainable School Awards. The agency states that "Seed Awards fund start-up costs for programs promoting waste reduction, recycling, and sustainability both within the school and in the community" while "Sustainable School Awards recognize ongoing efforts to maintain and expand programs that focus on waste reduction, recycling, and sustainability."

Hillman was happy to hear of today's announcement, and is looking forward to another big yield from the garden.  Last year, the agency had a formal presentation complete with speeches and photos.  This year, Hillman notes, "There is no ceremonial handing over of the check ...due to [State] budget cuts, but we can ceremonially remove the check from the mail box."

# # #

West Sound Academy: an independent college preparatory school for grades 6-12 on the Kitsap Peninsula in Poulsbo, Washington, providing a rigorous academic and art curriculum and offering the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme in grades 11-12.