U.S. Green Ribbon Award Credited to Bedwell Students, Staff, Parents

Students at the Bedwell Elementary School in Bernardsville put up a cheer that could be heard from the office when the announcement was made this week that the pre-K through grades 4 school had won a U.S. Green Ribbon for environmental practices and energy saving efforts, school officials said.

The students learned about nationwide.

What makes the award even more impressive is that this is the second school building within the Somerset Hills School district to win the award in a federal program that has only been in existence for two years. Bedwell also had been only one of two schools New Jersey to receive a Green Ribbon from the New Jersey Department of Education, School Principal Amy Phelan said.

On Wednesday, Phelan credited the school's students, teachers, parents, custodians and administrators with achievement of the award. Art teacher Jim McCarron created a school garden in the courtyards, she said.

Students turn off lights in classrooms and tend to a garden that provides vegetables to the cafeteria, Phelan said. The school also has a Bedwell Green Team.

Teaching the children such environmentally friendly habits while they are young will be a lesson they can carry forwards through their lives, Phelan said. She added that some parents had told her they are saving on electric bills since their children are turning off lights at home.

The school has solar panels installed by Somerset County on its roof. Other energy saving measures are part of a districtwide initiative, said Nancy Hunter, schools business administrator.

Meanwhile, last year, Beranards High School had received the same Hunter said.

School officials said they couldn't prove that Somerset Hills is the only district to win two national awards within two years of the Green Ribbon program, but they were sure that such a likelihood would be very rare.