U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will join Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality Nancy Sutley, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, and U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin to host the first-ever U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools National Ceremony on Monday, June 4, at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, D.C.
The four officials will address the honorees and congratulate them on their achievements. Winners include 78 schools nationwide. Each school will send representatives who will be commended for their school’s work to reduce environmental impact, promote healthy schools, and offer high-quality environmental education.
The Department launched the Green Ribbon Schools recognition program in the spring of 2011. There were nearly 100 nominations submitted by 30 state education agencies, the District of Columbia and the Bureau of Indian Education. More than 350 schools completed applications to their state education agencies. Among the list of winners were 66 public schools, including 8 charters, and 12 private schools. In total, the 78 winners were composed of 43 elementary, 31 middle and 26 high schools with approximately 50 percent representing high-poverty schools.
The U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools are one-year recognition awards. The competition for the next school year—2012-2013—will open this summer, and state agencies are encouraged to send their intents to submit nominees by June 15, 2012 via email to [email protected].