Happy teacher appreciation week! I’d like to give a special shout-out to two of my favorite ACE teachers: Leigh Metcalfe and Genevieve Morehouse at Reed High School in Sparks, Nevada.

These ladies rock.  I know they spend 8 hours a day in a room full of students, teaching science, but somehow they still manage to be incredibly involved with ACE and the students in their Action Team in addition to all their coursework.

I met Leigh and Genevieve two years ago when I first came to Reed High to give the ACE presentation. I was blown away by the work Leigh had put into organizing the assembly – never before had a teacher printed out name cards for the end of the rows so students knew where their class sat!

It took one year of false starts to get Reed’s ACE Action Team off the ground, but last fall when I came back to present, both teachers told me they were committed to making the team a success. They both managed to strike that difficult balance between helping their students to take on projects like a reusable water bottle sale, and supporting the students to take charge of carrying out the project themselves.

On Earth Day, Leigh and Genevieve stood proudly to one side as their team, the Reed High Eco Warriors, presented their proposal to green their school in the GREENevada high school sustainability contest. The students’ spoke eloquently about the impact that renovating their school’s bathrooms would have on the money, energy and carbon savings of their school, accompanied by an eye-popping Powerpoint presentation and one student on the ukulele.  When all the other teams were rehearsing their presentations just before they took the stage, the Eco Warriors had their presentation so nailed down, they were practicing their answers to the judges’ questions. At the end of the day, when all the prizes were announced, Reed High took home the first prize of $12,000 to green their school’s bathrooms.

Leigh and Genevieve, thank you so much for all the hard work and extra hours you put into helping your students. You’re showing them that they really can make a difference. Reed High is a greener, healthier school because of you. I can’t wait to see those bathrooms!