ST ANN RESPECT FOR CREATION

As part of living our values, St. Ann Catholic School is dedicated to teaching students the respect for Creation and nature. Doing the right thing for the earth is easy. We have energy-efficient LED lighting. We recycle everything we can, including the milk cartons. Even food waste is composted! Students have the opportunity to serve as members of the Stream Team where they cooperate with the Metropolitan Sewer District to maintain the area streams that feed into major waterways. In the Garden Club students get hands on experience growing and sharing their harvest with classmates.

St. Ann School sits on a beautiful plot of land that includes fields, a forest and a creek. Our students are keenly aware of the gifts of God’s creation and their roles as caretakers of the planet. The ECO Club gives students the opportunity to learn how to be good stewards of the earth and have fun at the same time! ECO club is actually an umbrella term that encompasses 3 entities: The Garden Club, The Stream Team and Recycling. All three areas of the campus are utilized by the ECO club.

The Garden Club

The St. Ann Garden Club was established in August 2012. Ms. Sue Reid obtained a grant from Gateway Greening to begin the building and planting of 6 raised garden beds. She continues to be our mentor today. Each Garden Club Member is responsible for planting, weeding, watering, and harvesting one of the raise garden beds. The produce we harvest is used for our St. Ann hot lunch program. We have also donated our harvest to the local food pantries. Matt Hubbard and Theo Kayser are the teacher/sponsors who continue to work with the program today. They meet with Garden Club students throughout the summer and once a week during the school year. The students in Garden Club learn how to plant, weed, and harvest each crop. This Garden Club provides the opportunity for service to our school and neighborhood community.

The Stream Team

The creek that runs through St. Ann’s property is the headwaters for a tributary of the River Des Peres and the Mississippi River. The objective of the Stream Team is to work towards solutions that will lead to good water quality in the creek. The students in the Stream team monitor the water quality, plant vegetation to stop erosion and mark storm drains in the neighborhood. Students have learned that any liquid that goes down a drain in our area remains untreated and ends up in a stream. The Stream Team also has the opportunity to participate in Clean Stream Days on the Meramec and Mississippi Rivers. The Stream Team is led by Mrs. Cheryl Thomas.

Recycling

St. Ann has one of the most comprehensive recycling programs in the Archdiocese. Every year a recycling representative comes to our school to tell the students about all the opportunities they have to be “earth protectors” by recycling. At lunch the students recycle all milk cartons, and all plastic from their lunches. This includes Lunchable containers, fruit cups and plastic bags. Students are also taught which food items can be composted for the garden. We have reduced the lunch waste to less than a pound of trash per class. In the classroom, the students recycle all paper that has been used on both sides. All school families are encouraged to recycle their newspaper and cardboard in our recycling bins on the parking lot.