Environmental Stewardship
As part of its mission to promote character, community and inquiry, St. Johnsbury Academy is committed to be a steward of the environment, both locally and globally. Environmental stewardship means that within all aspects of our institution, community members strive to make choices that reflect our commitment to the conservation of Earth’s resources and our optimism regarding young people as leaders of a sustainable future.
—From St. Johnsbury Academy’s Environmental Stewardship Mission Statement
In 2012, students and faculty collaborated in the writing of our school’s Environmental Stewardship Mission Statement, which defines our environmental values and links them to the broader mission of the Academy. The Director of Environmental Stewardship, the Environmental Stewardship Committee, the Environmental Stewardship Club, and others work together on a number of projects each year. We also have a Green Revolving Fund and an Environmental Stewardship fund in place to raise money in support of our environmental projects.
The Athenian Oath in Fuller Hall reads, “Thus in all these ways we will transmit this school not less but greater and more beautiful than it was transmitted to us.” We strive to tie this oath to our care of the environment, both on our campus and across the region.
If you wish to join this journey and support environmental stewardship at St. Johnsbury Academy, you can contact James Bentley, Director of Environmental Stewardship, join the Environmental Club or give to the school’s Environmental Stewardship Fund.
Contact the Director, James Bentley, by email at jbentley@stjacademy.org or call (802) 751-2464.
Environmental Stewardship Mission Statement
As part of its mission to promote character, community and inquiry, St. Johnsbury Academy is committed to be a steward of the environment, both locally and globally. Environmental stewardship means that within all aspects of our institution, community members strive to make choices that reflect our commitment to the conservation of Earth’s resources and our optimism regarding young people as leaders of a sustainable future.
Character
- To model and foster respect for and responsibility to the environment.
- To distinguish between personal wants and needs
- To hold one another accountable as stewards of the environment
Inquiry
- To challenge individuals and groups to make informed choices based on awareness of their environmental impacts
- To understand and reduce the impacts of the products we consume and the waste we produce
- To identify and implement ways to repair, reuse, and recycle
Community
- To encourage individuals to understand their relationships and responsibilities between our campus community and the larger world
- To design and implement a plan to monitor and control campus resource usage of fossil fuels, electricity, water, and solid waste
- To agree that effective environmental stewardship requires both institutional and individual contribution
- To acknowledge that each individual plays an essential role in stewardship of the environment and the community
Sophomore Stewardship Day
Students participate in Sophomore Stewardship Day each December and May, volunteering their time for local environmental projects such as building riparian buffers along the Passumpsic River, clearing trails for recreational use, removing tires from a large illegal tire dump in Willoughby State Forest, or removing metal debris from Sleeper’s River. Projects are researched and planned in the fall and completed in the spring.