During community time on Monday, our fifth grade students kicked off a week of Earth Day activities and programming with a presentation on the importance of renewable energy sources. Dave Edson, our fifth grade humanities teacher, shared, “we are asking IMS students to think globally and act locally.”


During the presentation, students shared information about the recent Green New Deal resolution and highlighted the global benefits and challenges of such a plan. Mr. Edson added, “Locally, we are continuing to examine wildlife on the IMS campus through all four seasons.” He shared images and video from our on-campus camouflage trail camera, which captured pictures of deer, a coyote, mice, and a bear over the past year.

Students on the Lower Campus also celebrated Earth Day through in-class and homework assignments. In Ms. Elwell’s second grade class, students were tasked with imagining they were visitors from another planet and, through creative writing exercises, sharing the most striking features of the Earth. 


Tomorrow, boarding students will celebrate their own “Earth Hour” by turning off all of the lights, putting down their phones, and having a bonfire from 7-9pm. Ethan Harris, our Green Team leader and Director of Outdoor Adventure and Education, says the aim of Earth Hour is “to draw attention to the need to tackle global warming and start a conversation about what we can do to help. It focuses on how our actions today will impact the planet for our kids.”


According to Earth Day Network, the first Earth Day was held on April 22, 1970 and today, more than 1 billion people now participate in Earth Day activities each year, making it the largest civic observance in the world.


Related: Read about IMS Alumna Jesse Glicker ’06 who is building her career in clean energy as an analyst at the International Energy Agency (IEA/OECD) on the Energy Efficiency Team.