They have 415 students at the moment, starting at pre-kindergarten all the way to grade 12. Let's just say that I wish I was in school again so I could come to this school, maybe then I'd actually learn something useful. The tuition to this school is a bit hefty but I've seen with my own eyes the worth and benefits of being a part of this school.
We did a 2 hour tour with the founder of Green School, his name is John Hardy and he's a Canadian from Toronto. First stop on the tour was their water system where he explained how they have clean, filtered and accessible water for all the students and staff as they don't allow plastic bottles or bags onto the premises.
A bit further into this amazing school we met the school's cook or "Lunch Lady" and she along with 10 other kitchen staff members prepare the food for over 550 people every day. They basically have rice and veggies every day and meat once every 6 months, yay for a basically vegan lunch menu! After this we walked down the path and John brought us to their massive bird cage.
I'll admit that at first I wasn't too sure about this cage but their intentions were good. They breed birds that are on the verge of extinction and then they release them back into the world. While walking around with the group we saw children of all ages, races and nationalities which shows how great this school is even just for this aspect of it. It lets children be themselves without having to worry about something as petty as their skin color or where they're from, just as it should be.
Further into the tour we got to see the beautiful grounds that the school is on and surrounds it, along with the amazing outdoors classrooms that a kid could only dream of having. The whole school is built out of bamboo and is almost fully self sustainable with the exception of a few small things that they're working on making green as soon as they are able to.
They grow their own vegetables and fruit and also have their own animals like chickens, fish, rabbits and a few cows. Even though I'm still against them using these animals, atleast they're a far cry from the animal abuse we create in the western world. Is was a really special day for me, not only was I already amazed at this school but I got to meet my first calf. There were a dozen young kids in our tour group and they all wanted to pet the calf but I wasn't budging I was so happy to finally be able to interact with this beautiful animal.
I cannot begin to describe the love I hold in my heart for all animals and in this moment a large amount of emotions rose within my body. I was so happy to be able to pet her yet so sad to see this calf tied up. A great deal of comfort overcame me just by knowing that because of the lifestyle I choose to live that not her nor any other fellow earthling will ever be used or harmed by me.
I then looked at Vee and said "I don't understand how anyone could ever want to eat this precious animal", but that was a discussion for another day. By this time we had already seen the majority of the school along with the river that flows beneath it. The school runs on solar power and with the vortex, which is power generated from the river. Yeah, I know... amazing.
Once back up from meeting the cows and walking along the river we got to see some more wicked classrooms and all the solar panels that power the school. Every time someone donates money to the school they get their name carved into the schools bamboo, we saw a few famous ones like, Ben & Jerry and David Copperfield. Our tour ended here at the heart of the school, it was a great day and we got to see so many cool things and if I had kids they'd be coming here!
A bientot,
Janelle Brine
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