Volunteers Spruce Up Pepper Drive K-8 School as part of Green Apple Day of Service
Santee teachers and administrators also learned how to make their classrooms healthier and more sustainable
(3BL Media) San Diego, CA – October 8, 2012 – More than 60 volunteers completed several school improvement projects at Pepper Drive K-8 School in the Santee School District as part of Green Apple Day of Service on Saturday, September 29, 2012. Balfour Beatty Construction partnered with the San Diego Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council (SDGBC) to host the inaugural Green Apple Day of Service, which is part of the U.S. Green Building Council Green Apple Day of Service movement happening on the same day at schools around the world.
Activities at Pepper Drive School included beautification and improvement projects as well as training for K-12 Santee teachers and administrators interested in becoming Green Classroom Professionals, a national certification that prepares them to participate in “greening” their school and community.
Sean Hulen, vice president of operations for Balfour Beatty in Southern California, thanked volunteers and donors who helped to transform the school. "Sustainability is our collective responsibility. The work performed was much needed and very meaningful to the students, faculty, and families. In addition to the environmental transformation of the school, the San Diego Green Building Council educated over 25 faculty who will in turn educate hundreds of children about the benefits of sustainability and the multifaceted aspects of this crucial world issue,” Hulen said.
“I stepped on campus today and the new reading park outside the Junior High building was already in use,” said Christina Becker, director of Maintenance, Operations & Facilities at Santee School District. “A student and teacher were outside working on an assignment, under the new shade at one of the tables and a different student was reading independently in the shade at another table. Words cannot begin to express our gratitude to everyone who made this possible for the Santee School District and the Pepper Drive school community,” Becker added.
Projects completed at the school during Green Apple Day of Service included:
- Constructing sustainable student gardens with planter boxes
- Constructing tree planters and installing shade trees
- Installing shade umbrellas at picnic areas
- Refurbishing a turf field and irrigation improvements
- Installing a new chain link fence
- Painting the exterior cement wall on Marlinda Way
There were many sponsors, partners, subcontractors, family and friends that joined the effort to help transform the school including A&S Flooring, Able Heating & Air, American Sheet Metal, Antonelli’s Deli, Arrowhead, Artimex, Iron Company, Atlas Mechanical, Baker Electric, Brady Company, Balfour Beatty Construction, Brady Company, Cement Cutting, Inc., Center for Ecoliteracy, Challenger Sheet Metal, Commercial Openings, Copy-It, Costco, Dave Bang & Associates, Go Staff, Gould Electric, HD Supply, Hub Zone Doors, Inland Pacific Inc., International Iron, International Iron Products, Interpipe Contracting , Inc., JEB Sand & Gravel, John & Chetta Diamond, Lakeside Land, Mission Valley Landscape, Mountain Materials, Inc., Muck Truck
California, New Dimension Masonry, Pacific Coast Glazing, Inc., Pam Legge (Personal Donation), Regen Energy, RCP Block & Brick, Rocky Coast Framers, San Diego Gas & Electric, Sierra Pacific West, Simmons & Wood Painting, South Bay Fence Company, Steven Smith Landscape, Sunstate Equipment Co., The Energy Coalition, United Site Services, Waste Management, White Cap, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife.
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About Santee School District
Santee School District serves over 6,600 Pre-Kindergarten through 8th grade students in the East County of San Diego. The District is comprised of nine schools, eight of which are configured as K-8 schools. The District blends innovative, instructional programs with high quality staff to produce student test scores at all schools that exceed 800 API; the State of California’s benchmark for high performing schools. In 2006, the District initiated a $130 million Capital Improvement Program to modernize existing classrooms and provide new instructional facilities. To date, modernization has been completed at eight schools and five have new classroom buildings and Learning Resource Centers. The District strives to be an innovative leader in education, inspiring students to realize their unique potential.
About Balfour Beatty Construction
A leader in the U.S. commercial construction industry, Balfour Beatty Construction provides general contracting, at-risk construction management, and design-build services through more than 2,400 professionals nationwide. The company has been cited as a Top 10 Green Builder by Engineering-News Record and as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For® by FORTUNE magazine, each for three years in a row. The company is part of London-based Balfour Beatty plc, a global leader in professional services, construction services, support services, and infrastructure investment, with more than $18 billion in annual revenues. To learn more about the company visit balfourbeattyus.com.
About the San Diego Green Building Council
The San Diego Green Building Council (SDGBC) is a local independent, mission driven, public benefit organization focused on the education, advocacy and celebration of green building and sustainable planning in the San Diego Region. They promote the vision that buildings and communities will regenerate and sustain the health and vitality of all life within a generation. They have more than 500 members that support that mission in San Diego.
The SDGBC holds the San Diego County charter with the U.S. Green Building Council, developer of the LEED green building certification system, the preeminent program for rating the design, construction and operation of green buildings in the world.
