Responsible Citizenship
Susan Droke
Chief Academic Officer
Responsible Citizenship Team
Responsible Citizenship
Collegiate aspires to instill responsible citizenship through sustainability, valuing and understanding the interconnectedness of human and natural systems, and taking action so that they may thrive. The Four Guiding Principles of the Center for Ecoliteracy’s “Smart by Nature” framework provide structure for how educators can approach education for sustainability: Nature is our teacher; Sustainability is a community practice; The real world is the optimal learning environment; Sustainable living is rooted in a deep knowledge of place.
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Lower School
Lower School students engage in composting by separating compostable lunchroom trash and hauling it to the garden’s compost pile. Students learn about organic gardening concepts and practices, and then actively participate in fertilizing garden beds.
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Middle School
6th Grade students participate in the Riparian Area Service Project, designed to reforest the habitat for migratory bird species. Based on the book Wonder, this service learning experience incorporates the themes of care and kindness to all living things.
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Upper School
Students in Upper School AP Environmental Science engage in a land use planning project by designing a community, assessing and providing for all needs, while incorporating the most sustainable practices for food production, energy, waste disposal and housing.
Ignite - Sustainability
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Collegiate Third Graders Hold Final Market Day
Read MoreCollegiate School 3rd Grade students this morning held their final Market Day, where they sold upcycled products to raise money for a charity. -
Collegiate 4th Grade Capstone Wraps Up
Read MoreCollegiate School 4th Graders gathered this morning to present the ideas they conceived during their yearlong, grade-level Capstone program, Envision Collegiate. -
Upper School Students Hike Appalachian Trail
Collegiate faculty members Dave Privasky and Ginnie Kurtz led six Upper School students on a hiking trip on the Appalachian Trail in Shenandoah National Park over an April weekend. Their excursion was supported by Outdoor Collegiate, and the group canvassed Hawksbill Gap and Byrd's Nest #3, passing through Skyland, Stony Man Cliffs, and the Pinnacle. They also visited with other hikers and toured the Harry F. Byrd, Sr. Visitor Center. "I definitely plan to offer this (to students) every year and look forward to trying new places each time," said Mr. Privasky.Read More -
2nd Graders Study Oysters and Why Where is Important
Read MoreWhy Is Where Important? is one of eight essential questions guiding Collegiate School’s JK-4th Grade social studies curriculum. Essential questions are at the heart of Collegiate’s social studies discipline, have no obvious “right or wrong” answer, they recur throughout students’ learning journey and are framed to encourage curiosity and inquiry. -
Collegiate Celebrates Earth Day
Collegiate's Junior Kindergartners and Upper School Biology II students take time to garden in honor of Earth Day while another group of Upper School student volunteers met a group of Lower School students at the Outdoor Classroom to prepare and plant native wildflower seeds as part of an Earth Week pollinator planting project.Read More -
Institute for Responsible Citizenship Named for Powell Family
Read MoreCollegiate School’s Institute for Responsible Citizenship was named last evening in honor and appreciation of the longtime support and commitment of the Powell family. -
Kindergarten Scientists Collaborate to Solve Trash Problem
After cleaning out filterras around Collegiate School’s campus, Elizabeth Andrews’ and Marcie Moyer’s Kindergarten classes began to notice trash around the storm drains on the Lower School playground known as Fort Cougar. This observation led the children to collect, sort and label the trash.Read More -
Collegiate 5th Graders Begin Service Learning Project
Read MoreThis week, Collegiate School 5th Graders kicked off a cross-curricular service learning project to explore what should become of the abandoned Pump House, located on the north bank of the James River. Students heard from Joe Costello, founder of Friends of the Pump House, who presented information about the historical site. -
Collegiate 3rd Graders Learn About Clean Energy
Read MoreCollegiate School 3rd Graders this morning enjoyed a presentation in Centennial Hall from two individuals from Secure Futures, a solar energy company. Andrew Grigsby, Customer Solutions Manager, and Nicole Duimstra, Marketing Coordinator, helped kick off the students’ unit on weather. -
United Nations Communications Officer Speaks to Upper Schoolers
Read MoreCollegiate School today welcomed United Nations Communications Officer Felipe Queipo to speak to three senior Capstone classes about how the intergovernmental organization assists the 193 nations who belong to it. -
Collegiate 2nd Graders Get Hands-On Sustainability Lesson
Collegiate 2nd Graders learned about sustainability through their yearlong service learning project with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. They planted grass seeds and will transplant the seedlings when they return to the Brock Environmental Center in Virginia Beach later this month.Read More -
Richmond-Area Farmer Speaks to Collegiate Students About Nutrition
Read MoreIn honor of nutrition month, Collegiate School invited Joel Salatin, a farmer whose family owns and runs Polyface Farm in Swoope, Virginia, to campus today to speak to Middle and Upper School students. -
Book Gathering Shares Story of Creative Problem Solving
Collegiate JK-4th Graders participated in the Lower School's second Book Gathering this week, which was centered around the theme of sustainability - one of Collegiate's eight Pillars of Responsible Citizenship.Read More -
9th Graders Participate in a Day of Ecological Service
Collegiate 9th Graders in Upper School math teacher Sally Williams’ advisory joined Upper School science teacher Sandra Marr for a day of ecological service projects.Read More -
Earth Society on a Guided Whale Watching Excursion on the Atlantic Ocean
Read MoreUpper School science teachers Sandra Marr and David Privasky took student members of the Earth Society on a guided whale watching excursion on the Atlantic Ocean in late January. -
4th Grade Welcomes Panelists for Sustainability Discussion
Read MoreAs part of their research for the 4th Grade Capstone, students gathered to listen to scientist and parent, Alex Bradley, sustainable fashion advocate, April Perrin, and sustainability-minded architect and parent, Bo Fairlamb, share their thoughts on how one individual can make a difference in protecting our planet. -
Collegiate Alum Featured on Discovery Channel
Collegiate alum Murray Fisher '93 is in a Discovery Channel story called "Take Back the Harbor," which details how he started a public high school in New York City 15 years ago to give students opportunities to help save the harbor while learning, and also how he launched The Billion Oyster Project as a special initiative of the school.Read More -
Collegiate 2nd Graders Host Eco Emporium
Read MoreCollegiate School’s Weinstein Gallery transformed this week into the sixth annual Eco Emporium (formerly the African Market), showcasing handcrafted items created by 2nd Graders in the Studio Two art class. -
Envision Collegiate Capstone Kicks Off
Our 4th Graders kicked off their Envision Collegiate Capstone experience by meeting leaders from various departments of the School who honor Collegiate's mission and traditions while helping implement innovative initiatives.Read More -
Lower Schoolers Offer Global Support Through Unique Partnership
Read MoreCollegiate School 2nd Graders have embarked on a letter-writing campaign to secure support and sales for a product that will bring light to children and adults across the globe. -
11th Grade Student Offers Glimpse Inside IELC
11th Grader Katie Dunn offers an inside glimpse of the October International Emerging Leaders Conference (IELC) when Collegiate hosted 43 international students from ten different countries. During the weeklong conference, seniors from Collegiate’s IELC Senior Capstone class and the international schools came together to develop solutions to environmental problems plaguing students’ home countries. Read more of Katie's article on in The Match, Collegiate School’s student-run online news site dedicated to sharing the latest and greatest from the Collegiate community.Read More -
Upper School Chemistry Students Discuss Illegal Mining
John Dau, Collegiate School’s Global Scholar-in-Residence, recently visited 9th Graders in Leigh Thompson’s and Susan Fourness-Ewell's chemistry classes to share first-hand experience with the misuse of important mineral resources and the negative impact the mining industry has on young people, the working class and communities in multiple regions in Africa.Read More -
Where Does The Water Go When It Rains At Collegiate?
Using a digitized topographical map on iPads, 2nd Graders in Mr. Becker’s Engineering class traced the path of water when it rains at Collegiate discovering that some of the traveling water runs into a creek called George’s Branch that crisscrosses through Collegiate’s campus and eventually reaches the Chesapeake Bay.Read More -
Kindergartners Help the Lower School Garden Grow
Read MoreThis week, each Collegiate Kindergartner planted a pansy and a daffodil bulb in the Lower School garden and learned that the bulbs will blossom in the spring. They also used water from Collegiate’s garden rain barrels to douse their plantings. They are also vegetable gardeing and the bounty of that work will find its way into the meals served in Centennial Hall, the Lower School cafeteria. -
ChangeMaker Club Welcomes Social Entrepreneurs to Learn From Their Experiences
Publisher Linda Cortright and filmmaker Stanzi Dorjai shared their experiences about building community, creating economic opportunity and relaying the stories of the people of Ladakh with Collegiate School 7th and 8th Graders involved in the ChangeMaker Club in October.Read More -
Students From Around the World Gather at Collegiate to Collaborate on Real-World Issues
Read MoreThroughout this week’s International Emerging Leaders Conference (IELC) hosted by Collegiate School, 43 high school students from 10 countries, along with 18 Collegiate seniors, will work together to create viable solutions to environmental problems affecting their respective countries. -
Global Visitors Arrive for 8th Annual Conference
Read MoreThis weekend, Collegiate School will welcome 43 high school students from 10 countries as they arrive for the start of the 8th annual International Emerging Leaders Conference (IELC). Since fall 2011, Collegiate has welcomed 17 different partner schools from 16 countries around the world and more than 360 international students. -
Collegiate 4th Graders Lead Recycling in Lower School
Read MoreCollegiate 4th Graders were trained this week by teachers Dana DuMont and Heather Graham in how to gather and dispose of all of the Lower School’s paper recycling. Students in Sonya Smith's and Chris Watson's classes will collect recycling on a weekly basis for the 2018-19 school year. -
Garden Grows From Seeds Planted During 2017 Envision Collegiate
For four days in May 2017, under the supervision of Collegiate School Chief Academic Officer Susan Droke, Director of the Institute for Responsible Citizenship Clare Sisisky and Capstone Coordinator and 4th Grade teacher Carolyn Villanueva, 4th Graders immersed themselves in the design thinking process to address the challenge “How might we design a learning garden for our school community?” as part of Envision Collegiate, the Lower School Capstone.Read More -
Upper School Student-Scientists Spend Spring in Action
Over the course of the spring semester, Collegiate students in Upper School science teacher Sandra Marr’s ecology classes delved into sustainability issues using inquiry-based projects.Read More -
Third Grade Market Upcycles and Donates Proceeds
Our 3rd Graders hosted a culminating Market Day for the school year yesterday and invited parents to shop. All products were made with upcycled materials such as plastic water bottles, toilet paper tubes, Crystal Lite containers, old tin cans, juice can lids, bottle caps, shoeboxes, etc.Read More -
Sprouting Enthusiasm for Bay Conservation
Second Grade teacher Samantha Huber recently shared details about her class's visit to the Chesapeake Bay in a Brock Environmental Center blog post. Read here about the students' efforts to plant the grass they personally nurtured all winter.Read More -
Capstone Explores Sustainable Solutions to the Future of Food
Read MoreCollegiate School students enrolled in the senior Capstone class, Sustainable Solutions to the Future of Food, spent the semester considering the following question, “How can we ensure that people have access to safe, healthy, affordable food in a way that can be both environmentally and economically sustainable?” -
Capstone Students Consider Richmond’s Relationship to the James River
In the River City Capstone, Collegiate seniors explored how the economic, political and cultural landscape — historically and presently — is inextricably linked with the environmental landscape and health of the James, the city and the citizenry.Read More -
Collegiate Earns Curriculum Award
Read MoreCollegiate School has earned the 2017-18 Connect the Dots Curriculum Award from The Center for Green Schools. -
Kindergartners Experience Service Learning Field Trip
Read MoreAfter visiting Pony Pasture and the T. Tyler Potterfield Memorial Bridge earlier this year, Collegiate Kindergarten classes visited Reedy Creek recently as they continued their investigation of the James River. Educators from the James River Association were on hand to teach students about the impact pesticides and fertilizers have on the water quality of the James River. Students also connected their cleaning of the Collegiate filterras back in March to keeping pollutants out of George's Branch Creek, which is a tributary that flows into the James River. -
Kindergartners Experience Service Learning Field Trip
Read MoreAfter visiting Pony Pasture and the T. Tyler Potterfield Memorial Bridge earlier this year, Collegiate Kindergarten classes visited Reedy Creek recently as they continued their investigation of the James River. Educators from the James River Association were on hand to teach students about the impact pesticides and fertilizers have on the water quality of the James River. -
Collegiate Begins Solar Panel Installation
Read MoreWork began this week on the installation of solar panels on the roofs of the Saunders Center and maintenance building on Collegiate School’s Robins Campus. Later in the spring, panels will be installed on Sharp Academic Commons and Centennial Hall. -
Student Spearheads Food Waste Recycling Effort
In fall 2017, Sheppard Adamson, a Collegiate School 5th Grader, met with Middle School Assistant Head Lindsey Melvin to propose that food waste recycling be part of Village Green Fair, a spring tradition that serves as the School’s largest fundraiser as well as a fun community-building event. Sheppard was assisted by 5th Graders Cate Taylor, Kana Sakagami, Mary Mason Ingold, Georgia Eastep, and Adriana King as well as 7th Graders Emily Kantner, Ava Messer, Zoe Mintz, and Katie Adamson.Read More -
Upper School Earth Society goes Exploring
Members of our Upper School Earth Society took an all-girls camping trip to Powhatan State Park with Upper School science teacher Sandra Marr last weekend. Nestled on the James River, this state park offered the perfect way to spend Friday the 13th - around a campfire - and Saturday hiking the riparian forests, said Mrs. Marr.Read More -
Articles in "The Match" Reflect Responsible Citizenship
Read MoreRecent issues of The Match, Collegiate's student-run online news site, featured several articles related to the Responsible Citizenship pillars. Each is the result of in-depth research, reporting, writing and editing, as each author delves deeply into a topic of their choosing. Highlights include: -
Capstone Explores Richmond's History and Impact of the James River
Read MoreAs part of their ongoing research for a senior Capstone class The River City, a group of 12th Graders met with two James River advocates yesterday to learn about Richmond's history and the impact of the river on the city's evolution. -
Middle School Model UN discusses Climate Change with Lawyer and Author
As part of the Middle School Model UN, William Espinosa, author, international lawyer and executive director of Youth Advocate Program International recently shared the history of climate change with a group of students and also explained how he weaves it into his fiction.Read More -
Students Collaborate on Environmental Service Project
Read MoreA group of Collegiate Lower School and Middle School students spent the morning working on a service project while learning from our campus grounds staff. -
Middle and Upper School Garden Takes Shape
Read MoreCollegiate Upper School students have completed three raised garden beds behind the Upper School Science building, with one of them dedicated to the building and testing of Farmbot, a precision Computer Numeric Controlled (CNC) agriculture device that plants and tends gardens. -
Senior Capstone Students Visit Richmond’s Vertical Slot Fishway
Collegiate School seniors enrolled in the Senior Capstone course, The River City, met a James River Park System biologist at the vertical slot fishway on the river’s Bosher's Dam this week to see firsthand the intricate "fish ladder" that enables native species such as the American shad to return upriver to spawn, despite the presence of the dam.Read More -
Upper School Ecology Students lead an Acorn Walk
Read MoreCollegiate Upper School ecology students led Junior Kindergarteners on an acorn walk, a student-led activity that closely examines oak trees and their ecosystem on Collegiate's campus. The group also reconvenied at the Pagebrook Outdoor Classroom on the Robin's Campus to work as scientists in the field, learning about plants and animals. -
First Graders Research the Potential of Repurposed Buildings
Read MoreAs part of a Collegiate 1st Grade social studies unit Richmond Then and Now, students visited the defunct hydroelectric power plant on Belle Isle for research and discovery. -
Students Pitch Solutions to Worldwide Environmental Problems
Read MoreAt this week’s 7th International Emerging Leaders Conference (IELC) hosted by Collegiate School, 41 international high school delegates and 16 Collegiate seniors collaborated in groups to design solutions to real-world environmental issues facing their countries. -
International Delegates, Collegiate Students Collaborate on Environmental Solutions
Read MoreDuring the 10-day International Emerging Leaders Conference (IELC), 41 international high school students and 16 Collegiate School seniors will be tasked with creating innovative solutions to real-world environmental problems affecting their respective countries. -
Upper School Environmental Clubs Test New Technology, Participate in River Cleanup
Read MoreThe Collegiate Upper School Earth Society recently installed a boundary wire for a robotic lawnmower that is being tested behind the School's North Science building under the leadership of Lower School parent Matt Kave. After the installation, the Collegiate Service Club ventured to Forest Hill Park for a river cleanup. -
Kindergartners Harvest a Bounty from Lower School Garden
Collegiate School Kindergartners worked together to harvest an abundance of tomatoes, basil and rosemary in the Lower School garden. The students delivered the vegetables and herbs to Centennial Hall, the Lower School cafeteria, where chefs will incorporate them into the menu. Delicious!Read More -
Fourth Graders Take Leadership Role in Lower School Recycling
Read MoreRecycling has begun in the Collegiate Lower School under the leadership of Sonya Smith’s and Chris Watson’s 4th Graders. The students were trained in the finer points of recycling by Lower School art teachers Dana DuMont and Holly Smith. The students’ efforts will add to the growing list of recycling and composting programs already in place at Collegiate School. -
Composting Comes to Collegiate School’s McFall Hall
Read MoreAfter a successful student-led pilot program that began (and thrived) in Collegiate’s Lower School's cafeteria, Centennial Hall, in 2017, the initiative has now been launched in McFall Hall, the Middle and Upper School dining center. -
Student-Created Recycling Program Wins Award
Read MoreCollegiate School 3rd Grade teacher Katie Musick accepted a Connect the Dots Green Schools Challenge award last evening on behalf of a group of her former students. Last year, the now-4th Graders developed a food waste recycling program that was implemented in the Lower School cafeteria in March. -
Senior Seminar Classes Present Final Projects
Read MoreAs a culmination of semester-long efforts in Senior Seminars, students presented findings and recommendations to guests, faculty, administration and professionals. They also discussed and debated the food industry with local experts and met with nonprofit organizations to deliver solutions. -
Articles in "The Match" Reflect Responsible Citizenship
Each semester, a group of Collegiate School student journalists in the Writing For Publication English class produce a series of Honors feature articles for The Match, Collegiate's student-run online news site. These articles are the result of months of research, reporting, writing and editing, as each author delves deeply into a topic of their choosing.Read More -
Collegiate Launches 4th Grade Capstone Pilot Program
Collegiate School introduced a capstone program for the 4th Grade this week, called Envision Collegiate, to build upon the existing capstones for 8th Grade (Envision Richmond) and 12th Grade (Envision Your World). All three programs bring to life students’ classroom learning in a real-world context.Read More -
Inaugural 4th Grade Capstone Program Concludes
Read MoreCollegiate School 4th Graders presented creative ideas for a Lower School learning garden this afternoon as the culmination of their grade-level capstone program, Envision Collegiate. -
Field Trip Combines Classroom Concepts and Service Learning
Read MoreCollegiate 5th Graders partnered this week with the James River Association for a service learning field trip at the Pump House Park, part of the James River Park System. The trip tied together concepts from the students’ study of the importance of water in their ancient history and in science classes. -
Lower School Food Waste Recycling Program Wins Sustainability Award
Read MoreA group of Collegiate School 4th Graders won the Connect the Dots Green Schools Challenge for the food waste recycling program they developed last year as 3rd Graders with their teacher Katie Musick. The program was implemented in the Lower School in March. -
Local Farm Visit Provides Experiential Learning Experience
Read MoreCollegiate students in Rhiannon Boyd’s Senior Seminar: Food in America and Rebecca Hottman’s AP Environmental Science classes visited PolyFace Farms in Swoope, Virginia, this week. -
Honors Biology Students Present Designs to Solve Environmental Issues
Read MoreCollegiate School students in Sandra Marr and David Fahey’s Honors Biology class presented prototypes of design projects today that aim to solve an environmental issue. -
Tenth Graders Present Creative Alternative Energy Sources
As part of a Project Based Learning unit on alternative energy resources for residential establishments, 10th Grade biology students in Shayna Cooke’s class presented their 3-D designs to their classmates and members of Collegiate’s faculty and administration. The students used the processes of photosynthesis or cellular respiration as a guide and created devices that would hypothetically power a home on these products and byproducts.Read More -
Middle Schoolers Take a Winter Tree Walk
Read MoreCindy Cargas’ Middle School science students enjoyed a “winter tree walk” with arborist Scott Turner of TrueTimber and examined their adopted trees in the Pitt Hall courtyard, outside Reed-Gumenick Library and in front of Flippen Hall. -
Sustainability and Service
A group of Lower Schoolers and Middle Schoolers spent a morning collaborating on a service project while simultaneously learning from our campus grounds staff.Read More -
Upper Schoolers Embark on a Whales and Wildlife Boat Trip
Read MoreCollegiate Upper School students participated in a Whales and Wildlife Sea Adventure aboard the Virginia Aquarium’s Atlantic Explorer and saw the ocean’s most magnificent creatures as they visited Virginia coastal waters. -
Searching for an Alternative Method of Water Purification
Read MoreAs part of Collegiate’s project-based learning and independent science research initiatives, a group of five students from Upper School science teacher Sandra Marr’s Honors Biology class is searching for an alternative method of water purification. -
Biology Students Study Macromolecules and World Food Program Needs
Read MoreShayna Cooke’s 10th Grade biology students have been studying macromolecules and applying learnings by developing a food product the World Food Program could send to developing nations to satiate kids age 5 and under. The students were handed the following description of the challenge before them: -
Second Graders Present an Ocean Showcase
Collegiate School 2nd Graders presented an Ocean Showcase to display projects they created after extensive questioning and research on the world's oceans and marine life.Read More -
Fifth Grade Meets Subject of "Long Walk to Water"
Read MoreCollegiate School’s Global Scholar-In-Residence, John Dau, spoke to the entire 5th Grade today and surprised them with a special guest. -
Kindergarten Harvest Festival Includes Lessons on Life Cycles and Composting
Collegiate's Kindergarten classes recently met with Robyn Hartley and Allison Moyer, who lovingly care for the School's plants, flowers and grounds, to learn lessons about the cycle of composting that begins in the Lower School's Centennial Hall and continues to the compost pile in the Lower School garden and into the same garden as fertilizer.Read More -
AP Biology Students Learn Integral Role of Animals in Sudanese Culture
As part of their ecology studies, AP biology students met with John Dau, Collegiate's Global Scholar-in-Residence, who shared the integral role domestic and wild animals play in the lives of South Sudanese villagers.Read More -
2nd Grade Studies Sustainable and Ethical Ttreatment of the Chesapeake Bay
Ms. Ellen Clore’s 2nd Grade science classes are busy studying the Chesapeake Bay watershed and its importance to Virginia. The students will be creating videos to generate awareness about the ethical and sustainable treatment of one of our state's precious marine resources. Students welcomed marketing consultant Dave Clemans, who has worked with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, to get some ideas on how to deliver a meaningful, impactful message.Read More
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