Greening the School
Paul Chapman helps Thacher envision a sustainable future
In recent years Thacher has invested substantially in greener dorms and more efficient use of resources. A similar interest in sustainability has animated the Environmental Action Committee (EAC), which has helped launch programs that include using kitchen waste to feed hogs, raising bees to produce honey, and fueling campus vehicles with Thacher-made biodiesel.
These efforts are consistent with Thacher’s Strategic Plan 2017: The Road to the Future, which identifies sustainability as a core value and calls for promotion of “an ethos of sustainability as a central element of campus life” in the form of strategic programs and measurable goals. To help us identify those goals and develop those programs, Thacher recently welcomed to campus sustainability expert Paul Chapman.
After decades as an administrator in independent schools (including 26 years as head at Head-Royce School in Oakland), Mr. Chapman launched an encore career to help schools become more green. “We were fortunate and delighted to host Mr. Chapman at Thacher,” said Head of School Michael Mulligan. “Paul's experience with other schools is invaluable in helping us understand our strengths and weaknesses. His guidelines will take us a long way toward the future that we envision.”
During his three-day stay on campus, Mr. Chapman met with students, faculty, and administrators in an exchange of information intended to give him a clear sense of our current projects and goals, and to allow him to give input that will help Thacher design a comprehensive sustainability plan for the future.
Working closely with Mr. Chapman were Kurt Meyer, head of the EAC, and Juan Sanchez, Thacher’s director of sustainability. A primary goal of the visit, explained Juan, was to allow Mr. Chapman the opportunity to recognize Thacher’s unique culture and the sustainability projects already in place, so that future initiatives successfully build on these. "There is no question," said Kurt, "that Paul's visit catalyzed important rethinking about how Thacher should work more strategically in its desire to reach concrete goals for sustainable practice."
Encouraging the School to think of the Dining Hall as its biggest classroom, Mr. Chapman discussed the many possibilities for integrating sustainability into campus life, from efficient use of resources and healthy operations, to curriculum and community practices.
The School looks forward to his recommendations and the work ahead. Meanwhile, the projects continue.
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A college preparatory boarding school for grades 9-12
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