Northern Garrett High School (NGHS) is located in the mountains of western Maryland. The school community includes approximately 430 students in grades nine through twelve and 60 faculty and staff. Because of the rural setting and the nearby Deep Creek Lake recreation area, a large proportion of jobs in the area are related to natural resources and ecotourism. Therefore, the students understand the importance of the environment in providing ecosystem services and employment. Teachers and staff at NGHS strive to lead students to the realization that it is their responsibility to protect and preserve the environment and sustain these natural resources for future generations.
NGHS became a Green School in 2010. The school has maintained many of its original green initiatives as well as implementing new programs and practices. The school offers regular, merit, and AP environmental science courses. Additionally, environmental awareness activities are integrated into courses of various disciplines, including English, science, and art. NGHS is one of the few high schools in Maryland to house its Career and Technology Education (CTE) program within the high school, exposing a majority of students to at least one CTE class. Many of the CTE courses integrate environmental education into the curriculum. Students in carpentry class assist in building structures for environmental instruction. Electronics students get hands on experience using an electric car and solar panels. A large aspect of the agricultural sciences program is raising crops and livestock that provide food to school cafeterias throughout the district. Earth Day is celebrated annually with school-wide activities organized by students that teach environmental awareness in enjoyable ways. The school collaborates with the Garrett Soil Conservation District to maintain an Envirothon program that exposes participants to in-depth training by local professionals with various careers in the field of natural resources.
A variety of ongoing, student-centered environmental projects occur at NGHS. Paper, plastic, aluminum, ink cartridges, and small electric devices are recycled in a student run program. Students utilize and help to maintain a trail on the school grounds that includes several outdoor classrooms along its course. Outdoor learning also occurs at a constructed wetland that filters schoolyard runoff. During the spring of 2017, students collaborated with members of a local garden club to create a native meadow on the school grounds. The meadow is easily accessible by classes, with gates on either end and a walkway through the middle. There are benches around the perimeter of the meadow built by carpentry students. In the fall of 2018, students began designing and building an aquaculture system that currently holds yellow perch that will be released into a local waterway in the spring. The school has also collaborated with local landowners and government agencies to begin a Brook Trout restoration project at a stream near the school. Students created and maintain riparian buffers along the stream where it runs through pastureland. They collect data on stream health, biodiversity, and water quality on a regular basis. They also work with MD DNR employees to estimate the number of brook trout and other fish species in the stream.
NGHS became a Green School in 2010. The school has maintained many of its original green initiatives as well as implementing new programs and practices. The school offers regular, merit, and AP environmental science courses. Additionally, environmental awareness activities are integrated into courses of various disciplines, including English, science, and art. NGHS is one of the few high schools in Maryland to house its Career and Technology Education (CTE) program within the high school, exposing a majority of students to at least one CTE class. Many of the CTE courses integrate environmental education into the curriculum. Students in carpentry class assist in building structures for environmental instruction. Electronics students get hands on experience using an electric car and solar panels. A large aspect of the agricultural sciences program is raising crops and livestock that provide food to school cafeterias throughout the district. Earth Day is celebrated annually with school-wide activities organized by students that teach environmental awareness in enjoyable ways. The school collaborates with the Garrett Soil Conservation District to maintain an Envirothon program that exposes participants to in-depth training by local professionals with various careers in the field of natural resources.
A variety of ongoing, student-centered environmental projects occur at NGHS. Paper, plastic, aluminum, ink cartridges, and small electric devices are recycled in a student run program. Students utilize and help to maintain a trail on the school grounds that includes several outdoor classrooms along its course. Outdoor learning also occurs at a constructed wetland that filters schoolyard runoff. During the spring of 2017, students collaborated with members of a local garden club to create a native meadow on the school grounds. The meadow is easily accessible by classes, with gates on either end and a walkway through the middle. There are benches around the perimeter of the meadow built by carpentry students. In the fall of 2018, students began designing and building an aquaculture system that currently holds yellow perch that will be released into a local waterway in the spring. The school has also collaborated with local landowners and government agencies to begin a Brook Trout restoration project at a stream near the school. Students created and maintain riparian buffers along the stream where it runs through pastureland. They collect data on stream health, biodiversity, and water quality on a regular basis. They also work with MD DNR employees to estimate the number of brook trout and other fish species in the stream.
A student accepts the Green School flag at the 2010 Maryland Green Schools Youth Summit.
Top Five List
Recycling
Northern Garrett High School students run an extensive recycling program that collects paper, cardboard, plastic, aluminum, ink cartridges, and small electronics.
Native Meadow Creation
- During the spring of 2016, students worked in collaboration with volunteers from a local garden club to create a native meadow on the school grounds.
Brook Trout Restoration Project
- Students maintain riparian buffer zones and monitor water quality for a stream near the school to help protect a native brook trout population.
Aquaculture
- In 2018, students designed and built an aquaculture system and then raised yellow perch to learn about nutrient cycling and water quality.
CTE Environmental Education
- Northern Garrett High School has an in-house Career and Technology Education (CTE) program that incorporates environmental education into instruction through building structures for environmental learning, studying solar panels, building an electric car, and raising crops and livestock.