Grades of Green hosted the former Director of
Ministry of the Environmental Protection’s Center for Environmental
Education (CEEC) and Communications of
China, Zhiyan Jiao. Director Jiao toured Grades of Green’s pilot school,
Grand View Elementary, and was able to witness first hand the many different
programs, such as Trash Free Lunches and in-class composting. In particular,
a Grades of Green Youth Corps student, Alex Tuck-Sherman, showed how he
started a composting program at his school and explained how it could be
implemented at others. Another Grades of Green Youth Corps student, Lauren
Stargardter, showed how her Earth Club promotes recycling and composting at her
school. As Director, Jiao is involved in making schools more sustainable
in China. She states, “young people are the principal force of China
to follow the green path to sustainable development… Environment-Friendly
Youth Ambassadors are vanguard of the united front of environmental
protection.”
The CEEC and Director Jiao have been involved in
setting up the Mobil-Chian Environmental Education Fund (a program devoted to
promoting China’s Environmental Protection Cause), The Bell Program
(cultivating qualified senior managers for sustainable development), and
Volkswagen’s Green Future Environment Education Initiative to name a few.