This year’s U.S. Department of Education’s Green Ribbon School nominations are in! And two of the Green Ribbon nominations are Grades of Green schools, Mark Twain Elementary and Lowell Elementary Schools in Long Beach, California. Grades of Green Program Manager Lisa McCarthy founded Mark Twain’s Recycling, Gardening, and Green Teams and as Green Co-Chair has helped Mark Twain be an environmental leader with 35% of Twain’s student population participating on their Green Team. Additionally, Lowell, who is a Grades of Green 2013-14 Trash Free Lunch Challenge contestant, has been reducing their waste all year long. Lowell also has a Learning Garden that all students participate in during the year and students take more than 15 walking field trips each year. Congratulations Mark Twain and Lowell on well deserved recognition for all the environmental work you are doing! Read more about these schools’ nominations here.