This past Earth Day, the US Department of Education awarded Oak Park Unified School District its first ever Green Ribbon District Award for California. The Oak Park District includes five Grades of Green schools, some of which were Grades of Green’s first schools. The US Department of Education’s Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality Nancy Sutley stated, “The schools and districts being honored today are modeling the best practices in reducing environmental impact and cutting costs, creating a healthier learning environment, and providing students with an education geared toward the jobs of the future.” The Oak Park schools aren’t stopping their efforts there either, with their next greening endeavor to have a collection of used school supplies at the end of the school year from the elementary schools and distributing them to local non-profits in need of supplies. Not only will they be preventing these school supplies from being sent to the landfill at the end of the year, but reusing them at places that are in need. Congratulations Oak Park Unified School District!