Sustainability Course Uses Campus as Laboratory 

“Overall we break sustainability into resources we can see on campus like soil, fresh water, standing timber, and wildlife. We look at the baseline of these resources, how they are being used or misused in our country, and we talk about positive solutions to some of those situations that are challenging,” said Jake Miller, the course instructor and a previous farm educator.

“We have a big emphasis on using our own campus as a lab. When we do our soil unit, we’re sampling from campus. When we do forestry, we’re measuring stands of trees. A big part of my education was outdoor field work so that’s what I like to do with students — get them outside with hands in the dirt.”

While using data from Chatham Hall as a foundation, the course is a launchpad that introduces students to discussing the world’s population, globalization, and natural resources. Students also explore population growth, globalization, and eco footprints, and in doing so analyze trends and make predictions about things like water, fossil fuels, and garbage. They have also taken on the task of upgrading the McKay Greenhouse, a gift of Katherine McKay Belk Cook '44 P'72 given in honor of Chatham Hall parents and former Trustees Lillian Lineberger McKay '48, and Hamilton W. McKay, Jr.

“Working on the greenhouse was a great opportunity to teach sustainability and do some hands-on work,” said Miller. “Everyone really wanted to see the greenhouse back in action here, and what it needed was, in itself, a great lesson on sustainability. It was set up so that all of the water would come from rain capture, and there were also solar panels available to power the system. We had already had many great pieces to set up a working, sustainable greenhouse that we just needed to put into place.”

The majority of the upgrade was overhauling the plumbing. One of the gutters of Shaw Tech was diverted into the rain barrel, the water distribution system inside the McKay Greenhouse was replaced, and two timed water zones were created. The School’s facilities department provided reclaimed lumber for a stand for solar panels, which now just need to be wired to the pump.

“The students were very excited about getting it up and running. They immediately wanted it to be a place where campus tours could walk through, and that could be used on campus to take care of plants or even grow things to sell at plant sales,” noted Miller.

For Elinor Harrison ‘24, the opportunity to work on the McKay Greenhouse has allowed her to explore an interest she didn’t know she had.

“I’ve never had the opportunity to work directly with plants, so working on the greenhouse has been a great start for me,” she said. “I think our whole class knows that there is a great future for it at Chatham Hall. I’m excited that in my time here I’ll get to see it with plants inside, maybe herbs that could be used for meals, and just how students enjoy it and even rely on it.”

The hands-on restoration of the McKay Greenhouse also provides another service to students, that of tying the idea of environmental wellness to holistic wellness. Chatham Hall recognizes environmental wellness as one of nine dimensions of Living Well, the philosophy emphasizing holistic health, wellness, and balance for all community members.

“Just by offering this course we’re expanding our students’ idea of wellness and giving them the opportunity for being involved in this aspect of it. I hope that in the future we can grow plants for people to plant in their gardens, and write instructions and use that as a teaching model of the cost of food production and how individuals can do one small step to make things a little better,” said Miller.

“A big part of the goal of the class is to discuss our planet’s resource use. It can lead to a lot of discussion about dire circumstances which can be a hard thing for teenagers to hear. So everywhere we look for the ‘so now what can we do?’ Even if it’s something small like replacing your store-bought tomatoes for those you grow in your own yard can be a calculable benefit. This can allow students to feel empowered, and to recognize that there is always a way forward even if sometimes it can be hard to see.”