IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO MAKE A PARK

The Pennsbury School District, a 2005 finalist for Community Partner of the Year, was nominated by Waste Management of Pennsylvania (WM) for an established partnership with the wildlife team at the GROWS and Tullytown Facilities. An active business/education partnership since 1994, the Pennsbury School District has worked closely with WM to develop educational opportunities for thousands of students. This mutually beneficial relationship formed the model for the ground-breaking Pennsbury Partners Program, a comprehensive collaborative between the District and more than one thousand other businesses, large and small. Within the Partnership, WM holds a leadership position, providing tours and experiential learning on their wildlife habitat, extensive outreach programs and teacher training offerings. 

The Village Park Elmentary School Kiosk.

WM's partnership with Pennsbury School District also brought about the establishment of an outdoor learning laboratory for the entire community in the "It Takes a Village to Make a Park" project. More than 280 elementary students from Pennsbury, along with their teachers, parents and administrators worked with a cadre of community partners, including Bucks County Audubon Society and Land Tech Incorporated. The project even resulted in a publication, written by the National Audubon Society entitled, Guide to Gardening for Wildlife in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Currently, the partnership is working to correlate the outdoor learning laboratory act ivies to the extensive Pennsylvania Standards in Environment and Ecology. 

The Partnership between Pennsbury School District and Waste Management Pennsylvania has also launched a new program for the Pennsbury Center for Student Learning, an alternative school for students who excel academically in a no-traditional environment. These at-risk students have the opportunity to use the Waste Management for exploration into scientific concepts outlined in the Standards through experiential learning. 

To date, the partnership between the Pennsbury School District and WM has produced dramatic results, with a continued high level of commitment from the classroom teachers, and marked increase in student involvement tin their own learning. The partnership has also benefited the community at large, demonstrating that collaboration, commitment and excellence in education are the shared responsibility of school, individuals and businesses. Pennsbury School District has also helped to establish Waste Management of Pennsylvania as an environmental resource in the community, with the partnership serving as a “best practices” model for other WM sites and neighboring School Districts.