Environmental Charter High School Celebrating 10 Years of Green Education

Left: Taylor, Colter, Laimon, Diaz

The Environmental Charter High School (ECHS), founded by Alison Suffet Diaz, celebrates ten years of service to the community this year. Suffet-Diaz and friend Sara Laimon, founder of the Green Ambassadors Institute (with the help of many others) joined forces and created an exceptional school that has become a true model for sustainable education.

The school and program is a community-based hands-on learning experience for under-served youth that inspires them to be part of the solution - to be the change they want to see in the world. ECHS currently offers schools throughout California an award-winning college prep curriculum as an excellent blueprint and has an impressive success rate (97%) of students continuing on to college. Through a unique partnership with Global Green USA, ECHS plans to roll out their sustainable program to schools nationwide in 2011. ECHS also received recognition this year as one of six high schools in the nation to make it to the finalists for President Obama's "Race to the Top" Commencement Challenge.

Darren Moore and Boise Thomas

On November 6th – celebrities, business owners, environmentalists, and many others came together to celebrate ECHS's ten years of accomplishments, and support their ReThink: Green Charity (fundraising) Event to help fulfill their dream. Among the celebrities supporting the mission were Ed Begley Jr, Rachelle Carson-Begley, Planet Green's Boise Thomas and Darren Moore, Lisa Ling, Anna Getty, MTV'S "Buried Life" cast members, "Heroes" James Kyson Lee, Ray Charles Jr, Shanica Knowles "Hannah Montana", Tamara Henry with Green T, etc. along with Rey Fresco, and the Make Peace Brothers performing on stage live.

Green Award recipients included Matt Petersen, President – Global Green, Mark God, President – Heal The Bay, Anna Cummins, Marcus Eriksen, Captain Charles Moore – Algalita Research Foundation's team, Dale Bell, Harry Wiland – Media Policy Center, Davis Guggenheim, director of "Inconvenient Truth” and “Waiting for Superman,” plus several other honorees. (A complete list of sponsors and honorees can be found at www.rethinkgreenevent.org.) Solar hybrid generators supplied all power to the event making it a 100% sustainable evening.

Liquid Lights Art

While there were a lot of wonderful artists displaying their fine works of art for the silent auction, three of my favorites were by Tanya Clarke with Liquid Lights, Eric Smith – photographer, and Micki Eskimo, collage artist with found materials.

And as usual, kudos to Dawna Shuman with Lighthouse PR and Nicole Landers for their great work on the event. Check out more pictures from the evening, and like us on Eco Family News' facebook page. We just started our page, so please help us grow it by spreading the word ... thanks.