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We are a community of teachers, staff, caregivers and community members focused on building a brighter, healthier, more equitable future for our children. We are a community daring to dream and working together to heal and restore our planet through local action across our school district. We are educating and engaging our students as future leaders on ways they can champion climate action in our community. We acknowledge the interconnectedness of climate action, equity, and justice and welcome all community voices so that together we can build a better future.
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Lunchroom Composting and Recycling in ALL Our Schools
Way to go, D65! As of November 2022, ALL District 65 schools are composting and recycling in our lunchrooms! Thank you to our lunchroom supervisors, custodians, nutrition services, teachers, school leaders, staff and our D65 climate action teams, who collectively make this a daily experience for our D65 students. Together, we’re doing our part to create a healthy planet!
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End of School Classroom and Locker Clean Out
D65 hosted a 2023 End of School Clean Out from May 8 - June 9, 2023. Our D65 schools mobilized to gather leftover school supplies from classrooms and lockers that would typically go to the landfill. We encouraged sharing and reuse within our schools and D65 Families! Created 3 School Supply Swap Closets at Haven, Dawes & Lincolnwood. Remaining items were donated to Art Makers Outpost, SCARCE, Books4Cause, Better World Books and Goodwill.
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Earth Month Activities
In 2023, our students participated in a variety of Earth Month activities including classroom engagement, school climate action projects and the 10 Second Film Festival.
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Planting Trees and Native Plants on School Grounds
Our climate action and garden teams across the district have been busy planting new trees and native plants on our school grounds. It’s exciting to see our gardens growing and native plantings blooming!
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LED Lighting Upgrades
LED Lighting upgrades and retrofittings are were completed in all D65 schools in the summer of 2022 and 2023.
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D65 and City of Evanston Recycling Art Design Competition
The City of Evanston and District 65 asked middle schoolers to help illustrate why recycling plays a vital role in being good stewards for the planet. Congrats to Zeynep, an 8th Grader at Chute Middle School, who was named the winning illustrator!
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Climate Clubs
Our middle schools Climate Clubs have been busy! Roots & Shoots is an after-school offering at Dewey. Click the link above to learn more!
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Gardening at Schools across the District
Gardens at our schools across the district are growing beautiful local food. It’s an exciting opportunity to get our students into the garden to learn and discover hands on where our food comes from.
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Invention Convention at Nichols
Our 6th graders at Nichols Middle School completed a 2+ month invention challenge to develop climate solutions aligned with the City of Evanston's Climate Action and Resilience Plan.
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Karen Bireta joined in May 2022 as the District’s first sustainability coordinator. She is excited to continue building our sustainability community in District 65 focusing on opportunities to heal & restore our planet.Karens approach is centered on:
- Building relationships
- Inviting in and elevating diversity of voices to our climate solutions
- Collaboration
- Grounded in Optimism
Karen discovered her interest in the environment started while attending an Earth Day event in 5th grade. She’s a chemical and environmental engineer, bringing 15+ years of environmental and sustainability experience to the district.
Karen loves walking by the Lake, gardening, yoga and meditation. She lives in Evanston with her husband, son, baby betta fish and freshwater snail.
If you’re interested in joining our sustainability efforts, contact Karen at biretak@district65.net.
