Forest Oak MS Receives Maryland Governor's Green School Award

Celebration Program cover

Forest Oak Middle School is the only Montgomery County school recognized this year.

Since it's inception in 1999, 47 schools plus 15 this year have earned the prestigious Green School Award. This is a program that we will keep going for as many years as we can.

Representatives from many schools and state agencies enjoyed a PowerPoint presentation featuring the "Green Schools" environmental activities.

Awards were presented to the schools by Dr. Sarah Taylor-Rogers, Secretary of Maryland's Department of Natural Resources, Mr. David Pittenger, Director of National Aquarium, and Mr. Gary Fuhrman, of Baltimore Gas Electric, corporate sponsor of the program.

Forest Oak students proudly receive the Governor's Citation and the banner for the school. We are so proud!

Our entourage includes: Front : Mr. Jay Foster, science teacher, Daniel R., Emily P., Megan P., and Ramiro J. Rear: Mr. John Burley, principal, Mr. Joe Keyser, Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection, Ms. Laura Martin, Bay Studies Coordinator, Mrs. Pat Bender, English teacher

A special cake to celebrate!

Mr. Joe Keyser, Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection, admires FOMS' display.

Ramiro shares his class' projects of trail building and bluebird houses.

"See, that's me, working VERY hard!"

All of the students had to demonstrate what they learned about the environment.

Lots of activity at Forest Oak learning about our school yard environment.
The activities were fun and there was clearly demonstrated learning.

Forest Oak shares their Chesapeake Bay Trip experiences with the attendees. The hope is that the sharing will highten awareness in the community about the environment. The lesson is that non-native species can do a great deal of damage. We need to promote the plants and animals native to Maryland.

This six-inch volume is our official application for the Green School recognition. There are many hours of effort in this volume! And this is just the start of our commitment to our neighborhood.

Our happy students enjoy the celebration: Mr. Foster, Emily P., Ramiro J., Megan P., and Daniel R.

The seals and sea lions enjoy their training session. Our students observed the handling of these animals.

The sea horses exhibit includes many exotic species from around the world. Look for the yellow sea horses.

They come in all shapes and sizes. Some are lovely and pale.

Some are brightly colored like this yellow one.

Plant or animal? It's really an unusual seashores of the Australian kelp beds.

Colorful fish enjoy their habitats at the aquarium. The students and adults enjoyed watching them move through their area of the tank.

The metal sculpture introduces the exhibit to visitors. Be sure to include this in your plans.

We thank the National Aquarium in Baltimore for hosting our visit. This is a fabulous place to visit.

Our Green School Banner has a new home in our main entry hallway. We are very excited.

We proudly display our new Green School flag.

The new Forest Oak tree is a white oak planted this spring in our school yard. This is a memorial to the original "Forest Oak" from Gaithersburg, for which the school was named. The original tree was felled by lightning in 1998. This sapling was derived from the original oak.

Our new bluebird boxes have already attracted some egg laying bluebirds! Ms. Shelly Nicole and her students have become very good at building these. They have shared their skills with elementary students across Maryland.

The bluebird boxes border the school grounds. They border the school grounds of more than a half dozen schools thanks to Ms. Nicole and her students. We have had good success in attracting birds.

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