DEQ leader meets with students from Salisbury Academy, a North Carolina Green School of Excellence

Secretary Michael Regan recently met with 4th-grade students visiting Raleigh from Salisbury Academy in Salisbury, NC. Students, their teacher, and parent chaperones arrived by train and toured the State Capitol, the Museum of History, the General Assembly, the Museum of Natural Sciences and the Executive Mansion. Their final stop was the Department of Environmental Quality’s Green Square building for a visit with Secretary Regan.

Salisbury Academy was named an N.C. Green School of Excellence earlier this year, so the opportunity for the students to visit a LEED Certified “green” building and meet the leader of the state’s top environmental department was a special opportunity.

Salisbury Academy has developed many environmental initiatives. Some include a zero-waste recycling policy and a large-scale LED lighting upgrade where they replaced existing lights with LED lights and equipped restrooms with motion sensors, all which contribute to energy savings.

The students are involved in school energy audits and helped design an outdoor learning space for the school. In addition to the school’s commitment to a sustainable campus, the students perform outdoor science investigations that incorporate the school grounds including an on-site garden. The Green Schools Program is administered by the Center for the Environment at Catawba College.

“It’s inspiring to meet with a group of students who are engaged in using their school and school grounds to study science,” said Secretary Regan. “These students are knowledgeable about how their school is connected to natural resources and they have experienced first-hand how they can make a difference in their school and community.” 

The highlight of the visit was when Secretary Regan asked one student what he did at the Executive Mansion and the student replied, “We visited your boss.” The event culminated in a group photo and Secretary Regan signed a few autographs.