On February 25th, 2021, PAISBOA’s Sustainability Group met virtually to discuss “Creating a Sustainability Benchmarking Survey.” This Benchmarking Survey is being developed by Boyer Sudduth Environmental Consultants with input from PAISBOA member schools. Mary Ann Boyer of Boyer Sudduth Environmental Consultants and PAISBOA Operations Manager Ron Hill led the virtual meeting.
With 15 participants representing ten schools, attendees split into small breakout groups to discuss and post responses about the benchmarking survey’s format, content and categories.
Using a free, on-line, interactive tool, Jamboard, here are their responses:
Responses to “What type of survey format would you like to see?”
Further discussion about the survey format ranged from creating a short to long survey with in-depth questions about the school’s curriculum and operations around environmental sustainability.
Stuart Country Day School’s Director of Facilities and Sustainable Planning, Darren Malone, suggested that a number of people -- not just one individual -- should answer the survey, since people in various roles bring expertise and opinions from different facets of the school.
The group reviewed a category list to determine which should be included in the final survey. Their responses:
Responses to “What categories listed on the left should be removed and what should be added?”
Abington Friends School’s Director of Center for Experiential Learning, Rosanne Mistretta, added “community partners” to the list. Delaware Valley Friends School’s Director of Development, Anne-Marie McMahon, would like to know “What sustainability areas are schools really knocking out of the park?”
Shipley School’s Upper School Science Teacher & Sustainability Coordinator, Tamar Norquist, emphasized the survey include questions about curriculum building and student engagement.
At each PAISBOA Sustainability Meeting, a raffle prize (thank you PAISBOA!) is awarded to a lucky participant. Germantown Friends’ Karen Cherubini won the book Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming. “Climate change issues can be overwhelming especially to students,” noted Mary Ann Boyer. “This book is great because it focuses on the solutions towards “drawing down” heat trapping emissions.”
As Boyer Sudduth develops the sustainability survey, they will be looking for participants to respond to a pilot survey. All participants at the February meeting agreed to participate. If you would like to be part of the pilot survey, contact Mary Ann Boyer at maryann@boyersudduth.com.
If you would like to be part of the Sustainability Group, contact Ron Hill at rhill@paisboa.org. Stay tuned for the next PAISBOA Meeting to be held in the spring (Date: TBD).
Written by Rebecca Boden (Haverford College ‘21), Sustainability Intern, Boyer Sudduth Environmental Consultants.
Article Published in the PAISBOA Friday Flyer March 5, 2021. To read more, see https://boyersudduth.com/blog
