Journey Charter School Nominated for Green Ribbon

Journey School may be the greenest in the state. The Aliso Viejo K-8 school is one of four nominated to compete this year in California's Green Ribbon School Award.

This public charter school follows the Waldorf approach to education. That means education for young children is treated differently, Executive Director Shaheer Faltas said.

"Academic instruction should be implicit, imaginative, and hands-on at an early age since this is when the young child's creativity and physicality should blossom more than the intellect," Faltas said.

Once children are older, their education emphasizes emotions, imagination and different paces of learning for different students.

So what makes Journey so green? Let's count the ways:

• Eco-literacy curriculum: Students are taught ecological awareness in each grade
• Eco-leadership projects: Eighth-graders create and build Earth-friendly projects to benefit the school and local community
• School grounds: The school maintains five gardens, harvests rainwater and composts on-site
• Field trips: Students walk or bike to their field trip locations, thus creating zero carbon emissions.

Awards are expected to be named on Earth Day, April 22.

TELL US YOUR THOUGHTS IN THE COMMENTS BELOW