Middle school teacher wins environmental excellence award

Trisha Kane When Trisha Kane was in her 20s and living in India, first volunteering and then living in the Tibetan community studying philosophy and medicine, she came to realize how little people need in order to survive.

Kane, now a special education teacher at A.E. Wright Middle School, moved straight from India to the United States and immediately noticed the dramatic change.

"Living in India had a huge impact on me," Kane said. "Seeing how little people can live on, and then moving to the states and seeing the level of consumption, it was quite a change. We use too much; our footprint is so large, as are our emissions and our waste."

Kane went on to set up a comprehensive recycling program at A.E. Wright, involving all the students and staff in recycling paper, plastic bottles and aluminum. She was honored with the Carl Gibbs Environmental Excellence Award at the April 1 environmental commission meeting because of her work at the school.

"I tried to be as environmentally aware as possible, but it was mostly about me and my life," Kane said. "Being in a school, I started to really understand the impact of global warming, and I had a sort of realization that at least I could do something in my school. The main thing is to affect the kids' awareness because they will one day have an impact in their jobs and their families."

Kane said the staff and teachers at A.E. Wright have been very supportive of her efforts.

A.E. Wright Principal Steve Rosentsweig said, "The great thing about Trisha is that, while a lot of people worry about the environment, they don't do anything. Trisha is a person of action. She saw a need and immediately came into the office and made the necessary contacts with the city, the district, the custodians, teachers and students. . . . We are proud of her."

The aluminum and plastic bottle recycling has been so successful that money has been raised to donate to a variety of charities, as well as to fund supplies for the science lab department. The school also collects print cartridges, batteries, ewaste, eyeglasses and cellphones.

Alex Farassati, Calabasas' environmental services supervisor, said of Kane, "In her daily contact with students, she emphasizes the daily impact we have on our planet's future and believes that everyone has a part to play in the future health of the planet."

Starting last year, Kane initiated Earth Week at A.E. Wright, which is in full swing this week. Students make pledges aimed at conserving the environment's resources, and in math classes they calculate their carbon footprints and compare them to others. Daily activities include lessons on conservation and sustainability, and a schoolwide competition challenges students to create a plan to help reduce, reuse and recycle.

"One teacher said, 'You know Trish, we all want to do these things, and we know how important it is; we just get lazy,'" Kane said. "That's how we all are. I just pick at their conscience. That's my role. We want to make it habit."