By Cynthia Drummond for BRVCA

September 11th 2025

WOOD RIVER JCT. – The Rhode Island Environmental Education Association has named the Chariho Regional School District “Organization of the Year,” for its sustainable practices, environmental education and outdoor learning opportunities.

The award will be presented at the Save The Bay Center in Providence on Oct. 9.

Chariho Superintendent of Schools Gina Picard said the recognition was a reflection of the shared commitment of the three Chariho towns to sustainability of the schools.

“As the only school district in Rhode Island ever to receive this honor, we show that Chariho is leading the way in a multitude of areas and with this recognition, Chariho shows that the shared commitment of Charlestown, Richmond and Hopkinton families can ripple far beyond the classroom,” she said.

Chariho Director of Development and Sustainability Katie Kirakosian submitted the district’s application for the award in late July and was notified over Labor Day weekend that Chariho had won.

“I thought it would be amazing to be celebrated as a district because of how broad all the work is that we’re doing,” she said.

The criteria for the award included the methods used to teach students about the environment.

“How we have an innovative approach to environmental education and how willing we are to try new things,” Kirakosian said. “I think we definitely show that we are, through all the applications we’ve submitted and the grant funds we’ve received to do some of this work.”

The Projects

Even a brief tour reveals student - led environmental projects throughout the Chariho campus.

Outdoor learning spaces, for classes and also, relaxation can be found outside the school buildings and also in interior courtyards. Students have enhanced most of them with native plants to attract pollinators.

In the high school and middle school cafeterias, a state grant - funded effort to eliminate COVID era Styrofoam trays resulted in a dramatic reduction of waste. Rhode Island Resource Recovery also worked with the district to boost composting at all the schools.

“The one place that impacts every student every day is certainly the cafeteria,” Kirakosian said. “So, to change the behavior of students from five to eighteen years old, every student in some way connects with the cafeteria, whether they buy lunch or bring lunch. But to change their disposal habits is quite an undertaking.”

It took a year to introduce the composting program in all the schools.

“We went from 0% composting and then, 365 days later, we’re at 100% of our cafeterias and kitchens,” Kirakosian said. “We compost front and back of house. Chartwells staff have been very supportive.”

At the Chariho Alternative Learning Academy, teacher Josh Blair is using live fish in an “aquaponic” filtration system that produces fertilizer.

“This is called a CHOP system, Constant Height for One Pump” he said, pointing to a large tank where several large goldfish and a single tilapia swam in the bubbling water.

The system filters the fish waste so it can be used to fertilize plants like the marigolds at the other end of the system.

“There’s bacteria that grow in here, nitrifying bacteria, so they’ll take the ammonia from the poop, which is toxic, and it’ll go into here and they will turn into nitrates and nitrites, and that’s plant food. The plants will eat that, and the water that goes back is clean.”

Chariho Tech Agricultural Science instructor Stacie Pepperd said the award would help make more people aware of the district’s environmental education initiatives.

“I love the fact that this is now helping with exposure of everything that we do in just these two classrooms,” she said. “Validation, and again, just kind of spreading the word. The visuals there are helping students that may not make their way into these rooms to see what we’re doing and maybe it’s sparking an interest in a different way.”

One of Pepperd’s senior students, Anita Brown, is setting up three hydroponic plant towers, two in the middle school library and one tower in the high school library. The seeds are expected to arrive in a few days.

“Me and one of my team members, Abigail [Segar], are in charge of working with, setting up, planting and all the fruits and vegetables we put into the hydroponic tower,” she said.

The plants are used in the district’s culinary program and the cafeteria and sold at the district’s plant sale.

Richmond Elementary School

As the district’s health and wellness specialty school, Richmond Elementary has been growing food for several years in a greenhouse on the school property. Working with the University of Rhode Island Master Gardeners, students and parent volunteers, teachers Kimberlie Daigle and Catherine Stahl have brought the formerly derelict structure back to life, and it is now used to grow food all winter.

Principal Sharon Martin said that several years ago, “food ambassador” days were introduced when the school was named the district’s health and wellness specialty school.

“We worked with Farm Fresh Rhode Island to establish a program with our food vendor, Chartwells, and we do that on a monthly basis, serving tastings of food, locally grown fruits and vegetables,” she said. “But since we have this fabulous greenhouse, we were able to serve things that we have grown ourselves.”

The school also has several hydroponic growing towers in classrooms, and “Waste Warriors” who help their fellow students with cafeteria waste disposal, recycling and composting.

Kimberlie Daigle helps manage the greenhouse area, which now includes an outdoor vegetable garden and a small apple and pear orchard.

“That’s always been my goal,” she said. “To have enough product to be able to put equity across the board. There’s something in the classroom; anybody can eat it. But we use it for the [school] kitchen. We donate it to the kitchen, as long as they process everything.”

During the summer, when the vegetables are growing but the students are on vacation, the school donates the produce.

“We donate to RICAN and also, what we started doing was bringing it to some of the housing developments, the elderly housing developments as well and making sure that some of our more at-risk populations are benefitting,” Daigle said.

Green Ribbon School

This is not the first time Chariho has won an environmental award.

In 2024, the district was recognized as a “Green Ribbon School” by the United States Department of Education for its environmental initiatives, and was the first school district in Rhode Island to receive the national designation.