Cambridge Chronicle, MA
Nov 18 2004

Green building comes to life for Tobin students

“Everybody walk up the stairs to the fourth floor,” called out Bill
Deignan, a city planner at the recently renovated City Hall Annex. As
they neared the top, a girl asked her friend, “Why can’t we take the
elevator? I’ve got asthma!”

After the eighth-graders from Tobin School had relaxed into the
conference room swivel chairs, they gazed up at the skylight and
learned about the solar panels hidden on the roof of this historic
building. “What if you have a meeting at night, do the lights still
go on?” one student asked.

They were clearly engaged and listened intently as Deignan
described how a “green building” meant there was less indoor air
pollution and was healthier for someone with asthma. Maybe the stairs
weren’t so bad after all.

For most of them, the Nov. 9 field trip was the first time they
had entered a “green building” and the first time they had been in
the office of someone working for their own government. These
students were learning about what makes their government tick as well
as the reality of energy efficiency and new technologies.

This field trip focused on energy use is part of a Sister City
program pairing Tobin School students with eighth-graders in Yerevan,
Armenia. The program received a Sustainable Development Seed Grant
from the State Department this year. Science teachers Tad Sudnick and
David Petty have been leading the study. Three groups of students
toured the building, applying what they had learned in science class.

They touched the sustainably harvested wood paneling on the
walls. “Cherry?” mused a boy. “Isn’t it supposed to be red? Maybe it
needs a little more oxygen.”