Nathan


This is not the proposal in its finished form with details, citations, and, you know, all that other stuff that the assignment requires. I've been working on this strictly as a "what-if" -- among several I intend on proposing to the school's board -- since before this class came along, and I have not yet condensed this down to a concise statement of purpose. The long and short of it is that I need to separate this issue out into a single document and trim the strings that bind it to my other proposals that the school will mock.

 

The Problem

 

My wife works at a small primarily Jewish private school in Summerlin. They have a good amount of property and a large cafeteria. Leftover food currently just gets processed and sent out as waste.

 

The Solution

 

As mentioned above, I actually have many ideas that I have wanted to propose to this school. But one (the subject of this proposal) is composting a portion of the cafeteria waste for fertilizer, which could then be used for a greenhouse that students could use to grow plants as part of class and extracurricular activities.

 

The basic idea is that a small, sustainable action (composting some of the cafeteria waste) could form the bedrock of a sustainability-focused subset of the curriculum at the school. Kids elsewhere in the country have, in my experience, a bit closer relationship with agriculture. In Las Vegas, most kids can't plant flowers in the back yard. It's pretty rare for kids anywhere in the country to have a sustained experience with agriculture, on even a small scale.

 

My hope is that the school will be forward-looking and thoughtful enough to consider letting its kids get their hands dirty. Unfortunately, this school has very wealthy parents, some of whom also happen to be total idiots. One recently complained about a planned trip to Opportunity Village, saying that kids shouldn't have to see "that," referring to persons with mental handicaps. So I just don't know.

 

So if anyone knows a nice charter school or forward-looking elementary school, this could work there too.

 

Feasibility

 

Pork will become a regular menu item before this has a chance of succeeding.