Schools

Elementary Schools Tie in Anti-Idling Contest

Woods Road Elementary and Triangle Elementary School both named winners in April pledge drive.

Two Hillsborough schools are reaping the rewards of their environmental efforts for having the most families sign the district’s anti-idling pledge in April

As a result of having 37 percent of families at both Triangle Elementary School and Woods Road Elementary School commit to the pledge, Triangle will receive a bench for outside the school and Woods Road will receive a cherry tree for the school. Loews of Hillsborough donated the bench, while Ambleside Garden donated the tree.

During the drive, which the district and local environmental group BoroGreen planned, families would pledge to turn off their vehicles when waiting at bus stops, in front of schools or at other locations. The drive began April 8 and ran until April 29.

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During that time, Woods Road Elementary School saw 169 of its 454 families committee to the pledge, while Triangle Elementary School saw 157 of its 421 families sign the pledge.

Unlike a traditional pledge—and going with the green mission—families e-signed the anti idling pledge via a link on the district website.

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“We were very excited (to hear we won),” Triangle Home and School Association President Stacy Westhusin said. “We did send it (the pledge link) out. We have a way of contacting our parents through Google Groups .  .  .We were not expecting to get as many as we did.”

“We were very excited to have the response we did,” she added. “We have very caring and concerned parents.”

While Westhusin credits school Principal Lisa Heisel with including parents and staff in school activities, Heisel takes a more modest stance.

“It’s very easy to be good when the people you work with are even better,” she said.

Triangle School received its bench Thursday, with local Boy Scout Troop 489 visiting the school to assemble it.

While the bench will likely move from its current location—the Home and School Association is working on a landscaping project—both Heisel and Westhusin welcomed the new bench.


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