From staff reports:

Representatives of the United States Department of Education (DOE), Environmental Protection Agency, and the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction visited Camelot Elementary School on Sept. 19 to get a feel for all the “green” activities taking place at the school.

The school is one of the first ever recipients of the DOE’s National Green Ribbon Award.

According to a release from Federal Way Public Schools, Camelot had plenty to show off because “resource conservation is an integral part of the school environment at Camelot.” Every student at Camelot is involved in reading, reusing, rethinking and recycling, the district notes.

Some of the specific programs and activities that earned the school the Green Ribbon Award and the visit from the dignitaries include:

• Students raising salmon in the classroom and then releasing them into the Puget Sound, as part of the Storming the Sound with Salmon Project

• A community garden on school grounds

• Plans for an outdoor learning center, in a partnership with Weyerhaeuser

• An annual community green festival at the school

• Lunch room recycling and composting

• Student volunteers creating classroom presentations, a newspaper and weekly announcements encouraging conservation efforts

• A school fundraiser for re-usable water bottles

• Emphasizing how personal health and fitness, along with healthy food consumption, create a healthier environment for all

Teachers Darcy Borg and Dani Smith also participated in a panel discussion in Seattle on Sept. 19, in which they discussed “the importance of public school facilities in improving wellness and opportunity through the creation of safe and healthy 21st century educational environments.”